Below, for your attention, is attached the article on the basis of which the infographic was made.
Why do you need to know how many and what plants grow in Uzbekistan?
Institute of the Gene Pool of Plant and Animal World of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan
Tojibaev K.Sh., Beshko N.Yu.
The territory of Uzbekistan is characterized by a wide variety of landscapes, flora and fauna and belongs to the 200 priority eco-regions of the world, which are recognized as especially valuable for the preservation of the diversity of wildlife throughout the planet. A large number of endemic, threatened and globally significant species grow on the territory of Uzbekistan. Here unique natural centers of origin and diversity of species have been identified, including the ancestors of many valuable cultivated plants.
In Central Asia, Uzbekistan is the most densely populated. Since ancient times, the country's ecosystems have been influenced by human activities, which have intensified many times since the second half of the twentieth century. As a result of economic development in such regions of Uzbekistan as the Fergana Valley, the Zeravshan, Kashkadarya, Surkhandarya valleys, the Khorezm and Tashkent oasis, the Hungry Steppe, natural ecosystems have almost completely been replaced by anthropogenic landscapes. Flora and vegetation cover in many regions has been severely degraded. Some species have disappeared, some are on the verge of extinction.
Botanical research in Uzbekistan, which has a century and a half history, has accumulated a huge amount of data on plant diversity. The 6-volume "Flora of Uzbekistan" (1941-1962) lists 3663 plant species (with 3824 introduced species). As a result of the joint work of a large team of specialists in 1963-1993. the 10-volume "Keys to Plants of Central Asia" was published. These publications are still the main sources on the plant diversity of Uzbekistan. However, since then a large number of botanical finds have been made, many species and even genera new to science have been described. But, unfortunately, the richest information about the flora of our country is almost entirely in the format of printed publications, scientific reports, herbarium specimens and is available only to a limited circle of specialists.
In practice, at the moment, Uzbekistan does not have a full-fledged cadastre of flora objects. Paradoxically, to date there is no published modern list of flora of Uzbekistan or lists of flora by administrative and natural regions of the republic. The main reason for this is the fragmentation of data, the lack of a unified information environment. The flora of many regions of Uzbekistan has not been sufficiently studied. Due to the lack of accurate and up-to-date data on the geographical distribution and status of populations of endemic and rare plant species, the "Red Book of Uzbekistan" is not kept according to the international criteria of the IUCN. Quotas are set annually for the procurement of a number of medicinal and other economically valuable species of wild plants, but there is no accurate and up-to-date data on their distribution and stocks in the regions of the republic. Therefore, harvesting is often oversized and undermines the populations of these species.
A similar situation is observed in the protected natural areas (PAs) of Uzbekistan. Published lists of flora are available only for 3 reserves (Chatkalsky, Nuratinsky, Zaaminsky). Data on the plant diversity of other reserves and national parks are contained in reports or dissertations that are not available to a wide range of users. Information about the flora of other categories of protected areas (wildlife sanctuaries, protected landscapes, forestry enterprises, etc.) is generally absent. Often, inspectors of forestry enterprises, national parks, reserves, regional and district committees for nature protection do not have the necessary information about protected objects, the composition of rare species and their habitat. In addition, in Uzbekistan there are no illustrated field guides for plants available to a wide range of nature lovers, students and pupils, tourists, only fundamental scientific publications focused on botanists. Meanwhile, in the republic there is a great need for such literature.
At present, a project is being implemented at the Institute of the Gene Pool of Plant and Animal World of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan with the support of the GEF Small Grants Program, the purpose of which is to create an electronic database of plant diversity in Uzbekistan. The main idea of the project is to analyze all available sources on the plant diversity of Uzbekistan and compile information on taxonomy, morphology, ecology, geographical distribution, economic significance and status of flora species in the form of a single electronic database. When creating a floristic base, a geographic information system (GIS) is used, which provides the following opportunities: analysis of the historical and current state of the diversity of the plant world (primarily endangered and economically valuable species), assessment of ecosystems using satellite images, ecological cue monitoring and forecasting of further development of the situation, identification of key botanical areas, planning of the protected area network, etc.
In addition to the full-fledged maintenance of the state cadastre of the flora and informed decision-making on the protection and sustainable use of plant resources, this will allow in the future to keep the "Red Book" in accordance with the IUCN criteria and provide the necessary information for the training of scientific personnel, for the development of environmental education and ecotourism. In addition to text information and distribution maps for each species, the database will contain an image of a scanned herbarium and a photo of living plants. The main source of information is the collection fund of the Central Herbarium of Uzbekistan (TASH), with more than 1.5 million copies. To collect up-to-date data, during the project, field expeditions are also conducted in a number of inaccessible and poorly studied mountain and foothill regions.
A year and a half has passed since the start of the project. Main results to date:
1. The database contains about 100 thousand records (collection points) for more than 2150 species (about 50% of the species composition of the flora of Uzbekistan). Compilation of distribution maps and selection of photographs of plants in nature;
2. Revealed 116 new species for the flora of Uzbekistan, including 20 new species for science;
3. A modern list of flora of Uzbekistan has been compiled (4291 species of wild plants, excluding adventive and introduced species). The number of alien species is estimated at about 500;
4. A number of additions have been made to the lists of flora of the Chatkal, Zaamin, Nurata and Surkhan reserves. So, even for such a well-studied area as the Chatkal reserve, 12 new species were identified. Note that most of them were collected back in the 60s and 80s and were kept in the funds of the Central Herbarium, however, due to the fragmentation of information and the absence of a unified database, they were not included in the summary of the flora of the reserve;
5. An assessment of a number of rare species of the Red Book of Uzbekistan was made according to the criteria and categories of IUCN (in particular, for all types of tulips);
6. New interesting data on plant species of the Fergana Valley and its surrounding foothills were revealed, which made it possible to identify here, despite the dense population and economic development, 6 key botanical territories with a unique set of rare and endemic species. A database of herbarium collections from the Fergana Valley has been compiled, including 15,500 records (since 1909). GIS-based maps were compiled to assess the historical and modern distribution of plant species;
7. As an example of using the base for the purposes of environmental education and tourism, the project has prepared a model of an illustrated field guide for flora of one of the most visited and botanically interesting territories - Ugam-Chatkal National Park. This is the richest flora among all PAs of Uzbekistan, 1697 species of higher plants are recorded here, incl. 61 - included in the Red Book of Uzbekistan and 58 endemics. The key includes descriptions (in Russian, Uzbek and English) and photos for 350 of the most noticeable, striking, as well as rare and endemic species of the park.
Astragalus finely bubbly (lat.Astragalus leptophysus)
Perennial herb. Distributed on the Turkestan ridge and in the Nurata mountains. Grows on stony-gravelly slopes and talus
the lower belt of the mountains, among the herb-wormwood vegetation. Blooms in April-May. Small in number, found in single specimens.
It is included in the Red Data Book of Uzbekistan as a rare relict endemic of the Western Pamir-Alai.
We hope that this database, open to all in the future, will be used for the conservation and sustainable use of the flora of Uzbekistan.
For more information, please contact the following specialists:
Tojibaev Komiljon Sharobitdinovich
Doctor of Biological Sciences, Director of the Institute of the Gene Pool of Plant and Animal World of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan
Tel .: (+99871) 2690061
E-mail: ktojibaev@mail.ru
Beshko Natalia Yurievna
Candidate of Biological Sciences, Senior Researcher of the Institute of the Gene Pool of Plant and Animal World of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan
Tel .: (+99871) 2690061
E-mail: natalia_beshko@mail.ru
This illustrated guide to flora of the Ugam-Chatkal National Park presents more than 300 of the most prominent and widespread species of flowering plants found in the national park. A color photograph of each species is accompanied by a short description in Uzbek, Russian and English. For the convenience of users, the descriptions are grouped into five sections by flower color (yellow, red, white, blue and green). Within each section, plant species are listed alphabetically. The guide is intended for a wide range of mountain nature lovers, teachers and students, tourists, and, we hope, will be useful for specialists - botanists, foresters, geographers, employees at childbearing organizations.
Below is the layout of the inner spread of the qualifier.
