short note
Eastern Pamirs – A vegetation-plot database for the high mountain pastures of the Pamir Plateau (Tajikistan)
Vanselow, Kim André
Phytocoenologia Band 46 Heft 1 (2016), p. 105 - 105
published: Jun 1, 2016
Open Access (paper may be downloaded free of charge)
Abstract
The Eastern Pamirs of Tajikistan are an arid high mountain plateau with wide valleys around 4000 m a. s. l. separated by ranges with peaks around 5000 m a. s. l. The breakup of the Soviet Union and the associated independence of Tajikistan in 1991 resulted in significant political and socio-economic changes in this area, also with impacts on the vegetation. Shortages of financial resources led to a reduced pasture rotation causing overgrazing in some areas. The lack of energy supply led to an increased extraction of dwarf shrubs for fuel wood. Here, a vegetation-plot database for the high mountain pastures of the Pamir Plateau is presented (GIVD ID: AS-TJ-001, http://www. givd. info/ID/AS-TJ-001) that may serve as a basis for studies on alpine vegetation, pasture ecology, livestock grazing impact, environmental change, and pasture management. It consists of 282 geo-referenced vegetation plots including dwarf shrub steppes and deserts, floodplain meadows, alpine herbgrass mats, and scree vegetation.
Keywords
alpine • phytosociological data • arid environment • rangeland • central asia • pasture ecology • floristic record • biological database