remnants of gene pools of these species. Badghyz Natural Reserve, established in 1941, became a refuge for the last existing population of the Turkmen onager (Equus hemionus onager) and a unique pistachio woodland. A new generation oflocal Turkmen scientists, many of whom were trained by the Russian researchers in the graduate schools of Moscow and Leningrad arose from the 1930s through the 1950s. The Turkmen Academy of Sciences and its journal, Proceedings (including the monthly biological series), served to record the results of diverse biological studies in the republic. While basic science in the Middle Asian republics rather gained from the Russian "colonial" influence, natural resources, in contrast, were severely damaged by the Soviet way of handling the economy and social issues. Severe environmental problems have been inherited by the now independent Turkmenistan, including overgrazed desert pastures, deforested mountains, depleted water resources, accumulated pesticides in cotton fields, declining populations of endangered species of animals and plants, and - worst of al- progressing, human-caused desertification (Kharin this volume). In order to approach a solution to these problems, scientists and officials in the republic will need the close attention and help of the international scientific community.

Klappentext

The book gives a complete account of the biogeography, animal and plant ecology and natural conservation in Turkmenistan. This region within the former USSR borders on Iran and Afghanistan and includes both deserts and arid mountains. Turkmenistan, and especially the mountains of Kopetdagh, is an extremely important region for historical biogeography, as a corridor and filter between the Mediterranean region, the Middle East and the great deserts of Asia. This remote area was studied exclusively by Soviet scientists and all information was published in Russian. This book is the first to bring data on the biogeography and conservation of Turkmenistan to the general scientific community.

Inhalt

1. Introduction: One hundred years of natural history in Turkmenistan.- 2. Landscapes of Turkmenistan.- 3. Climate of Turkmenistan.- 4. Paleogeography of Turkmenistan.- 5. Desertification of the arid lands of Turkmenistan.- 6. Vegetation of the deserts of Turkmenistan.- 7. Flora of Kopetdagh.- 8. Kopetdagh-Khorassan flora: Regional features of Central Kopetdagh.- 9. Vegetation of Southwest Kopetdagh.- 10. Trees, shrubs, and semishrubs in the mountains of Turkmenistan.- 11. Ecosystem structure of subtropical arid pistachio woodlands in Southern Turkmenistan.- 12. Biogeographic position of Khorassan-Kopetdagh.- 13. Vertebrates in the Red Data Book of Turkmenistan.- 14. Ecology of the bearded goat (Capra aegagrus firsleben, 1777) in Turkmenistan.- 15. Ecology of birds in the Karakum Desert.- 16. Ecological structure of the bird population in the Transcaspian region: Cartographic analysis and problems of conservation.- 17. Kidney structure and its role in osmoregulation in desert birds.- 18. On the evolution of the pheasant (Phasianus colchicus L.) in Middle Asia.- 19. Zoogeographic analysis of the reptiles of Turkmenistan.- 20. Reptiles of Kopetdagh.- 21. Geographic variability of Phrynocephalus rossikowi Nik. (Reptilia: Agamidae) in Turkmenistan and adjacent regions.- 22. Formation of the fish population in the artificial hydrographic network of Turkmenistan (the Amudarya River basin).- 23. Arthropods inhabiting rodent burrows in the Karakum Desert.- 24. Zoogeography of Coleoptera in Turkmenistan.- 25. Buprestid beetles (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) from Kopetdagh and the adjacent regions of Southern Turkmenistan.- 26. Fauna, zoogeography, and ecology of Orthoptera in Turkmenistan.- 27. Encyrtid wasps of Turkmenistan (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae).- 28. Zoogeography and ecologicalaspects of the formation of horse fly fauna (Diptera: Tabanidae) in Turkmenistan.- 29. Ant-lions (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae) in Turkmenistan.- 30. Fauna and zoogeography of spiders (Aranei) of Turkmenistan.- 31. Fauna and zoogeography of scorpions (Arachnids: Scorpions) in Turkmenistan.- 32. Fauna and zoogeography of molluscs of Turkmenistan.- Index of Taxa.- Index of Subjects.