Altai-Sayan region

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The Altai-Sayan region is an area of

nerpa, and snow leopard
. It is the focus of ongoing international and regional environmental conservation initiatives.

The area is also culturally diverse, with four language groups (Russian, Mongolian, Sinitic and Turkic, formerly Samoyedic and Yeniseian as well) and more than 20 indigenous ethnic groups practicing traditional land use systems. There are also a variety of religions including Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Tengrism and Shamanism. The region covers more than one million square kilometers, and has a population of between 5 and 6 million inhabitants.[1]

Geography

See also: South Siberian Mountains
Physical map (Altay, Sayan, Baikal, Mongolian Altai)
Physical map (Altay, Sayan, Baikal, Mongolian Altai)

The Altai-Sayan

ecoregions contain and share a name with the Altai Mountains and the Sayan Mountains
. The Altai Mountains are a mountain range in East-Central Asia, where
Ob
have their headwaters. The Sayan Mountains lie between northwestern Mongolia and southern Siberia.

The Altai-Sayan has a total area of 1,065,000 square kilometers. Its area belongs to the territory of Russia (62%), Mongolia (29%), Kazakhstan (5%) and China (4%).[2]: 233 

Part or all of the Russian

East Kazakhstan province of Kazakhstan, and the Mongolian Aimags of Govi-Altai, Khovd, Bayan-Ölgii, Uvs, Zavkhan, and Khövsgöl
.

At the far north of the Altai-Sayan region, near its boundary, is the Russian city of Krasnoyarsk (population above 900,000 in 2010 census).[2]: 233  Other towns in the region include Kyzyl in Russia (pop. about 110,000 in 2008), as well as Ulaangom, Ulgii, and Khovd, all in Mongolia (each with population under 30,000).[2]: 233  The Russian town of Gorno-Altaysk (pop. about 60,000 in 2010) lies within the region near its western boundary, and the Russian city of Irkutsk lies just outside the region to its east.[2]: 233  The Altai-Sayan region's total population is estimated as about 5.5 million.[2]

Contained within this ecoregion is the

Weichselian Glaciation, approximately 80,000 years ago.[4]

Cultural history

According to Anatoliy Mandych, a geographer at the

WWF[5]
),

For many centuries, the region has been at the crossroads of European and Asian civilizations, and thus is home to great historical treasures. The ancient history of the region is so unique that many historians and archaeologists call it “the cradle of civilization”. The ancient historic monuments are integrated into the natural landscape in such a way that it forms a harmonious and inseparable unity. Thousands of

tumuli and other ancient monuments are found in the area, some even as ancient as the Egyptian pyramids.[2]
: 235–6 

Anthropology

Tourists in front of the Denisova Cave, where the first Denisovan remains were found

Altai-Sayan is home to the

BCE.[2]: 236 [7]

Recent genetic studies have shown that some indigenous peoples of the Americas are partially derived from southern Altaians.[8]

Ecology and preservation

Main articles: Altai montane forest and forest steppe and Sayan montane conifer forests
Snow leopard
Snow leopard, a globally endangered species whose northernmost habitat is in the Altai-Sayan region.[2]: 235 [9]

According to the

better source needed
]

There are three major

Uvs Nuur Basin
in the Great Lakes Hollow.

The

Pelecanus onocrotalus.[11]

The World Wildlife Fund has conducted studies of the region.[2] It has identified the Altai-Sayan ecoregion as a priority region for wildlife conservation.[12] According to the World Wildlife Fund, "The Altai-Sayan ecoregion is one of the last remaining untouched areas of the world."[12] Furthermore:

680 species of the vertebrates are registered in the Ecoregion. Among them: 77 species of fishes, 8 species of amphibians, 25 species of reptiles, 425 species of birds and 143 species of mammals.[12]

Threats to the biodiversity of the region, according to the Fund, include poaching and illegal wildlife trade, industrial development, climate change, overgrazing and competition for pastures, unsustainable forestry, water pollution, and poverty.[12]

Beginning in the late 1990s, several government-level initiatives were begun with the stated purpose that included helping to preserve the Altai-Sayan ecoregion and biodiversity. In 1998, representatives of Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia and Russia met in

Russian Federation (Tyva, Khakassia and Altai) also signed an environmental protection agreement.[2]
: 238  Five years later, in March 2003,

organizations representing state governments of

Eastern Kazakhstan Region (Kazakhstan), the Republic of Altai (Russia), Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (China) and Khovd Aimag (Mongolia) resolved to establish an International Steering Board called "Altai, Our Common Home"[2]
: 238 

However, as of 2010, the steering organization "Altai, Our Common Home" had played a coordinating role "less in conservation and ecological themes" than in "economic and cultural exchange programmes".[13]: 250  Analysts stated that "while the [ecosystem conservation] soil has been prepared for cultivation rather well", after 10 years "there are no tangible results yet".[13]: 250  They expressed concern that

At the 'grass roots' level, managers of transboundary protected areas were not involved in the process. The leading role was played by international

NGOs and funders. Overall, the general concept was not clearly formulated and developed.[13]
: 250 

The Altai-Sayan region is the northernmost habitat of the

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as globally vulnerable.[9]

Science and scholarship

The Altai-Sayan region, or phenomena associated with it, have been the focus of various types of science and scholarship in diverse fields:

See also

References

  1. ^ "Millennium Ecosystem Assessment". Archived from the original on 2014-03-28. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  2. ^
    ISBN 1-4020-4491-7
    .
  3. ^ "Great Lakes Depression", Great Soviet Encyclopedia
  4. ^ Dutch, Steve; Pleistocene Glaciers and Geography Archived 2014-02-06 at the Wayback Machine, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (accessed 30 November 2006)
  5. ^ World Wildlife Fund, webpage describing the Altai-Sayan Montane Forests Archived 2016-06-30 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 25 January 2014)
  6. PMID 21868646. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 2013-07-09. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  7. S2CID 22038385
    .
  8. ^
    S2CID 128751598
    .
  9. ^
    doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T22732A50664030.en
    . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  10. ^ Barras, Collin (2014); '"Ice-age animals live on in Eurasian mountain range", New Scientist (accessed 24 January 2014)
  11. ^ "Freshwater Issues in Mongolia"
  12. ^ a b c d World Wildlife Fund, Altai-Sayan Mountains (accessed 25 January 2014)
  13. ^
    ISBN 978-1844076048
    .
  14. S2CID 23011845
    .
  15. ISBN 9780521477710
    (p. 276)

External links
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