Zagros Mountains forest steppe

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Zagros Mountains forest steppe
Landscape near Shadegan
Map of the ecoregion
Ecology
RealmPalearctic
Biometemperate broadleaf and mixed forests
Borders
List
  • Tigris-Euphrates alluvial salt marsh
Geography
Area397,555 km2 (153,497 sq mi)
Countries
Conservation
Conservation statusCritical/endangered[1]
Protected20,339 km2 (5%)[2]

The Zagros Mountains forest steppe is a

Western Asia. The ecoregion extends along the Zagros Mountains, stretching from eastern Turkey and northern Iraq to southern Iran
.

Geography

The Zagros Mountains are a belt of folded mountains formed by the collision of the

Armenian Highlands and Alborz
Mountains lie to the north.

Climate

The ecoregion's climate is semi-arid and temperate. Annual precipitation ranges from 400 m to 800 mm, and falls mostly in winter and spring. Summers are hot and dry, and winters are cold, with the coldest winter temperatures dropping below −25 °C (-13 °F). Temperatures are generally warmer and the climate drier at the southern end of the range.

Flora

A view of Persian oak forests that dominate the Zagros Mountains

The predominant plant community in the mountains is forest or open woodland of deciduous broadleaf trees, with an understory of steppe shrubs and grasses. Oaks, particularly

treeline is at 1,900 to 2,000 meters elevation, with sub-alpine vegetation above it.[1]

At the southern end of the range, the trees are sparser and more open, and the steppe vegetation is more prominent. Steppe extends up to 1400 meters elevation, and open woodlands of Quercus brantii, hawthorn (Crataegus), almond (Prunus amygdalus), nettle tree (Celtis spp.) and pear (Pyrus syriaca and Pyrus glabra) continue up to 2,400 meters.[1]

Although degraded from overgrazing and deforestation, the Zagros is home to a rich and complex flora. Remnants of the originally widespread oak-dominated woodland can still be found, as can park-like pistachio-almond steppelands. The wild ancestors of many important food plants, including wheat, barley, lentil, almond, walnut, pistachio, apricot, plum, pomegranate, and grape, grow throughout the mountains.[4]

Tulipa kurdica.[5]

Fauna

The Zagros are home to many threatened and endangered animals, including the

Khuzestan Province in the southern Zagros.[1]

In the late 19th century, the Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica) inhabited the southwestern part of the mountains.[6] It is now extinct in this region.[7]

The Luristan newt (Neurergus kaiseri) is a vulnerable species endemic to the central Zagros mountains of Iran.

Protected areas

A 2017 assessment found that 20,339 km2, or 5%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas.[2] Protected areas include:[8]

External links

  • "Zagros Mountains forest steppe". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Zagros Mountains forest steppe". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
  2. ^
    PMID 28608869.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link
    )     Supplemental material 2 table S1b.
  3. ^ M. Heydari; H. Poorbabaei; T. Rostami; M. Begim Faghir; A. Salehi; R. Ostad Hashmei (2013). "Plant species in Oak (Quercus brantii Lindl.) understory and their relationship with physical and chemical properties of soil in different altitude classes in the Arghvan valley protected area, Iran" (PDF). Caspian Journal of Environmental Sciences, 2013, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 97~110. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  4. ISBN 0-8173-5349-6
    . Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  5. ^ "Haji Omran Mountain (IQ018)" (PDF). natrueiraq.org. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  6. ^ Kitchener, A. C.; Breitenmoser-Würsten, C.; Eizirik, E.; Gentry, A.; Werdelin, L.; Wilting A.; Yamaguchi, N.; Abramov, A. V.; Christiansen, P.; Driscoll, C.; Duckworth, J. W.; Johnson, W.; Luo, S.-J.; Meijaard, E.; O'Donoghue, P.; Sanderson, J.; Seymour, K.; Bruford, M.; Groves, C.; Hoffmann, M.; Nowell, K.; Timmons, Z.; Tobe, S. (2017). "A revised taxonomy of the Felidae: The final report of the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group" (PDF). Cat News. Special Issue 11.
  7. ISBN 90-04-08876-8
    .
  8. ^ "Zagros Mountains forest steppe". DOPA Explorer. Accessed 8 December 2020. [1]
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