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Background
& Bio-Diversity Basics
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| click to enlarge |
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Formed
by the isthmus between the Black and Caspian Seas,
the Caucasus is the geographic border between
Europe and Asia (Baku, its easternmost major city,
is closer to London than Los Angeles is to New
York). The Caucasus “Ecoregion” extends
into six countries and covers an area of 580,000
km2, a little larger than France. While it spreads
into parts of Russia, Turkey and Iran, the Ecoregion’s
core lies in the territories of Armenia, Azerbaijan
and Georgia, 100% of which are in the Caucasus.
For a variety of reasons, the CPAF has focused
its mission on these three countries.
The Caucasus is a biological crossroads, where
species from Central and Northern Europe, Central
Asia, the Middle East and North Africa mingle
with endemics (local species found nowhere else).
Extremes in altitude, including Europe’s
five highest mountains and its lowest point, contribute
to broad variations in climate. The region contains
nine of the world’s eleven climate types,
from arctic to sub-tropical. Precipitation varies
from more than four meters per year (as much as
in a tropical rain forest) along portions of the
Black Sea coast to less than 200 mm per year in
desert regions. |
The resulting variety of microclimates, soil and
vegetative conditions has led to a broad range
of landscapes and unusually high levels of species
diversity for the temperate zone, including more
than 50 species of globally threatened animals.
The area furthermore contains one of the world’s
largest old-growth forests in a temperate zone,
providing a valuable carbon-sink in the world’s
battle against climate change as well as a refuge
for much of the region’s fauna. Conservation
International has designated the Caucasus as one
of its 34 “bio-diversity hotspots”
around the world.
Unfortunately this rich and diverse global treasure
is seriously threatened.
Caucasus Bio-Diversity Basics
Caucasus wildlife includes:
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Over
150 mammals, including the leopard, lynx, brown
bear, stripe hyena, Caucasian tur, mouflon and
bezoar goat. Eleven of the large herbivores, as
well as five of the large carnivores are on the
IUCN Red List. One-fifth of the mammals are endemic.
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Over
400 species of birds, with the region’s
lakes and rivers serving as important stop-over
sites for millions of migrating birds flying between
northern Europe and Russia and their winter homes.
A number of the bird species, including the cinereous
vulture pictured opposite, are threatened.
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77
reptiles and 14 amphibians—22 and 4 of which
are endemics.
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More
than 200 species of fish, more than a third of
which, including numerous threatened sturgeon
species, are endemic.
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More
than 6,500 species of vascular plants, of which
one-fourth are endemic—the highest endemicism
level of any of the world’s temperate zones.
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| Photos
courtesy of WWF Caucasus PO |
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