flora The flora of Kyrgyzstan is various and luxury. This is due to a distributed landscape, a significant overfall of altitudes, alteration of mountain ridges and hollows formed between mountains that are variously isolated. In Kyrgyzstan one can encounter species of various types of vegetation, namely: Central-Asian, India and Himalayas, Northern and Front-Asian, and, naturally, Tien-Shan and Alai. In low-lying valleys and on low foothills absinth steppes prevail. In a middle mountainous zone are widely spread steppes, meadows, forests, and shrubs. In a high mountainous zone alpine meadows, kriofill-cushion areas and mountain tundra are located.

k y r g y z s t a n

On the stone-detritus areas thorny-cushion areas can be met with. In Kyrgyzstan about 4000 species of plants belonging to higher class are available. The richest in its floric composition are subtropical steppes, forests, and meadows with high grass of mountain-valleys and with low grass of Subalpine. Flora of Kyrgyzstan accounts for more than 4500 species of superior plants. About 1600 species have economic and useful value including fodder - 450 species, meliterous - 300 species, medicinal - 200 species, etherolieferous - 62 species, food - 50 species. Such variety of species is the richest genofund providing relative steadiness of vegetable kingdom under the conditions of sharply changing phenomena of continental climate and utilization of its resources. Taking into consideration a relatively limited area of the country, a variety of biocenosis can be represented rather considerably. Vertical stratification is well observed in proliferation of flora and fauna on the territory of Kyrgyzstan. As a whole the republic has favourable natural conditions. However gradually intensifying process of anthropogenous influence on environment impedes preservation of many species of animals and plants in condition of natural freedom. Their number reduction occured as a result of cattle-breading intensification, earlier developed without preservation of surrounding medium. Cutting down arboreal shrub vegatation, ploughing up significant plots, drying up reservoir and poaching damage essentially populations and their and places of inhabibitancy. The most widely spread are spruce, juniper (archa), and nut- and fruit-tree forests. There are also spruce-abies, maple, poplar-willow, and birch forests. The walnut- and fruit-tree forests take up an area of over 600 thousand hectares and are the largest walnut- and fruit-tree forests in the world. They are located in the South-East of Kyrgyzstan in the Fergana and Chatkal ranges at the altitude of from 1000 m up to 2200 m above sea level. There grow walnut-trees, apple-trees, pear- trees, and cherry-plum, cherry, currant, and rasp-berries canes. Shrub thickets such as karaghun, cherry, rosary, pistachio, almond, cherry-plum, sea- buckthorn, barberry, mellow and others are widely spread. Sea-buckthorn, dog-rose, and willow grow in the flood-lands. Tien-Shan rowan-tree grows everywhere. In Alpine meadows at the altitude of 3000 m above sea level grow edelweiss, dandelion, aster Alpine, Semenov onion, primrose cold and other species of vegetation. One can meet different species of funguses in the forests, steppes, and meadows. The flora of Kyrgyzstan is abound in useful plants including medicinal ones, such as: ephedra, plantain, milfoil, sage, dog-rose, dushitsa, wormwort and many others.

fauna
The fauna of Kyrgyzstan comprises about 500 species of vertebrates and over 3000 species of insects. A variety of natural landscapes of Kyrgyzstan and inhabitation of its territory by European, Siberian, Central-Asian, Front-Asian, and South-Asian species resulted in an extremely diverse fauna. Over the territory of Kyrgyzstan one can find inhabitants of deserts and forests, valleys and mountains, steppes and meadows. Among plants and animals there are a lot of valuable, rare and endemic species. Fauna is rather variable and non-uniform by origin. Region fauna basis is made up by species peculiar to the Central Asian and Mediterranean regions. More than 500 species of vertebrates, including 83 mammals, 368 species of birds, 28 species of reptiles, 3 species of amphibians, 75 species of fish, 3000 species of insects can be found here. Principle species of endemic animals are represented by molluscs and a number of insect groups (spiders, locusts, ortho- ptera, hymenopterous, lepidoptera). Among mammals Menzbeer marmot, relic suslic, red Tien Shan and silver field alticola,ochotona rutila. Tien Shan and Pamir Alai endemics are 4 species of reptiles: Nickolski Lizard, Turkestan agama, Pavlovski agama, Alai ablepharus deserti. There are 60 species of dragon-flies, 86 species of daytime butter-flies, 86 species of ants, 33 species of bees, and 250 species of cicadas in Kyrgyzstan. In the Kyrgyz water reservoirs dwell 49 species of fish. In the Issyk-Kul lake there is such fish as chebachok, chebak, sazan, carp, trout, marinka, osman, bream, line, pike- perch, sig, and crucian. In various water reservoirs and rivers dwell sazan, crucian, barbel, pike, marinka and other species of fish. In the mountain rivers dwells trout. There are 25 species of reptiles including tortoises, lizards, and snakes in Kyrgyzstan. Birds are represented by 335 species. In different areas one can meet pheasant, gray heron, cherry bird, tridactyl woodpecker, eagle-owl, silvered sea-gull, red-wing flamingo and other birds. On the unfrozen Issyk-Kul Lake hibernate hissing swans, crying swans, gray geese, pink and wavy pelicans. There are such rare birds as balaban, white stork, golden eagle, bearded vulture, bustard, demoiselle crane, snake eater, white-tail sea eagle, steppe eagle, black stork and others in Kyrgyzstan. 83 species of mammals dwell on the territory of Kyrgyzstan. One can encounter a mountain sheep (arkhar), bear, and maral in spruce forests of the Tien-Shan, and in Ak-Sai, Arpa, and Suusamyr highly mountainous valleys. The mountain ridges and valleys are the places for dwelling of fox, wolf, badger, weasel, ermine, and stone marten. In Kyrgyzstan dwells snow leopard, wild boar, roe, Siberian goat, porcupine, hedgehog, hare, marmot, andatrum and others. Kyrgyzstan protects such rare animals as dzheiran, red wolf, maral, snow leopard, Middle-Asian otter, Mensbir marmot, Tien-Shan brown bear, and Tien-Shan mountain sheep (arkhar) and others. Some animals of Kyrgyzstan are recorded in Red Book of International Nature Preserve Union. Those animals are snow leopard, Mensbir marmot, dzheiran, red wolf, and gray monitor lizard.

To protect flora and fauna in Kyrgyzstan are created preserves, parks and natural reserves such as the Issyk-Kulskiy, Sarychelekskiy, and Besharalskiy reserves.