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Piotr Owczarek

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Ecological and cultural importance of juniper ecosystem in the area of Zeravshan valley (Tajikistan) on the background of environmental condition and anthropogenic hazards

Rahmonov Oimahmad, Małgorzata Oimahmad, Magdalena Opała-Owczarek, Piotr Owczarek, Tadeusz Niedźwiedź, Urszula Myga-Piątek

Geographia Polonica (2017) vol. 90, iss. 4, pp. 441-461 | Full text
doi: https://doi.org//10.7163/GPol.0110

Further information

Abstract

The study analyses physiogeographical factors of the Zeravshan Range as a basis for environmental andhabitat diversity. They provided the background for considering conditions for the functioning of juniper forest ecosystems. The uniqueness of these ecosystems also relies on the longevity of Juniperus seravschanica Kom., J. semiglobosa Regel and J. turkestanica Kom. Physiognomic features of the landscape are conditioned by the habitat, climate, landforms, and recently also by anthropopressure. The ecological, environmental andthe cultural importance of juniper trees makes them a distinctive and determinant feature of the landscape. Currently juniper forests across Tajikistan, including those in the Zeravshan Mts., have been significantly disrupted as a result of chaotic, uncontrolled and excessive felling. The purpose of this article is to present natural conditions of juniper forest ecosystems, the impact of anthropogenic changes on their functioning as well as the occurrence of endemic species within them. The cultural importance of juniper in the protection of the surrounding landscape was also analysed.

Keywords: juniper forest, deforestation, mountain vegetation, environmental conditions, Zeravshan Valley, Tajikistan

Rahmonov Oimahmad [oimahmad.rahmonov@us.edu.pl], Faculty of Earth Sciences University of Silesia in Katowice Będzińska 60, 41-200 Sosnowiec: Poland
Małgorzata Oimahmad, Faculty of Earth Sciences University of Silesia in Katowice Będzińska 60, 41-200 Sosnowiec: Poland
Magdalena Opała-Owczarek, Faculty of Earth Sciences University of Silesia in Katowice Będzińska 60, 41-200 Sosnowiec: Poland
Piotr Owczarek, University of Silesia , Earth Sciences Faculty, ul Będzińska 60, 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland.University of Silesia , Earth Sciences Faculty, ul Będzińska 60, 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland
Tadeusz Niedźwiedź, Faculty of Earth Sciences, University of Silesia Będzińska 60,41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland. Institute of Meteorology and Water Management Borowego 14, 30-215 Kraków, Poland.
Urszula Myga-Piątek, University of Silesia Faculty of Earth Sciences Będzińska 60, 41-200 Sosnowiec: Poland