The Paropamisus xeric woodlands

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

(WWF ID: PA1322) covers the portion of northeastern

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

north of the central mountain range and the

Hindu Kush The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central Asia, Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and eastern Afghanistan into northwestern Pakistan and far southeastern Tajikistan. The range forms the wester ...

Mountains. The name is derived from the

Old Persian Old Persian is one of two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of the Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native speakers as (I ...

name for the region, Parupraesanna ( "Beyond the Hindu Kush"). While there are low canopy woodlands in the northeast of the ecorgegion, most of the territory is desert or xeric (dry) scrubland.

Location and description

The ecoregion stretches for across northern Afghanistan, from the city of

Herat Herāt (; Dari/Pashto: هرات) is an oasis city and the third-largest city in Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Se ...

in the west to the

Wakhan Corridor The Wakhan Corridor (; ) is a narrow strip of territory in the Badakhshan province of Afghanistan. This corridor stretches eastward, connecting Afghanistan to Xinjiang, China. It also separates the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajiki ...

in the east. The territory is on the north slopes of the mountains of central Afghanistan and the Hindu Kush. To the north is the

Badghyz and Karabil semi-desert The Badghyz and Karabil semi-desert ecoregion (WWF ID: PA1306) covers the hills north of the central mountain ranges of Afghanistan, southeast Turkmenistan, and portions of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The landscape has been described as "savannah- ...

ecoregion, to the south are the Ghorat-Hazarajat alpine meadow and Hindu Kush alpine meadow ecoregions. The terrain is rugged: elevations range from to a high point of .

Climate

The climate of ecoregion is ''

Cold semi-arid climate Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...

'' (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

(BSk)). This climate is characteristic of steppe climates intermediary between desert humid climates, and typically have precipitation is above

evapotranspiration Evapotranspiration (ET) refers to the combined processes which move water from the Earth's surface (open water and ice surfaces, bare soil and vegetation) into the Atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere. It covers both water evaporation (movement of w ...

. At least one month averages below .

Flora and fauna

Over 80% of the ecoregion is dry shrub. Another 8% is cultivated in crop agriculture (mostly along river valleys), and another 8% is sparse vegetation or bare ground. Common vegetation is thornbush, ''

Ziziphus ''Ziziphus'' is a genus of spiny shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae. It includes 68 species native to tropical and subtropical Africa, Eurasia, and Australia and tropical South America. The leaves are alternate, entire, ...

'', and ''

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...

''. There are areas of woodland in the northeast of the ecoregion in

Badakhshan Province Badakhshan Province (Dari: بدخشان) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan in the north and the Pakistani regions of Lower and Upper C ...

, featuring wild almond, pistachio, willow, and buckthorn trees. There are no endemic vertebrates, but the isolated areas support a range of non-endemic threatened and endangered species, including the near threatened Argali ('' Ovis ammon''), the vulnerable Goitered gazelle ('' Gazella subgutturosa''), the endangered Kulan (''

Equus hemionus The onager (, ) (''Equus hemionus''), also known as hemione or Asiatic wild ass, is a species of the family Equidae native to Asia. A member of the subgenus ''Asinus'', the onager was described and given its binomial name by German zoologist Pe ...

''), the near threatened Mountain weasel (''

Mustela altaica The mountain weasel (''Mustela altaica''), also known as the pale weasel, Altai weasel or ''solongoi'', primarily lives in high-altitude environments, as well as rocky tundra and grassy woodlands. This weasel rests in rock crevices, tree trunks, ...

''), and near threatened Sand cat ('' Felis margarita'').

Protected areas

Less than 1% of the ecoregion is officially protected. These protected areas include the Dashti-Jum Nature Reserve in Tajikistan.

References

External links

* {{Palearctic desert and xeric shrubland ecoregions Palearctic ecoregions Ecoregions of Afghanistan Ecoregions of Tajikistan Deserts and xeric shrublands