Tugay is a form of

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks a ...

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

associated with

fluvial In geography and geology, fluvial processes are associated with rivers and streams and the deposits and landforms created by them. When the stream or rivers are associated with glaciers, ice sheets, or ice caps, the term glaciofluvial or fluv ...

and

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

areas in arid climates. These

wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free ( anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

are subject to periodic inundation, and largely dependent on floods and groundwater rather than directly from rainfall. Tugay habitats occur in semi-arid and

desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

s in

central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the former ...

. Because Tugay habitat is usually linear, following the courses of rivers in arid landscapes, Tugay communities often function as

wildlife corridor A wildlife corridor, habitat corridor, or green corridor is an area of habitat (ecology), habitat connecting wildlife populations separated by human activities or structures (such as roads, development, or logging). This allows an exchange of i ...

s. They have disappeared or become fragmented over much of their former range.

Distribution

The centre of the range of Tugay vegetation is the

Tarim Basin The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Northwest China occupying an area of about and one of the largest basins in Northwest China.Chen, Yaning, et al. "Regional climate change and its effects on river runoff in the Tarim Basin, China." Hyd ...

in north-western China, where the Tarim Huyanglin nature reserve in the middle reaches of the Tarim River holds the largest areas of intact Tugay forests, with a 1993 estimate of about 61% of the total. The

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the former ...

n countries hold another 31%, with smaller areas remaining in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. Tugais also occur in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

Vegetation

Close to rivers and where

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidat ...

levels are shallow, the vegetation is usually dominated by poplars (especially '' Populus euphratica'') and

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist ...

s such as '' Salix songarica''. Where the forest has been disturbed, other species such as

tamarisk The genus ''Tamarix'' (tamarisk, salt cedar, taray) is composed of about 50–60 species of flowering plants in the family Tamaricaceae, native to drier areas of Eurasia and Africa. The generic name originated in Latin and may refer to the Ta ...

, sea-buckthorn and

oleaster , signifying a plant like an olive, but less valuable (cf. poetaster), may be applied to: *Feral olive trees that have been allowed to run wild *'' Olea oleaster'', the wild olive *Various species of ''Elaeagnus'', notably ''Elaeagnus angustifolia' ...

will grow. Herbaceous plants include reeds, common spike rush, jointleaf rush, fleabane, cocklebur and thorn apple. Grass tugai vegetation is dominated by '' Phragmites australis'', '' Calamagrostis'' and ''

Typha ''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford ...

''. Where the groundwater is deeper, oaks and elms will dominate.British Petroleum. 2002. "Ecological Baseline Report". BTC Pipeline ESIA, Azerbaijan. Retrieved 2013-03-30. The principal causes for the loss of tugai vegetation include dam construction, tree cutting, grazing, and agriculture.

Notes

References

{{reflist Forests Deserts and xeric shrublands Riparian zone Wetlands

Distribution

Vegetation

Notes

See also

References