Flora and vegetation of Afghanistan
The flora and vegetation of Afghanistan is that of a continental and mountainous country that offers a great diversity of habitats with very different ecological conditions, despite extensive drought . This is not least due to the fact that Afghanistan lies at the intersection of several biogeographical zones.
With up to 5,000 suspected higher plant species, Afghanistan therefore has a relatively high number of species in view of the drought (for comparison: around 4,000 plant species are estimated for the roughly half the size of the Federal Republic of Germany). With a share of endemic species of around 30%, the Afghan flora is very rich in plants that cannot be found anywhere else in the world.
Large parts of the country have been reshaped by human influence; millennia of overgrazing, deforestation and agricultural use have resulted in very few, especially remote regions, still showing natural vegetation, despite the size of the country. The establishment of systematic nature conservation is opposed to the country's political situation that has been unstable for decades. It was not until 2009 that the Band-e-Amir Lakes near Bamiyan became the first national park in Afghanistan. Continuous floristic exploration of Afghanistan did not begin until the middle of the 20th century, which is also made difficult by the political situation of the state.
Natural space
Geographical location
Afghanistan is a landlocked country in South Asia at the interface with Central Asia, located between Iran , Turkmenistan , Uzbekistan , Tajikistan , the People's Republic of China and Pakistan . In terms of size, it ranks 41st among all countries in the world, with an area of 652,864 km² it is slightly larger than France with 643,801 km².
topography
The topography of Afghanistan is shaped by the mountain range of the Hindu Kush , which runs through the country from west to east and rises to an altitude of 7485 meters. He dominates the center of the country and separates the different levels from one another. In the north there are plains in the Central Asian border region around the confluence of the Amu Darya at only a few hundred meters above zero, in the west they are in the Iranian highlands at around 1000 meters and in the east they are found in a subtropical climate around Jalalabad . The largest plain of the country in the southwest comprises two deserts or semi-deserts separated by the Hilmend River , the Dasht-e-Margo and Rigestan .
climate
Afghanistan has a distinct continental climate across all regions: the summers are very hot, the winters extremely cold. In summer it can be dry for six to eight months, with significant amounts of precipitation usually only occurring in winter.
In the plains of the north, west and south there is a desert climate, while the plains in the south-east are subtropical and lie in the monsoon catchment area, so that the climate is marked by significantly higher rainfall.
proof
- ↑ a b c Siegmar-W. Breckle: Flora and Vegetation of Afghanistan In: Basic and Applied Dryland Research 1, 2, pp. 155-194, 2007, ISSN 1864-3191
- ↑ cia.gov: The World Factbook , accessed November 9, 2014
further reading
- Siegmar-W. Breckle: Flora and Vegetation of Afghanistan In: Basic and Applied Dryland Research 1, 2, pp. 155-194, 2007, ISSN 1864-3191
