ABSTRACT
Tajikistan is a typical mountainous country. Mountains make up 93% of its territory. More than 60% of the territory of Tajikistan is located at or above 2500 masl. The conservation of biodiversity in the high mountains that have been used intensively as summer pastures has become an important problem. Extensive use of pastures and periods of drought have caused severe degradation in many parts of the subalpine and alpine zones. The productivity of the pastures has changed greatly over the years, and the animal population is rarely provided with a steady supply of forage. In the subalpine and alpine zones of the Pamir-Alai, the following types of pastures can be distinguished: summer cryophilic pastures and heath, prickly-grass summer pastures, summer steppe, swamps and meadow summer pastures, and long-grass mountain steppe. It also includes autumn–winter desert pastures and in the lower areas short-grass mountain steppe as winter pastures and winter–spring pastures.
