RED BOOK: Key Biodiversity Area KGZ2 Chandalash

Falco cherrug (Ителги)

Other names: Turkestan saker falcon.
Status: The saker falcon is listed in the International Red Book (category IV) as an endangered species. The number of the species has decreased sharply over the past 5 years in Kyrgyzstan.
Description. In size and build it is very similar to the gyrfalcon (almost never found together), a little smaller. The main color tone is reddish-gray, lighter underneath, most often fawn or close to it, with longitudinal dark streaks. It differs from the peregrine falcon in its reddish coloration, the absence of distinct black “whiskers,” and the light top of the head. Males and females are colored similarly, females are larger. The legs, cere and leathery ring around the eye are yellow. Juveniles are similar to adults, but are generally darker, with a denser dark mottled pattern underneath being especially noticeable; the legs, cere and eye ring are bluish-gray. The flight is strong, but they usually fly with infrequent flaps, alternating active flight with gliding. Sometimes they “shake” like a kestrel. They often soar, and quite high. Weight of males 730-950, females - 970-1300 g, length 42-59, wing of males 34.7-37.2, females - 38.6-42.3, wingspan - 102-129 cm.
Distribution throughout the country. In Kyrgyzstan, it nests exclusively in the mountainous part of the country, at an altitude of at least 1300-1500 m. It goes up to 3000 m in the vertical direction. During hunting, it also appears in lower-lying areas.
Population. The total number has not been established. Rare view. The number is declining everywhere.
Habitat. Middle and upper mountain belt, from 1300 to 3000 m above sea level. Low desert mountains and dry foothills of large ranges, river canyons, chinks, tugai, floodplain forests, mixed spruce forests, rocks and cliffs.
In Kyrgyzstan, the nominate subspecies Falco cherrug J.F. occurs on migration and in winter. Gray, 1834. The remaining subspecies are sedentary: F.c. milvipes Jerdon, 1871, F.c. coatsi, Dementiev, 1945, F.c. hendersoni Hume, 1871.
In Kazakhstan, it lives in steppes and deserts, in areas with the presence of individual trees or groves, power lines, geodetic towers; as well as in chinks, near river cliffs, in rocky outcrops, and gorges in the mountains. The proximity of the habitat of a large number of rodents and birds, which are the main food of saker falcons, is a necessary condition for nesting both on the plains and in the mountains.
Lifestyle. A sedentary nomadic bird. The saker falcon hunts in open areas where there are trees or rocks from which it is convenient to look out for prey. Having seen a suitable object, the saker falcon hovers over the prey in flight, and then dives down at high speed or catches the prey in horizontal flight. Saker falcons never hunt near the nest and always fly away to significant distances (up to 20 km). This feature of saker falcons is often used by small birds. They live quietly and reproduce in the neighborhood, feeling protected because... other birds of prey do not hunt in the Saker Falcon's nesting territory. In the wild, saker falcons have virtually no enemies other than humans.
Nutrition. Saker falcons feed mainly on small mammals: gophers, pikas, and less often large lizards. Can catch hares, marmots and small passerine birds.
Reproduction. Monogamous bird with pronounced nesting conservatism. Appears in breeding areas from late March to April. Breeds in separate pairs at a distance of at least 300-400 m (usually 1-10 km or more) from each other; nests can be located on a tree, on a rock or a pole. One nest is used for several years, but if there is no shortage of nests suitable for breeding, the nest is changed annually. Laying of 2-6 (usually 3-5) eggs occurs from the end of March to May, the chicks hatch in 33-35 days. Only the female incubates for 30 days, the male brings food for the female and initially for the chicks. Chicks are born from early May to early June. Both parents feed the young, which fledge at the age of 45 days, in late May - July. Autumn migration begins in late August - September.
Limiting factors. Habitat degradation as a result of human economic activity. Predation of nests by removing chicks for the purpose of sale. Catching. Gipel on power line supports. Recently, the saker falcon was common, but currently, due to the uncontrolled capture of saker falcons in the wild over the past 10-15 years by Arab poachers and their accomplices from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the saker falcon has become a rare breeding bird.
Existing protection measures: Listed in the Red Book of the USSR (1984). The species is protected by the Red Book of Kyrgyzstan in the country's reserves. It is listed in Appendix II of CITES, Appendix II of the Bonn Convention, Appendix II of the Berne Convention. The bird is endangered due to rapid population decline in Central Asian breeding territories.
Recommended protection measures: Identify nesting sites and strengthen their protection. Ban the capture of falcons. Create a network of protected areas in the main nesting areas. Find out the total size and status of the population in Kyrgyzstan. Create a captive breeding nursery.
Breeding (keeping in captivity). There are several captive breeding projects in the United States, Canada and Europe. Successfully bred in the Kyrgyz State Game Management Agency of the USSR Ministry of Agriculture in 1979.
Sources of information: https://birds.kg/v2taxon.php?s=84&l=ru , https://redbookrf.ru/baloban-falco-cherrug
Gavrilov E. I., Gavrilov A. E. "The Birds of Kazakhstan". Almaty, 2005.
E.I. Gavrilov. "Fauna and distribution of birds of Kazakhstan." Almaty, 1999.
V.K. Ryabitsev. "Birds of the Urals, the Urals and Western Siberia." Ekaterinburg. Publishing house of the Ural University, 2000.
Источники информации: , https://redbookrf.ru/baloban-falco-cherrug]Photo source: [/url]



Tien Shan Birch (Betula tianschanica) Кызыл кайын

Spreading: Species range covers Central Asia - Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and China (Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region) in nature.
Botanic description: Tree is 2-4 m tall, with pinkish bark.
Young twigs are reddish-brown, bare or slightly pubescent and are covered with resinous warts in addition.
External signs of leaves: leaves are simple; petiolate articulation.

Leaves are ovate or narrowly ovate, almost rhomboid-oval, 4 cm long, 2,5 cm wide, pointed, with a broadly wedge-shaped base, bare, entire, coarsely irregularly serrated along the edge, 1 cm long on petioles.
Differences of shoots: leaf arrangement on the shoot is alternate; placement of leaves along the stem length.
Flowers: perianth is inconspicuous; catkin (amentum) inflorescence.
Pistillate catkins are straight, 1,8 cm long, 0,7 cm in diameter, on slightly downy legs 3-4 mm long. Bracts are about 5,5 mm long, only slightly ciliated along the edge, the middle lobe is linear, lateral ones are ascending, rounded, much shorter than the middle lobe.

Fruit: dry type; coloring is with shades of red; dry winged (key); wing appendages; coloring is with shades of yellow; dry nutlet.
Nutlet is ovoid, 2 mm long, slightly downy at the base of column. Wings equal in width to a nutlet or slightly narrower.
Ecology: It lives distantly or in small groups on mountain slopes and river valleys, at altitudes of 1600-2200 m. Blooms in May.
Growing in culture. As for cultivated plantings, it is found in Alma-Ata city only. Can be recommended for afforestation of mountain slopes in the fight against soil erosion.
Source of information:
Source of image:
http://fungi.su/images/photoalbum/album_53/55196_4c0eaa90.jpg
http://fungi.su/images/photoalbum/album_62/75263_9b1bcf62.jpg


Astragalus sandalaschensis

Astragalus (Astragalus) is the largest genus in the Legume family. 2,455 plant species have a common name. These are perennial shrubs or herbaceous shoots. Astragalus blooms in the summer months. Capitate and spike-shaped inflorescences with a delicate scent are painted in various shades of purple, white, yellow, pink, and red.
Botanical description of the species: Flowers: zygomorphic perianth; number of petals 5; inflorescence raceme. External signs of leaves: leaves are complex; the division is pinnate; orders of complexity 1; petiole attachment; there is no division. Differences between the shoots: the leaf arrangement on the shoot is alternate. Fruits: dry type; dry pod or bean.
Distribution: Astragalus primarily grows in temperate geographic areas, with some species found in the tropics and low mountains. The plant is widespread in China, Mongolia, and Central Asia. In Kyrgyzstan, the predominance of species of the genus Astragalus is noted - 169 species.
Ecology: For centuries, astragals have inhabited deserts, semi-deserts, mountain slopes, forest edges and ravines. Depending on the proposed living conditions, the appearance of plants changed.
Interesting facts: The Latin name Astragalus is derived from the Greek word for the dice that the seeds resemble. Most astragals have not been studied at all. Many of them are forage plants and honey plants. The healing properties of this plant have been known since ancient times. Astragalus is used to treat hypertension, edema, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and nervous system.
Information sources: Astragalus sandalaschensis
healing properties of Astragalus.
Umralina A.R., Kim Dongwon INTRODUCTION TO IN VITRO CULTURE OF ENDEMIC Astragalus duanensis Saposhn. Ex Sumn.

Chatkal birch (Betula czatkalensis)

Genus: Birch < family: Birch family < order: Hazelaceae < class: Dicotyledons < division: Flowering plants.
Botanical description of the species:
Flowers: perianth inconspicuous; catkin inflorescence.
External signs of leaves: leaves are simple; petiole attachment.
Differences in shoots: leaf arrangement on the shoot is alternate; placement of leaves along the length of the stem.
Fruits: dry type; dry lionfish; color with shades of brown; wing appendages.

Source of information:



Maykaragan (Calophaca) Pskem (Calophaca pskemica)

Maykaragan (Calophaca) - a genus of plants in the legume family.
Botanical description of the species:
Low shrub with outstretched branches. Young shoots are erect, densely covered with short and long protruding simple hairs. The leaves on both sides are whitish with dense pubescence of semi-adjacent long, slightly curly hairs; Leaflets, 4-6 pairs, from broadly elliptic to obovate, 5-14 mm long, 3-8 mm wide, pointed at the apex.
The inflorescence is a short raceme with 4-7 arranged flowers;
Peduncles up to 12 mm long, protrudingly hairy. Bracts narrowly lanceolate, 8-11 mm long, covered with long simple and short glandular hairs. Pedicels up to 8 mm long, hairy.
Flowers are 20-25 mm long, light orange, turning yellow after flowering; The calyx is 16-21 mm long, tubular-bell-shaped, glandular-hairy, almost more than half divided into teeth, strongly slanted in the pharynx.
The plant blooms in June-July and bears fruit in July-August.
Ecology and distribution. It grows in clayey habitats in groups of savannoid vegetation at altitudes of 1500-2000 m above sea level. u. m. Distribution in Kyrgyzstan. Pskemsky ridge.
General distribution. Endemic.
Cultivation. No information available.
Meaning. Ornamental plant.
Conservation measures in Kyrgyzstan. No conservation measures were taken.
Sources of information and photos: Лазьков Г.А., Умралина А.Р. Эндемики и редкие виды растений Кыргызстана (Атлас) – FAO. Анкара, 2015 г.



Santalash's tick trefoil (Hedysarum santalaschi)

The genus Hedysarum (lat. Hedysarum) belongs to the legume family (Fabaceae). Tick trefoils are perennial herbs, less often low shrubs or subshrubs. There are over 150 species of tick trefoil. Tick trefoils are found mainly in cooler areas of the world, the vast majority of them are found in Central Asia.
Botanical characteristics of the species:
Flowers: perianth zygomorphic; number of petals 5; inflorescence raceme. Flowers in more or less dense clusters.
The ovary has four to eight ovules.
Fruits: dry type; dry pod or bean.
Distribution: Endemic to Kyrgyzstan.
Interesting facts: Plants are called tick trefoil for the shape of round-elliptical flat-compressed beans, stretched across, consisting of several flat segments in the shape of a coin. Tick trefoils are good forage, honey-bearing, and ornamental grasses.
Information sources:
https://fialka.tomsk.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?t=33091
https://openfito.ru/vids/vid/39403
Herbarium photo source:

Phlomoides Adylov, psychrogeton adylovii ( Phlomoides adylovii)

A species of dicotyledonous plants of the genus Phlomoides of the Lamiaceae family. It was first described by the botanist Georgy Lazkov in 2004. The specific epithet is given in honor of Tishabay Adylov, an Uzbek botanist, researcher of the Phlomoides genus (Ognevik genus in Russian).
Spreading: Endemic to Kyrgyzstan.
Botanical description:
Hemicryptophyte - a plant in which, during a period of the year that is unfavorable for vegetation, renewal buds remain at ground level. Buds can be protected by scales, and in winter by dead leaves and snow cover.
Perennial herbaceous plant 0.7-1 m high.
The stem is simple, glabrous, straight.
Leaves pubescent; the upper leaves are ovate or broadly lanceolate, the lower ones are ovate.
The inflorescence consists of three whorls with a large number (more than 50) flowers with a tubular calyx and a pink pubescent corolla.
Close to the species Phlomoides alaica, from which it differs in wider leaves, multi-flowered whorled inflorescence and pubescence of the calyx.

Herbarium photo source:


Seseli tenellum

Seseli is a genus of herbaceous plants of biennial or perennial plants of the Celery, or Apiaceae, family, numbering about 50 species. Representatives of the genus are distributed in Europe, Western Siberia, Asia Minor and Central Asia. A number of species grow in meadows and forests, others on rocky slopes or steppes, and some on sand.
Botanical description of the species:
Seseli tenellum is a herbaceous plant up to 100 cm high with a single grooved, sinuous or spindle-shaped root.
Leaves: lower leaves are green with a bluish bloom, vaginal, triple pinnately dissected, linear pointed lobes. The upper leaves are smaller and pinnate. Differences between the shoots: the leaf arrangement on the shoot is alternate.
Flowers: actinomorphic perianth; number of petals 5, small with multi-leaved linear-lanceolate involucres, collected in umbellate inflorescences with numerous rays. The gillyweed blooms in July-August.
Fruits: dry yellow carp; dry type; dry achene.
Interesting facts: Most Seseli species are classified as essential oil plants and are good honey plants. Common names are suzik or crane grass. The roots, stems and leaves of Seseli are used in the treatment of tumors of various types. Tinctures of the aerial parts of Seseli help cope with toothache, cramps, fever, suffocation and diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.
Information sources: https://vk.com/wall-150503450_33540
https://fialka.tomsk.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38184
Herbarium photo source: