Asia Plant Geography

Farthest to the north, in Siberia, is the Arctic tundra with poor moorland and bog areas. Further south, it gradually turns into forest tundra (tajga) and coniferous forest. In Russia and western Siberia, the northern forest boundary is formed by an eastern race of red spruce and in eastern Siberia by larch.

The boreal coniferous forest grows in a wide belt in central Siberia between ca. 45 ° and 70 ° n.br. and dominated by spruce, pine, birch, electricity and willow. The growth period is about three to five months and the annual rainfall is 350-700 mm; ca. ²/₃ of the zone have permafrost, and large areas are covered by the marshes. The flora is uniform and relatively poor in species.

Deciduous forest occurs in Western Siberia as a mosaic between the coniferous forest in the north and the steppe in the south, but is found mainly in the temperate parts of eastern Asia, ie. in central and northeastern China and in most of Japan. These forests are richer than similar deciduous forests in Europe and North America, but are often dominated by species from the same genera, such as oak, chestnut, elm, ash, walnut, maple and lime. Some genera, such as hickory, trumpet and tulip trees, occur in East Asia and North America, but disappeared from Europe during the Ice Age. Many ornamental shrubs originate from the East Asian deciduous forest area, for example, species of rose, cherry, lilac, Forsythia and Spiraea. To the north and in mountainous areas is a larger conifer of coniferous trees. Above the tree line is found in Japan and especially in China species-rich alpine meadows.

In southern Japan and southern part of central China defined by Countryaah, the deciduous forests are transformed into species-rich, evergreen forests with, among other things. species from the families Lauraceae (laurel), Theaceae (tea), Magnoliaceae (magnolia) and Hammamelidaceae (witch). Among the naked-seeded plants are some peculiar “living fossils”: Ginkgo (temple tree) and Metasequoia (water spruce). Bamboo species can dominate locally. China is believed to have approx. 30,000 species of seedlings or nearly three times as many as Europe. In most of the lowlands, the natural vegetation is replaced by cultivated land.

The Pontic-Central Asian region includes very large areas of steppe, semi-desert and desert from southern Ukraine and Russia through the Iranian highlands and Central Asia to Pamir, Tibet and Gobi. The southern Russian black soil areas were formerly characterized by grass steppes, which were often dominated by feather grass and had a rich spring flowering of, among other things. bulbs, but for the most part they are now cultivated. The Iranian highlands and adjacent areas are dominated by steppes and semi-deserts with many thorny pillow plants in genera such as Cousinia and Astragalus. The area is relatively species rich, eg there are approx. 9000 species of seedlings in Iran alone. The high plateaus of Pamir, Tibet and Gobi are dry and barren; the poor vegetation is characterized by grasses, wormwood and species in the salt-herb family. This family is also common in the salt-affected lowlands north of the Caspian Sea.

In the eastern Himalayas (Sikkim), mountain rainforest grows at heights between approx. 900 and 2000 m; it contains both tropical elements such as screw palms and bamboo and northern temperate genera such as Castanopsis and Lithocarpus (from the beech family). The rainforest is replaced by a coniferous forest zone and in the fog zone (about 2600 to 4000 m) of Rhododendron scrub. In the alpine area there is a rich meadow vegetation with, for example, many species of cod rivers and lowland shrubs of barberry, juniper and heather family. The vegetation limit is about 5700 m above sea level.

Large parts of Southeast Asia are characterized by rainforests and monsoon forests, which are among the world’s richest vegetation types. Important families are screw palm trees, the ginger family, the dipterocarpus family and the fig family. The area is very rich in orchids, especially epiphytic species. Among the epiphytic rainforest plants are also the insect-eating Nepenthes. Pepper, cinnamon, mango, breadfruit and sago palm originate from this, and so can sugar cane and coconut palm. In drier areas, for example in the interior of Thailand, the forests are deciduous; Here, among other things, teak. In the Philippines and New Guinea, there is a certain Australian genus, such as Casuarina (ironwood) and Eucalyptus, on high mountains also species from genera that usually occur in northern temperate regions, such as ranunks and starfish. Along the Malabar coast of India are tropical rainforests with bamboo and palm trees. In large parts of the Indian peninsula, the original vegetation is savanna-like, among others. acacias and other genera of the pea flower family; in the northwest there are desert-like areas.

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Fauna, Flora and Climate

Asia’s territorial breadth promotes differences in latitude, low- and high-altitude regions and the great influence of air masses and continentality/maritimity, which promote a good multiplicity of climate types and plant formations on the continent.

Thus, on the Siberian plain, for example, tundra formations begin to emerge. Heading south, we will have a region covered by the taiga. Already in the archipelagos located in South Asia, we find equatorial and tropical forests. Temperate forests will occur frequently in the Far East, while xerophytic vegetation will be common in the desert or semi-arid areas of the continent.

Formed from an enormous continental expanse, Asia completes spaces from all climate areas of the northern hemisphere: equatorial, tropical, temperate and polar. In the far north lands prevail the polar climate, which is becoming milder towards the south.

The center of the continent, because it is far from maritime influences, blocks the passage of ocean winds carried by the temperate continental climate, thus alternating high temperature summers with very cold winters. Already the temperate ocean, supports variations depending on the altitude of the relief, latitude and interiority.

Further south, to the rear of the great mountain ranges, which block the entry of the moist ocean winds, are vast expanses surmounted by semi-arid climate and arid climate, forming a vast strip of deserts. However, the main climate phenomenon in the region is the tropical monsoon, with heavy rainfall during the summer.

It is marked by the activity of winds, known as monsoons, that rush from the Indian and Pacific to the mainland during summer, and from the interior of Asia to these oceans during winter. Both heavy rainfall in the region influenced by equatorial and tropical climates and the high abundance of melting snow from the high mountains benefit the existence of large rivers, which cross in almost every direction of the Asian continent. Of these, the main ones are: Yangtze River in China; Brahmaputra and the Ganges in India; the Indus River in Pakistan and; in the Persian Gulf, the Tiger and the Euphrates.

Finally, it is worth remembering that in mountain regions, due to altitude, we will find very low temperatures, regardless of their geographical location.