Biodiversity Hotspot of the Irano-Anatolian Region

Addressing the alarming rate at which biodiversity around the world is declining due to human-caused actions, the book series Biodiversity Hotspots of the World features the 36 hotspot regions of the world, highlighting the most interesting and important properties of these hotspots. The books cover the physiography and climatology; vegetation and forest types; amphibian and reptile biodiversity; genetic diversity of crops, plants, fishes, butterflies, insects, birds, mammals; angiosperms, and gymnosperms; and much more. And of course, the unique threats and conservation efforts for the areas are addressed as well.

This new volume addresses the Irano-Anatolian region, a global biodiversity hotspot in Southwest Asia that encompasses high mountain ranges, such as the Zagros, Alborz, and Armenian Highlands, and significant parts of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkmenistan. The regions high mountain ranges, a result of tectonic activity, has led to diverse habitats, making it home to unique species like salt plants and numerous endemic orchids, many of which are threatened. A region with exceptional levels of native species, it faces serious threats to their survival from habitat loss due to overgrazing, deforestation, drainage of wetlands, military activities, and climate change.

Biodiversity Hotspot of the Irano-Anatolian Region covers the geography, geology, and climate of the region and also explores the diversity of cyanobacteria species, macrofungi, phytoplankton and zooplankton, bryophytes and pteridophytes, fish, soils, and more. It also considers the adverse effects of climate change on the biodiversity of the Irano-Anatolian Hotspot.

This volume joins the others in the Biodiversity Hotspots of the World series as an essential resource for researchers and practitioners in the fields of conservation biology, ecology, and evolution as the series concisely records the existing biodiversity of these biodiversity hotspots of the world.