Flora of Kyrgyzstan

Diversity of Flora in Kyrgyzstan

Introduction
This work contains a brief description of useful plants in Kyrgyzstan, with a primary focus on wild species.

The preparation of this work utilized results from several expeditions conducted by us over different years (from 1943 to 1983) in the territory of Kyrgyzstan. Additionally, literary sources and other materials were widely used.
Our work does not claim to be exhaustive or to cover all useful plants in Kyrgyzstan. We have identified over 1600 useful plant species in the republic, but only the most significant 400 are characterized in this work. This limitation is due to the restricted volume of the book, which did not allow for a detailed description of a larger number of useful plants in the region.

In undertaking this work, we set the following tasks: to identify useful plants in Kyrgyzstan, to provide a general analysis of its flora, to describe groups of plants based on their useful properties, and to give a brief description of each group, paying special attention to those plant species that create significant biomass and are economically important, or are interesting as promising plants, or are important for understanding general biological patterns in the accumulation of various useful plastic substances.

It should be noted that the division of plants into useful groups, as undertaken below, is quite conditional, since some plants possess not just one but many useful properties and can therefore be rightly classified into different useful groups. However, even such a — as mentioned, quite conditional classification — is thought to help navigate the useful flora of Kyrgyzstan.

Plants constitute the main biomass of our planet, with over 500,000 species.

However, from this vast number, humans utilize only about 2,500 species, and only 200 of these find widespread application in the national economy. Hence, the exceptional importance of studying useful plants becomes quite clear, especially in floristically rich mountainous areas such as the Tien Shan and Alai, the majority of which is occupied by Kyrgyzstan.

In the vast territory of the former Soviet Union, about 18,000 species of flowering plants grow. In Kyrgyzstan, which occupies only 1% of the territory of the country, 3,786 species of higher flowering plants are distributed. Thus, the flora of the republic, even without considering mosses, fungi, lichens, algae, and other plants, constitutes about 23% of the flora of the USSR.

But the flora of Kyrgyzstan is rich not only in the total number of species; it is also rich in the number of useful plants. According to preliminary data, there are over 1,600 species here. Therefore, the interest in the useful flora of this mountainous region is quite understandable.

According to our data, over 630 species of forage plants grow in Kyrgyzstan. They are the basis for the development of animal husbandry — the main sector of the republic's economy, which provides 70% of its income.

Around 550 species of medicinal alkaloid and poisonous plants are also widespread here.

For many types of medicinal raw materials, such as ephedra, prangos, and ferula, Kyrgyzstan occupies one of the leading positions in the post-Soviet space.

Honey and pollen plants represent enormous value for the national economy. There are over 400 species of these in Kyrgyzstan. They form the basis for the development of a highly profitable sector of agriculture — beekeeping.

The republic is also home to a wide variety of tannin-producing and essential oil plants. In the steppes, deserts, forests, and meadows of Kyrgyzstan, there are over a hundred species. These plant species are promising not only in terms of economic use but also attract significant interest from a theoretical — general biological perspective. Their study and analysis of the conditions under which they concentrate plastic substances allow for the uncovering of several important patterns in the life of plants.

The rich plant resources of Kyrgyzstan include insecticidal, rodenticidal, phytoncide-producing, and other useful plants. In Kyrgyzstan, 101 species of food and nut-bearing plants have been registered, as well as many other useful species.

And although the plant palette of the republic is extremely diverse, little attention is paid to the floristic resources of Kyrgyzstan. The plant riches of the region are not fully utilized, and many of them — such as forage plants — are in some cases used irrationally. One of the reasons for this situation is precisely the weak study of the useful flora of the republic.

In the report "Current State of Scientific Research in the Study of Flora and Its Use for the Needs of Industry, Agriculture, and Medicine," presented to the plenary session of the Scientific Council of the USSR Academy of Sciences on the problem of "Study, Comprehensive Use, and Reproduction of Natural Resources," Academician A. A. Fedorov rightly notes: "... The richest flora of the USSR (18,000 species) can serve as a source for obtaining various types of raw materials for medicine, agriculture, and various industries. The richest plant resources of our country are still not used efficiently enough and in some cases are clearly used irrationally.

As a result, the national economy of the USSR does not receive the proper economic effect from the exploitation of plant resources, and with the existing organization of plant resource use, their further preservation and reproduction are under serious threat."

Indeed, the problem of rational use of plant resources, their preservation, and reproduction is currently one of the most important state tasks.

Tons of honey, inulin, starch, numerous vitamins, essential oils, and other plant products are lost in nature every year, while the population and the national economy are in urgent need of them. On the other hand, some useful plants in Kyrgyzstan are used excessively, without regard for their renewal, leading to the degradation of the populations of useful species and even the complete disappearance of some of them. Such a situation contradicts the regulations on nature conservation and the rational use of natural resources. Furthermore, the study of the useful flora of Kyrgyzstan is necessary to address a number of national economic problems — the development of deserts, the expansion of arable land, the restoration of forests, the stabilization and development of rocky and gravelly slopes of mountains, and the search for new species of medicinal, tanning, and other raw materials.

It is worth noting that recently important government resolutions have been adopted in our country on this issue. These include reforms in general and vocational education, resolutions on the effective use of irrigated lands, and finally, the food program.

Meanwhile, in the textbooks currently used by students in secondary schools and vocational schools, as well as by students in technical schools and universities in the republic, this flora is almost not reflected. There are no educational materials on local useful flora, popular literature about useful plants in Kyrgyzstan and their role in implementing the Food Program. Hence, it becomes quite clear that school teachers and students, educators in universities, and students in the republic face significant difficulties in studying the curriculum, organizing youth educational work on nature conservation, and conducting excursions in their native land. There is an acute need for a book about useful plants felt by agricultural workers and medical professionals. In this book, students and specialists could gain knowledge necessary not only for successful studies and work but also to prepare them for labor in collective farms and state farms, and for schoolchildren — in production and contracting brigades where they work or plan to work after graduation.

Fedorov A. A. Current State of Scientific Research in the Study of Flora and Its Use for the Needs of Industry, Agriculture, and Medicine. USSR Academy of Sciences, Moscow—Leningrad, 1971.