Flora of Azerbaijan
Flora of Azerbaijan or Vegetation of Azerbaijan is about the plants, trees, flowers which can be found in Azerbaijan.[1][2]
Azerbaijan has a very rich flora, where more than 4,500 species of plants have been documented in the country. Due to the different climate types in Azerbaijan which range from subtropical along the Caspian Sea coast, temperate further inland, and continental and subarctic in the mountains, the flora is much richer in the number of species than the flora of the other republics of the South Caucasus. About 67% of the species growing in the whole Caucasus can be found in Azerbaijan.[1][2]
Many plant species are also native, and are found in no other country. Another reason why Azerbaijan has many plant species, many of which are relicts of the Tertiary period, is because they were not affected by Pliocene and Pleistocene glaciations and did not become extinct.[1][2]
The richness of Azerbaijan's flora and the many types of its vegetation also results from its geography and topography that provide many different habitats, like mountains, plains, bodies of water, etc.[1][2]
The ecosystems found in Azerbaijan where plant life is most widespread, are grassland (mostly in the plains), forest (mostly in the mountains), tundra (in the high mountains) and wetland.[1][2]
The forest is the ecosystem which has the most number of plant species in Azerbaijan. The forests are found mostly in the Caucasus Mountains, which have a lot of precipitation. The forests in these places are mostly deciduous (which lose their leaves in autumn) and are coniferous in higher elevations. There are also mixed deciduous and coniferous forests in middle elevations.[1][2]
In drier areas, which are usually in the plains, the forests and plants are xerophytic (resistant to drought).[1][2]
However, in the steppes found in the plains which are semi-arid grasslands and the largest ecosystem of Azerbaijan, where forests and trees cannot grow, plant life is made up of flowers and some shrubs which are resistant to drought.[1][2]
References
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- Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan (in Azerbaijani and English)
