Biodiversity in Georgia

• Published in: Global Biodiversity Vol. 2; pp. 33 - 70
• Main Authors: Aleksidze, Guram, Givi, Japaridze, Anatoli, Giorgadze, Tamar, Kacharava
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: United Kingdom CRC Press 2019; Apple Academic Press, Incorporated
• Edition: 1
• Subjects: Birch Mouse; grapevine; Vascular Plants; Ultra-violet Rays; Griffon Vulture; Georgia's Forests; wheat; Bearded Vulture; Algae Flora; endemic animals; Picea Orientalis; Subnival Zone; European Sturgeon; Abies Nordmanniana; Light Forest; Bone Fishes; Steppe Biome; Endemic Species; insects; agricultural crops; vertebrates; Bothriochloa Ischaemum; Bosnian Pine; Melanitta Fusca; invertebrates
• ISBN: 9781771887175; 1771887176
• DOI: 10.1201/9780429487750-3

Georgia is distinguished by a great diversity of biomes. It is explained by the diversity of the physicogeographic and climate conditions of the country and in addition by its location at the junction of the phyto-landscapes of different origin. Particular focus should be made on the vegetation of the upper border of the forest of sub-Alpine zone pointed with its huge diversity of flora and phitocenosis and great abundance of endemic and relict species. The vegetation of the sub-Alpine zone is characterized by the following formations: light forests; forests with deformed trees; creeping shrubs; tall grass; and broad-leaved meadows. One of the most important defining factors of the biological diversity of forests is the number of species they contain. Georgian forests are populated by a great many species of trees and bushes. The important indicators of the biodiversity of Georgia forests are the great number of relict and endemic trees and plants.