The Mountains of Central Asia is a biodiversity hotspot designated by Conservation International which covers several montane and alpine ecoregions of Central Asia, including those of the Pamir and Tian Shan ranges, and extending across portions of Afghanistan, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Conservation International (CI) is a nonprofit organization headquarted in Washington, D.C., that seeks to protect Earths biodiversity hotspots, high-biodiversity wilderness areas as well as important marine regions around the globe. ... Mount McKinley in Alaska has one of the largest visible base-to-summit elevation differences anywhere A mountain is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain in a limited area. ... An ecoregion, sometimes called a bioregion, is a relatively large area of land or water that contains a geographically distinct assemblage of natural communities. ... Located in Central Asia, the Pamir Mountains are formed by the junction of the worlds greatest mountain ranges, a geologic structural knot from which the great Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, and Hindu Kush mountain systems radiate. ... The Tian Shan (Chinese: 天山; Pinyin: Tiān Shān; celestial mountains) mountain range is located in Central Asia, in the border region of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of western China. ...

The hotspot encompasses several habitat types, including montane grasslands and shrublands, temperate coniferous forests, and alpine tundra. The ecoregions in the hotspot include: Montane grasslands and shrublands is a biome defined by the World Wildlife Fund. ... Pine forests are an example of a temperate coniferous forests Temperate coniferous forests are a terrestrial biome found in temperate regions of the world with warm summers and cool winters and adequate rainfall to sustain a forest. ... In physical geography, tundra is an area where tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. ...

• Alai-Western Tian Shan steppe
• Gissaro-Alai open woodlands
• Pamir alpine desert and tundra
• Tian Shan montane steppe and meadows
• Tian Shan montane conifer forests

External link

• Mountains of Central Asia (Conservation International)