9870187 Dietrich Temperate grasslands are the most threatened of the world's ecosystems; thus, efforts to document the biodiversity of those remaining are urgently needed. Among the few remaining unspoiled temperate grasslands, the steppes of Central Asia are the least well studied, and scientists in the region currently lack the resources necessary to document the fauna effectively. The paucity of specimens from this region in western European and U.S. collections continues to impede research on the Holarctic flora and fauna. This project is a collaborative effort by U.S., Russian, and Kyrgyz scientists to inventory vascular plants and arthropods in the grasslands of Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet Republic situated near the borders of four major desert regions, comprising a transition zone between the Palearctic and Oriental realms, and encompassing a variety of grassland types arranged along steep elevational/climatic gradients. The primary specific goals of the project are: (1) to collect specimens of as many species of arthropods and vascular plants as possible and estimate the diversity of these groups in Central Asian grasslands; (2) to document ecological interactions (e.g., herbivore-host plant) among plants and arthropods in this region; and (3) to provide a searchable, GIS-linked, Internet-accessible database of the grassland flora and arthropod fauna of Kyrgyzstan as well as published checklists and identification guides for selected taxa. The specimens and information generated will aid in identifying conservation needs, provide reference data for comparison to other grassland regions (particularly the more intensively studied Nearctic prairies), and facilitate comprehensive treatments of the vascular flora and arthropod fauna of the Holarctic.
