Zagros Mountains - Ecology

Ecology

The Zagros Mountains contain several ecosystems. Prominent among them are the forest and forest steppe areas with a semi-arid climate. As defined by the World Wildlife Fund and used in their Wildfinder, the particular terrestrial ecoregion of the mid to high mountain area is Zagros Mountains forest steppe (PA0446). The annual precipitation ranges from 400 mm to 800 mm (16 to 30 inches) and falls mostly in the winter spring. The winters are severe, with low temperatures often below −25°C (-13°F). The region exemplifies the continental variation of the Mediterranean climate pattern, with a snowy, cold winter and mild rainy spring followed by a dry summer and autumn.

Although currently degraded through overgrazing and deforestation, the Zagros region is home to a rich and complex flora. Remnants of the originally widespread oak-dominated woodland can still be found, as can the park-like pistachio/almond steppelands. The ancestors of many familiar foods, including wheat, barley, lentil, almond, walnut, pistachio, apricot, plum, pomegranate and grape can be found growing wild throughout the mountains. The Zagros are home to many threatened or endangered organisms, including the Zagros Mountains Mouse-like Hamster (Calomyscus bailwardi), the Basra Reed-warbler (Acrocephalus griseldis) and the Striped hyena (Hyena hyena). The Persian fallow deer (Dama dama mesopotamica), an ancient domesticate once thought extinct, was rediscovered in the late 20th century in Khuzestan province in the southern Zagros.