Biodiversity and Conservation

Biography

Biography: Munira Karamkhudoeva

Abstract

The western Pamir is a remote mountain region in the South of Tajikistan. Due to its harsh and varied environment and many centuries of active crop selection and domestication by farmers, the region is rich in agrobiodiversity. Traditional crops such as grains (e.g. wheat, rye, barley), beans, and fruits (mulberry, apricot, walnut, apple), and the latter brought to the region through the ancient Silk Road, are well adapted to the caprices or their surroundings. Many of these species are represented with more than 50 landraces, or varieties. Vegetable crops have been introduced relatively recently and their (genetic) diversity is small. The Pamir people by and large depend of subsistence agriculture for their livelihoods. However the recent scenario of climate change threatens and increases the vulnerabilities of the mountain communities of Pamir. Despite diversity and high degree of local adaptation, Pamir agriculture remains vulnerable to extreme or unpredictable weather events and crop damage from insect pests can severely damage harvests. This affects the livelihoods and food security of the Pamir communities. Recent humanitarian and development efforts aimed at income generation may exacerbate this situation by increasing farmers’ reliance on introduced fruit varieties and vegetables that are less able to cope with climatic changes and pests.

Objectives of the Study: The objective of this study is to investigate how pest insects might affect the production of vegetable and fruit crops under future climate conditions in the Pamirs.

Findings of the Study: Over a period of 10 years the Pamir Biological Institute has gathered data on the abundance and phenology of agricul­tural insect pests, with an emphasis on vegetable pests and how they impact vegetable and fruit growing. Insect and plant behavior were investigated along an elevation gradient to gain insight into potential future climate patterns and to de­termine their relative capacity for adaption to these changing patterns. In the absence of reliable meteorological data, a number of sources, including farmer observations, were combined to gain an idea of climatic changes already underway. The study highlights different insect pests belonging to different insect orders and families at different altitude and climatic zones; their distribution in different ecological zones, which species are in abundance in which zones; which species have high mobility to long distances and inhibit diverse habitats. Behavior and daily activities of different insects in different ecological zones/climatic conditions; conducive ecological conditions for certain insect pests and the new insects/pests which were not inhibited in Pamir region. Influence of climate change on pest incidence and damage to crops of economic importance