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Biodiversity, ecological and cultural heritage
284. 
Individual peculiarity of the nature of Karakalpakstan located in a desert zone of the 
Central Asian region is defined by an extremely continental, desert climate with small 
amounts of precipitation given such a large evaporation rate. A large part of the territory is 
occupied by the deserts of the Ustyurt plateau and Kyzyl Kum. The drying Aral Sea and 
Amudarya river delta intervene between them and are, in their turn, divided by another (new) 
desert named Aral Kum. The flora and fauna of the deserts reveal their adaptation to rather 
unfavourable ambient conditions. The deserts' vegetative cover sharply changes depending 
on the substrate: psammophytic vegetation commands the sands, gypsophyte vegetation -
the rocky substratum, halophytic vegetation - the solochak soils, and sagebrush and 
sagebrush-and saltwort and ephemeral vegetation - the loamy soils. The desert's animals 
also adjust to excessive heat and moisture shortage in a number of ways. Some of them shift 
to a nocturnal way of life and escape from the day’s heat hiding in holes or burrowing in the 
sand or sitting out on the bush branches. W hat water shortage in the desert has led to is that 
some desert animals do not drink water at all and do not even know how to drink (yellow 
ground squirrel).
285. 
They obtain the necessary moisture from plants, and predators - from their preys' 
blood. The animals of ephemeral deserts that lead to a strenuous life in the spring go into 
aestivation during the hot summer period. The Republic of Karakalpakstan records 498 
vertebrate species spread over its territory, including 68 mammals, 307 birds (of which, 141 
breeding, 20 wintering, and 14 migratory birds), 33 reptiles, 2 amphibians, and 49 fish 
species. There is roughly 7 times as many invertebrate animals, but they have been very
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poorly studied. Insects are the most diverse - 1,392 species that fall into 23 orders. Other 
invertebrates - the parasites of fish, birds, crustaceans, and shellfish are the most fully 
investigated. Thus, the fish are known to have 436 parasite species, the birds - 133 helminth 
species alone. 45 flea species and 16 mite species have been found on rodents. The tugai 
biocoenosis records 420 invertebrate species, 264 - in gypsum desert, and 180 - in sandy 
desert.
286. 
The main protected natural areas and IBA zones is presented in the table below:
Table 29: Main P rotected N atural A reas and IBA Z on es in Karakalpa kstan