COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE COMPOSITION OF THE TERRESTRIAL FAUNA AND FLORA OF THE TETHYS DESERT-STEPPE REGION OF PALEARARTICS, BIOGEOGRAPHIC BOUNDARIES OF THE CAUCASUS. MESSAGE 2. FLORA

Aim. The aim is to conduct an inventory and comparative analysis of the species and generic composition of the flora of the Caucasus, Turkey, Iran and Kopetdag.

Methods. In the research, authors’ own collections and catalogs of flora of Turkey and Iran are used. In making the dendrograms, the Jaccard similarity coefficient was used; the Sorensen-Chekanovskii coefficient was used for the dendrites.

Results. The species composition of the flora of the study territory was analyzed; the dominant families and genus were identified. In total, in the area under consideration, there are currently 17487 species related to 1742 genera. 125 genera are common for the study area. The calculated similarity coefficients showed the common flora for the Caucasus and Turkey: the generic composition (more than 60%) and the species composition (more than 20 %.)

Conclusion. Analysis of the literature data illustrates the role of Central Asia and the Caucasus as ancient independent centers of formation of flora and fauna of arid regions of the Tethys desert-steppe belt of the Palearctic. The research allowed to identify the specific features of participation of various system groups in the general biota of the Caucasus; features of the geographical distribution of endemic species are determined. 

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