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Site description (2006 baseline):

Sarygamysh Lake is located in the northern part of Turkmenistan. The southern, southeastern and southwestern parts of the lake are within the Sarygamysh Zakaznik (203,561 hectares). The surrounding landscape is sandy and clay desert, solonchaks and depressions. The area of the lake is about 4,000 км2, with depths up to 50 m.

The avifauna of Sarygamysh Lake includes more than 160 species, of which 84 are migrants, 50 passage-nesting and 26 non-migratory and resident. The most typical are Passeriformes (58), Charadriiformes (30), Anseriformes (18) and Falconiformes (13). The total number of waterbirds is 67 species (Rustamov, 1948; 1954; Rustamov, Ptushenko, 1959; Velikanov, Khokhlov, 1979; Eminov, etc., 1987; Atayev, 2005; Shubenkin, 1986; Shubenkin, Antipov, 1990). Pelecanus onocrotalus and Pelecanus crispus, Platalea leucorodia, Phoenicopterus roseus, Oxyura leucocephala, Tetrax tetrax, Otis tarda, Pandion haliaetus, Aegypius monachus, Aquila chrysaetos, Circaetus gallicus, Falco cherrug and Burhinus oedicnemus are listed in the Red Data Book of Turkmenistan (1999). Columba eversmanni, Coracias garrulus, Aythya nyroca and Haliaeetus albicilla are globally threatened species on the Red List of IUCN. Criterion A1: Pelecanus crispus and Aythya nyroca. Criterion А4iii: the site regularly supports more than 20,000 waterfowl and water birds.

Non-bird biodiversity: Zooplankton - 10 species. The maximum number and biomass occurs in the spring and summer period when crustaceans are breeding. Zoobenthos - 24 species, with chironomid larvae predominant - 12 species (Embergenov, Pavlovsk, Mnajev, 1987). Insects - 348 species, including Collembola - 4 species, Thysanura - 2, Blattoptera - 3, Isoptera - 2, Orthoptera - 32, Psocoptera - 2, Homoptera - 62, Thysanoptera - 1, Coleoptera - 178, Hepidoptera - 26, Hymenoptera - 21, Diptera - 15 species (Soyunov, 1991). The ichtyofauna of Sarygamysh Lake (36 species in total) consists of native species of the Aral-Amudarya basin and some Far Eastern species. Cyprinidae are dominant (Sanin, Kostyukovskiy, 1991). Amphibians - 2 species. Reptiles - 10 species: turtles - 1, lizards - 6 and snakes - 3 (Shamakov, 1984; Atayev, 2005). Mammals 71 species: bats - 7, lagomorphs - 2, rodents - 44, predators - 13 and ungulates - 5 species (Strelkov, etc., 1978). Flora - not less than 300 species of higher plants. Dominant are desert species such as Chenopodiaceae - 88 species, Asteractae - 30, Brassicaceae - 26, etc. (Meredov, etc., 2004). Algoflora - 186 species from 33 families and 70 genus. Seaweed: Diatomeae - 61 species, Cyanobacteriae - 29 and Chlorophyta - 16 (Lyubeznov, 1991).

At present, the ecosystem of the IBA is considered to be in a safe condition. The greatest threats are illegal hunting of waterfowl and illegal fishing.

Sarygamysh Zakaznik of Gaplangyr Reserve.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Sarygamysh (Turkmenistan). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/sarygamysh-iba-turkmenistan on 23/12/2024.