Current view: Text account
Site description (2007 baseline):
Site location and context
The IBA is situated in the Dostluk district and covers the Tallymerjen massif. The IBA consists of two parts: in the northwest from the Amudarya – Tallymerjen railway for 5 km and in the southeast from the railway for 25 km.
The landscape-ecological conditions are characteristic of the subzone loessial foothill plain (the Hissar mountains). The acutely continental climate with some subtropical features is characteristic of the region. It comprises of a long hot summer and short winter with little snow.
The avifauna of IBA the includes 200 species, of which more than 30% nest. 18 species listed in the Red Data Book of Turkmenistan (1999) occur.
The IBA qualifies under criterion А1 for Tetrax tetrax. Other A1 species that occur but which do not reach qualifying levels are Aegypius monachus, Aquila heliaca, Circus macrourus, Falco naumanni, Falco cherrug, Chlamydotis undulata and Coracias garrulus.
Criterion А4iii applies for the number of passage and winter waterbirds.
Non-bird biodiversity: Amphibians - green toad and lake frog.
Reptiles – not less than 24 species. (Turtle - 1, lizards - 15, snakes - 8 species).
Mammals - 36 species. Insectivores - 4, bats - 4, lagomorphs - 1, rodents – 19, predators - 6. Ungulates are represented by 2 species: wild boar and gazelle.
Vegetation - on unploughed areas, communities of Halocnemum strobilaceum with ephemerals: Malcolmia, Leptaleum, Crepis, Matricaria, Tetracme, etc.
Agricultural use of the IBA is predominantly grain farming and cotton-growing. The area under crops is extending and has already encompassed all central parts of the IBA. In peripheral areas sheep breeding is heavily developed and year-round grazing pressure exceeds the safe load capacity.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Overgrazing and illegal hunting are the main problems.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
Apart from research by the Turkmenabat antiplague stations on the fauna and ecology of rodents, no specific botanical or zoological studies have been carried out. Similarly, no nature protection projects have been developed.
Not protected.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Tallymerjen (Turkmenistan). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/tallymerjen-iba-turkmenistan on 23/12/2024.
