ZONAL DIFFERENTIATION AND STRUCTURE OF OASIS LANDSCAPES IN CENTRAL ASIA

Human impacts in arid and semiarid environments are especially pronounced in oasis landscapes, which are examined here as a special type of ecosystem modified by human activity. Several different approaches to analyzing and categorizing these landscapes for mapping are reviewed, and in particular those based on their latitudinal and altitudinal zonation. Considerable attention is then devoted to developing a typology for the mapping of oasis landscapes in intermontane basins of Central Asia, which are described in terms of both natural conditions and economic development. Schematic maps of land use and natural zones are presented for four different oases. Translated by Edward Torrey, Alexandria, VA 22308 from: Geografiya i prirodnyye resursy, 1989, No. 4, pp 62-70.

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