Areas Of Central Asia Research Articles

Out of Transcaucasia: Origin of Western and Central Palearctic populations of Microthlaspi perfoliatum

Quaternary climatic oscillations had strong effects on Palearctic biodiversity. Although Transcaucasia is hypothesised to be a centre of diversity for many taxa, relatively few studies have investigated its potential role as such, or as a Pleistocene refugium. Using AFLP and sequence data (ITS, matK, trnL-F) from samples collected across the entire range of Microthlaspi perfoliatum, from the Iberian peninsula to Kazakhstan, and including the Mediterranean Basin and Central Europe, in this study it is examined how the interplay of Pleistocene climatic oscillations and historical demography may have shaped the current genetic structure of the species. The results of this study provide evidence that M. perfoliatum survived Pleistocene glaciation in five major refugia, Iberia, southwestern France, Italy, the Balkans and Anatolia/Transcaucasia and a sixth, unknown refugium in the disjunct distribution area in Central Asia. Our analyses support an ancient colonisation of M. perfoliatum towards the western and central Palearctic, perhaps, during the early Pleistocene or late Pliocene, likely starting from Transcaucasia. However, postglacial recolonisation of western and Central Europe has taken place from two distinct refugia, namely southwestern France/northern Italy, and Anatolia/Southern Balkans, respectively. The Iberian populations apparently did not contribute to postglacial recolonisation of Europe, perhaps because the Pyrenees acted as a significant barrier to dispersal. It is also conceivable that a rapidly expanding population from southwestern France and the southeastern part of the range effectively blocked the establishment of latecomers. The present study thus reveals a complex pattern of colonisation of Europe from Transcaucasia, with an interplay of climate and physical geography as main factors shaping the present-day genetic structure of M. perfoliatum.

Bioecological Characteristics and Natural Resources of <i>Rhaponticum integrifolium</i> in Uzbekistan

The large life cycle Rhaponticum integrifolium in natural populations (Qashqadaryo, Uzbekistan) was studied. Duration of before generative, generative and senile periods of Rhaponticum integrifolium is 2 - 5, 8 - 10 and 2 - 4 years respectively. The beginning of phenophases depends on the height of the terrain above sea level: raising the terrain from 400 to 1500 m leads to a delay in the onset of phenophases. Age states of Rhaponticum integrifolium in different ecological and phytogenetic conditions were revealed. Updated distribution of detected participation of vegetation and the raw Rhaponticum integrifolium in Uzbekistan, describes the dynamics of the contents ecdysteroids in the periods of vegetation. At the same time, a map of the species area in Central Asia was made and the term of its phytomass recovery under different operating modes of thickets was determined.

An Imperial Project for the Colonisation of Mirzacho’l

This article studies the development and passage of the bill concerning the colonisation of land irrigated by the state in Mirzacho’l (Rus. Голодная степь, lit. Hungry Steppe), a large area of Central Asia, in the early twentieth century. The new principles of organised colonisation supported by the state have not been studied previously. On the eve of the revolution, there was a process of “nationalisation” of the empire which involved the transformation of relations between the centre and the periphery. During the discussions, the government formulated the purpose of agrarian colonisation of Turkestan in the interests of the empire, which was followed by active measures taken for the geopolitical and economic consolidation of the periphery. For the first time in history, the centre determined the image of settlers and their economy, setting the ambitious goal of creating a “Russian Turkestan”. The leading role was played by A. V. Krivoshein, head of land management and agriculture. The study refers to published and archival legislative and administrative documents, works of officials and statesmen, and materials from the State Duma. It is concluded that through legislation, the authorities organised the selection of wealthy settlersto be who had experience in agriculture and set a number of restrictions for them. The government intended to create a stratum of petty Russian farmers in Turkestan who would lead a profitable economy on irrigated lands without using hired labour: they would grow the cotton necessary for the state while ensuring the strengthening of economic ties with the imperial centre and serving as a role model for the indigenous population in economic and cultural terms. The bill also testified to the strengthening of Russian nationalism among the authorities. The study demonstrates that the government’s initiative as a whole received support in the Duma, which established the basis for the equality of all estates and reflected the debatable character of the need for national and cultural restrictions. However, the implementation of the law and the establishment of “Russian Turkestan” were interrupted by the war and the revolution.

Spatiotemporal characteristics of future changes in precipitation and temperature in Central Asia

The arid and semi‐arid areas in Central Asia have scarce water resources and fragile ecosystems that are especially sensitive and vulnerable to climate change. Reliable information regarding future projections of change in climate is crucial for long‐term planning of water resources management and structural adjustment of agriculture in this region. However, the low‐density meteorological observation network brings great challenges for investigating the effects of climate variations. In this study, variations of precipitation and temperature in Central Asia were examined by a combination of gridded climate dataset of the Climate Research Unit and the latest general circulation models (GCMs) under a representative concentration pathway 4.5. Three downscaling methods, Delta, Advanced Delta, and Bayesian model averaging (BMA) methods, translate the coarse GCMs to local climatic variations for the period 2021–2060 relative to 1965–2004. Major results suggested that the Advanced Delta and BMA methods outperformed the Delta method in precipitation downscaling. Projected precipitation exhibited a general increasing trend at a rate of 4.63 mm/decade for entire Central Asia with strong spatiotemporal heterogeneity. While a declining trend was observed in the southwestern and central parts of Central Asia in summer. The projected temperature was revealed an obvious ascending at 0.37°C/decade, while the warming rate accelerated in higher latitude and mountainous areas. [Correction added on 03 December 2018, after first online publication: The preceding statement has been corrected in this version.] The surface land coverage had significant effects on the variations of precipitation and temperature, respectively. The driven factors of local climate were suggested by analysing the relationships between climate variations and large‐scale atmospheric circulation fields anomalies. The findings of this study aims to provide useful information to improve our understanding for future climate change and benefit local decision makers.

Disentangling the relative impacts of climate change and human activities on arid and semiarid grasslands in Central Asia during 1982–2015

In recent decades, climate change and human activities have severely affected grasslands in Central Asia. Grassland regulation and sustainability in this region require an accurate assessment of the effects of these two factors on grasslands. Based on the abrupt change analysis, linear regression analysis and net primary productivity (NPP), the spatiotemporal patterns of grassland ecosystems in Central Asia during 1982–2015 were studied. Further, the potential NPP (NPPP) was estimated using the Thornthwaite Memorial model and the human-induced NPP (NPPH), which was the difference between NPPP and actual NPP, were used to differentiate the effects of climate change and human activities on the grassland ecosystems, respectively. The grassland NPP showed a slight upward trend during 1982–2015, while two obvious decreasing periods were found before and after the mutation year 1999. Additionally, the main driving forces of the grassland NPP variation for the two periods were different. During 1982–1999, climate change was the main factor controlling grassland NPP increase or decrease, and 84.7% of grasslands experienced NPP reduction, while the regions experiencing an increase represented only 15.3% of the total area. During 1999–2015, the areas of increasing and decreasing grassland NPP represented 41.6% and 58.4% of the total area, respectively. After 1999, human activities became the main driving force of the NPP reduction, whereas climate change facilitated grassland restoration. The five Central Asian countries showed widely divergent relative impacts of climate change and human activities on NPP changes. In Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, anthropogenic decreases in grassland NPP intensified during 1982–2015, while the negative anthropogenic effects on grassland NPP in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan moderated. Further analysis identified precipitation as the major climatic factor affecting grassland variation in most areas of Central Asia and overgrazing as the main form of human activity accelerating grassland degradation. This study improves the understanding of the relative impacts of climate change and human activities on grasslands in Central Asia.

Increased seasonality and aridity drove the C4 plant expansion in Central Asia since the Miocene–Pliocene boundary

Continuous and high-resolution records of the content, mass accumulation rate (MAR) and δ13C values of black carbon obtained from Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Site U1430 in the southwestern Japan Sea have been established and combined with previous results obtained from Central Asia. The main objective of this work is to reconstruct the historical changes in vegetation types (C3–C4), and to constrain the driving force of C4 plant expansion over the last 13 Ma. The stable carbon isotope value of black carbon (δ13CBC) shows a major shift since the Miocene–Pliocene boundary (∼5.3 Ma), suggesting significant expansion of C4 plants in broad areas of Central Asia, including the inland basins of northwestern China and the Loess Plateau. However, a decline in the content and MAR of black carbon reveals the absence of any link between fire and C4 plant expansion in Central Asia, due to the dramatic decrease in biomass under a drying regime. On a global scale, asynchronous expansion of C4 plants suggests that regional hydroclimatic change, rather than decline in CO2 concentration, was the most important factor to influence C4 expansion. We propose that the increased seasonality and the enhanced long-term aridity driven by the concurrent decline in winter westerly vapor, and increase in East Asian summer monsoon precipitation, were the main driving forces of C4 plant expansion in broad areas of Central Asia. Variations in winter westerly moisture have played a significant role in changes of regional climate and vegetation in Central Asia since the late Miocene.

Michele Minardi, Ancient Chorasmia. A Polity between the Semi-nomadic and Sedentary Cultural Areas of Central Asia: Cultural Interactions and Local Developments from the Sixth Century BC to the first century AD (Acta Iranica 56), Louvain: “Peeters”, 2015—199 pp.

Michele Minardi, Ancient Chorasmia. A Polity between the Semi-nomadic and Sedentary Cultural Areas of Central Asia: Cultural Interactions and Local Developments from the Sixth Century BC to the first century AD (Acta Iranica 56), Louvain: “Peeters”, 2015—199 pp.

A review of the Elachista subula Parenti species complex (Lepidoptera, Elachistidae), with descriptions of nine new Palearctic species.

Taxonomy of the here established Elachista subula species complex is reviewed. This species complex is subordinate to the E. dispilella group sensu Kaila et al. (2015), in subgenus Aphelosetia. The E. subula species complex is exclusively Palearctic. Most of the currently recognized species occur in dry areas in Central Asia where they appear to form a significant part of the Elachista diversity. The constituent species are characterized by a phallus with bent and sharp-tipped apex, and the vesica with one weakly sclerotized plate-like cornutus that usually bears one blunt or spine-like tooth. Fourteen species are recognized, of which the following 9 are described as new: E. ameteria Kaila, sp. nov. (Type locality country Kazakhstan), E. cisoria Kaila, sp. nov. (Spain), E. cultella Kaila, sp. nov. (Mongolia), E. drepanella Kaila, sp. nov. (Russia: Tuva), E. marusiki Kaila, sp. nov. (Mongolia), E. perona Kaila, sp. nov. (Kyrgyzstan), E. platamodes Kaila, sp. nov. (Croatia), E. scalpra Kaila, sp. nov. (Turkey) and E. spinipyra Kaila, sp. nov. (Turkmenistan). Redescriptions are given to E. mus Parenti¸ E. bimaculata Parenti, E. semnani Parenti, E. subula Parenti and E. acutella Kaila.

EQUIPMENT BASIS OF PERFORMANCE OF RESULTS OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH WORKS

The article provides information on modern high-precision digital laboratory instruments obtained within the framework of the BioWat scientific project: The German Federal Republic (BMBF), sponsored by the Ministry of Education and Science, is the“Resources management in the salinized and drought stress-endangered irrigation areas of Central Asia for adapting to climate change” with the aim of improving the material and technical base of the Tashkent Institute of Irrigation Engineers and Agricultural Mechanization.

Molecular Phylogeny ofAstragalussect.Ammodendron(Fabaceae) Inferred from Chloroplastycf1 Gene

Species of Astragalus section Ammodendron (Fabaceae) are restricted to desert areas in central Asia, Afghanistan, and Iran. In the present study, the variable plastid gene ycf1 was used to reconstruct its phylogeny using parsimony, Bayesian and likelihood methods as well as network analysis. Phylogenetic analyses of ycf1 sequences strongly supported monophyly of the section Ammodendron. The ycf1 phylogeny was congruent with the combined nrDNA ITS, trnH-psbA, trnT-Y and ycf1 data sets. The group assembly in neighbor-net splits graph corresponded to the clades retrieved in the phylogenetic analyses and offered a graphical visualization of relationships between species. Poor phylogenetic resolution within the sect. Ammodendron s. str. may be due to rapid speciation and lower rates of nucleotide evolution. In conclusion, the close relationships among several species can provide pieces of evidence for further investigations on the molecular and morphological delimitation of this section.

An Opportunity for Academic Research on Eurasia

With the Journal of Eastern European and Central Asian Research (JEECAR) accepted to the Elsevier-SCOPUS, this publication presents a fresh prospect for the advanced research activities related to the Eurasian continent. A current vibrant political situation in this part of the world, partially explain the “turbulences” taking place and affecting the economic development of countries representing the region. As of today, relatively little economic research has been performed on the dramatically changed situation in the region, and especially in the Central Asian area.

Spatiotemporal variability of snow cover and snow water equivalent in the last three decades over Eurasia

Changes in the extent and amount of snow cover in Eurasia are of great interest because of their vital impacts on the global climate system and regional water resource management. This study investigated the spatial and temporal variability of the snow cover extent (SCE) and snow water equivalent (SWE) of the continental Eurasia using the Northern Hemisphere Equal-Area Scalable Earth Grid (EASE-Grid) Weekly SCE data for 1972–2006 and the Global Monthly EASE-Grid SWE data for 1979–2004. The results indicated that, in general, the spatial extent of snow cover significantly decreased during spring and summer, but varied little during autumn and winter over Eurasia in the study period. The date at which snow cover began to disappear in spring has significantly advanced, whereas the timing of snow cover onset in autumn did not vary significantly during 1972–2006. The snow cover persistence period declined significantly in the western Tibetan Plateau as well as partial area of Central Asia and northwestern Russia, but varied little in other parts of Eurasia. “Snow-free breaks” (SFBs) with intermittent snow cover in the cold season were principally observed in the Tibetan Plateau and Central Asia, causing a low sensitivity of snow cover persistence period to the timings of snow cover onset and disappearance over the areas with shallow snow. The averaged SFBs were 1–14 weeks during the study period and the maximum intermittence could even reach 25 weeks in certain years. At a seasonal scale, SWE usually peaked in February or March, but fell gradually since April across Eurasia. Both annual mean and annual maximum SWE decreased significantly during 1979–2004 in most parts of Eurasia except for eastern Siberia as well as northwestern and northeastern China. The possible cross-platform inconsistencies between two passive microwave radiometers may cause uncertainties in the detected trends of SWE here, suggesting an urgent need of producing a long-term, more homogeneous SWE product in future.

Impacts of Modern Glacier Changes on Surface Water Resources in Western and Northern Mongolia

Water trapped in glaciers and in lakes impounded by landforms created by glaciers (glacial lakes) are an important component of the hydrology and water resources in high mountain areas of Central Asia. Changes in modern glaciers and glacial lakes are an important component of the hydrology of watersheds in the Mongolian Altai and Khuvsgul Mountain Ranges, western and northern Mongolia, respectively. Here we focus on Mt. Ikh Turgen and Mt. Munkh Saridag, isolated mountains of the Mongolian Altai and Khuvsgul Mountain Ranges, respectively. We use remote sensing to track changes in modern glaciers over time with mapping at scales of 1:200,000 for Mt. Ikh Turgen and 1:90,000 for Mt. Munkh Saridag based on imagery from Google Earth, 30 m resolution Aster Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and 30 m resolution Landsat 5 TM. Mt. Ikh Turgen lost 45.6% of its total glacier area between 1970 (41.4 km2) and 2011 (18.9 km2) and the Equilibrium Line Altitude (ELA) of the glaciers increased in elevation by 98 m and 144 m on north and south aspects, respectively. Mt. Munkh Saridag lost 57.3% of its total glacier area between 1970 (901 m2) and 2007 (381 m2) and the local ELA rose by 47 m and 80 m on north and south aspects, respectively. These mountains are located at similar latitudes, and so the greater percentage loss of glacier area in Mt. Munkh Saridag and faster changes in ELAs in Mt. Ikh Turgen may reflect variations in elevation and aspect, duration of solar radiation, and vulnerability to solar radiation, as well as variations in glacier scale. This study demonstrates the importance of spatial analyses of modern glaciers in understanding the context of hydrological changes within which any sustainable water resource management plan must be situated.

Елена Анатольевна Волкова (к юбилею исследователя растительности гор, степей, пустынь, лесов, лугов, болот)

On May 3, 2018 Elena Anatolievna Volkova ce­lebrates her anniversary. She is a highly qualified phytogeographer, thoughtful field researcher, expert in mountain vegetation of Asia, tireless traveler. The field of her scientific interests is the regularity of vegetation cover, small- and large-scale mapping of vegetation in different regions of Eurasia. She has made a great contribution to the study of the composition and structure of vegetation cover of complex and inaccessible arid and subarid mountain areas of Central Asia. E. Volkova began to work in deserts and steppes of Kazakhstan, and then 15 years studied arid plain and mountain regions of Mongolia. In Joint Soviet-Mongolian complex biological expedition of Academies of sciences of USSR and Mongolian People’s Republic E. Volkova investigated the deserts of Alashan Gobi, Trans-Altai Gobi and Dzhungarian Gobi. The result of these field works was a publication on the study of the relationship between the composition and structure of plant communities with the petrographic composition of rocks in melkosopochniks in different subzones and provinces of Gobi (Volkova, 1976); together with E. I. Rachkovskaya original vegetation maps of these extra-arid territories were created (Rachkovskaya, Volkova, 1977, 1980, etc.). The collected data on mountain vegetation were used to produce the vegetation map of Mongolia in the National Atlas (Karta..., 1990) and the monograph “Botanical geography of Mongolian and Gobi Altai” (Volkova, 1994). E. Volkova has made two vegetation maps: of Asia in atlas “Our Earth” (Волкова, 1996) and (together with I. Fedorova) of the World (scale 1: 60 000 000) for “Resources and Environment: World Atlas” (Volkova, Fedorova, 1998). In 2003 the monograph “Botanical geography of Kazakhstan and Central Asia (within the desert area)” was published in which E. Volkova is the author of a large section “Vegetation cover of mountains” and sub-section “Mountain provinces” in the section “Principles and basic units of regionalization” (Volkova, 2003a, b). After the collapse of the Soviet Union, most of the arid areas of the country became inaccessible for research, and E. Volkova’ interests have turned to the vegetation of the Northwest of European Russia (Le­ningrad Region). The Botanical Institute of Russian Academy of sciences organized complex researches for the purpose of inventory of natural complexes and their components in territories valuable for nature protection, and also of areas of economic importance. The result of this work was the organization of natural protected areas in the Leningrad Region and Saint Petersburg and the publication of the “Atlas of natural protected areas of St. Petersburg” (Atlas..., 2013, 2016) and 11 collective monographs (2001–2017) in which E.Volkova is the constant co-editor and author of the sections on vegetation. E. A. Volkova has published about 190 works, including articles in the journals “Proceedings of theRussianGeographical Society”, “Botanical journal”, “Vegetation of Russia”, “Biosphere”, the “Geobotanical mapping” (Volkova, Khramtsov 2018). She conti­nues to be an active field researcher and preparing new articles and monographs.

Modifying Hargreaves-Samani Equation for Estimating Reference Evapotranspiration in Dryland Regions of Amudarya River Basin

Reference evapotranspiration (ETo) is a key factor in determining the amount of water needed for crops, which is crucial to correct irrigation planning. FAO Penman-Monteith (EToPM) is among the most popular method to estimate ETo. Apparently sometimes it is difficult to compute ETo using Penman-Monteith due to challenges on data availability. FAO Penman-Monteith method requires many parameters (solar radiation, air temperature, wind speed and humidity), while Hargreaves-Samani method calculates ETo based on air temperature. Because Central Asia is a data limited region with weather stations unable to provide all required parameters for the PM method, this study aimed to estimate ETo using the Hargreaves and Samani (HS) method in Karshi Steppe, in Kashkadarya province, in southern Uzbekistan, based on data from 2011 to 2017. Reference evapotranspiration calculated by non-modified HS method is underestimated during the summer months. The reason for this underestimation might be higher air temperature and wind speed during these months. Therefore, the HS method in its original form cannot be used in our study area to estimate ETo. Modification of the EToHS, through application of a bias correction factor, had better performance and allowed improving the accuracy of the ETo calculation for this region. The calculated ETo values can inform decision making and management practices regarding water allocation, irrigation scheduling and crop selection in dry land regions of Amudarya river basin and the greater Central Asia area.

Climate changes reconstructed from a glacial lake in High Central Asia over the past two millennia

Climatic changes in Arid Central Asia (ACA) over the past two millennia have been widely concerned. However, less attention has been paid to those in the High Central Asia (HCA), where the Asian water tower nurtures the numerous oases by glacier and/or snow melt. Here, we present a new reconstruction of the temperature and precipitation change over the past two millennia based on grain size of a well-dated glacial lake sediment core in the central of southern Tianshan Mountains. The results show that the glacial lake catchment has experienced cold-wet climate conditions during the Dark Age Cold Period (∼300–600 AD; DACP) and the Little Ice Age (∼1300–1870 AD; LIA), whereas warm-dry conditions during the Medieval Warm Period (∼700–1270 AD; MWP). Integration of our results with those of previously published lake sediment records, stalagmite δ18O records, ice core net accumulation rates, tree-ring based temperature reconstructions, and mountain glacier activities suggest that there has a broadly similar hydroclimatic pattern over the HCA areas on centennial time scale during the past two millennia. Comparison between hydroclimatic pattern of the HCA and that of the ACA areas suggests a prevailing 'warm-dry and cold-wet' hydroclimatic pattern over the whole westerlies-dominated central Asia areas during the past two millennia. We argue that the position and intensity of the westerlies, which are closely related to the phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), and the strength of the Siberian High pressure (SH), could have jointly modulated the late Holocene central Asia hydroclimatic changes.

Multi-decadal variations in glacier flow velocity and the influencing factors of Urumqi Glacier No. 1 in Tianshan Mountains, Northwest China

Urumqi Glacier No. 1 is a representative glacier in the inland areas of Central Asia and is the only Chinese reference glacier in the World Glacier Monitoring Service. In this study, we explored multi-decadal variations in the flow velocity of the glacier and the influencing factors based on continuous field observations and path coefficient analysis. Results show that the glacier flow velocity decreased from 5.5 m/a in 1980/1981 to 3.3 m/a in 2010/2011. The annual variation in the direction of glacier flow velocity in the western branch and eastern branch was less than 1°–3°, and the change of glacier flow velocity in the western branch was more dramatic than that in the eastern branch. Glacier flow velocity was influenced by glacier morphology (including glacier area, glacier length, and ice thickness), glacier mass balance and local climate conditions (air temperature and precipitation), the glacier morphology being the leading factor. The long-term flow velocity data set of Urumqi Glacier No. 1 contributes to a better understanding of glacier dynamics within the context of climatic warming.

HOW MIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE AFFECT MICROECONOMIC WELLBEING IN CENTRAL ASIA

Climate change may pose serious challenges to the economies of Central Asian countries, but in-depth studies on a national level are lacking. The paper is aimed to contribute filling this gap and devoted to assessing the economic impacts of climate change in selected areas of Central Asia. The methods of the desk study and documental analysis are used to summarize the adverse effects of climate change in rural livelihoods. Moreover, the preliminary results of the survey conducted in selected regions of Fergana valley within MikroKlima project used as a corresponding data for economic impact analysis on a household level. The results reveal that the effects of unfavorable weather conditions uneven for short and long term, and across Central Asia. Moreover, the most potential damage from climate change will affect the rural population, and there is also a high positive correlation between water shortage, increased aridity, and poverty, aggravated by climate change.

Assessing spatio-temporal characteristics of water storage changes in the mountainous areas of Central Asia based on GRACE

The mountainous areas of Central Asia provide substantial water resources, and studying change in water storage and the impacts of precipitation and snow cover in the mountain ranges of Central Asia is of the greatest importance for understanding regional water shortages and the main factors. Data from the GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) satellites, precipitation products and snow-covered area data were used to analyze the spatio-temporal characteristics of water storage changes and the effects of precipitation and snow cover from April 2002 to December 2013. The results were computed for each mountain ranges, and the following conclusions were drawn. The water storage in the mountainous areas of Central Asia as a whole increases in summer and winter, whereas it decreases in autumn. The water storage is affected by precipitation to some extent and some areas exhibit hysteresis. The area of positive water storage changes moves from west to east over the course of the year. The water storage declined during the period 2002–2004. It then returned to a higher level in 2005–2006 and featured lower levels in 2007–2009 Subsequently, the water storage increased gradually from 2010 to 2013. The Eastern Tianshan Mountains and Western Tianshan Mountain subzones examined in this study display similar tendencies, and the trends observed in the Karakorum Mountains and the Kunlun Mountains are also similar. However, the Eastern Tianshan Mountains and Western Tianshan Mountains were influenced by precipitation to a greater degree than the latter two ranges. The water storage in Qilian Mountains showed a pronounced increasing trend, and this range is the most strongly affected by precipitation. Based on an analysis of all investigated subzones, precipitation has the greatest influence on total water storage relative to the snow covered area in some areas of Central Asia. The results obtained from this study will be of value for scientists studying the mechanisms that influence changes in water storage in Central Asia.

The Distribution of Petroleum Resources and Characteristics of Main Petroliferous Basins along the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st‐Century Maritime Silk Road

AbstractThe Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st‐Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative, abbreviated as the Belt and Road Initiative, is a primary development strategy of China's future international cooperation. Especially, the energy resource cooperation, including oil and gas resources cooperation, is an important part of this initiative. The Belt and Road has undergone complicated geological evolution, and contains abundant mineral resources such as oil, gas, coal, uranium, iron, copper, gold and manganese ore resources. Among these, Africa holds 7.8% of the world's total proven oil reserves. The oil and gas resources in Africa are relatively concentrated, with an overall low exploration degree and small consumption demand. Nigeria and Libya contain the most abundant oil resources in Africa, accounting for 2.2% and 2.9% of the world's total reserves, respectively. Nigeria and Algeria hold the richest natural gas resources in Africa, occupying 2.8% and 2.4% of the world's total reserves, respectively. Africa's oil and gas resources are mainly concentrated in Egypt, Sultan and Western Sahara regions in the northern Africa, and the Gulf of Guinea, Niger River and Congo River area in the western Africa. The Russia–Central Asia area holds rich petroleum resources in Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The potential oil and gas areas include the West Siberia Basin, East Siberia Basin and sea continental shelf in Russia, the northern and central Caspian Basin in Kazakhstan, the right bank of the Amu‐Darya Basin, the East Karakum uplift and the South Caspian Basin in Turkmenistan, and the Amu–Daria Basin, Fergana Basin, Afghan–Tajik Basin and North Ustyurt Basin in Uzbekistan. The Middle East oil and gas resources are mainly distributed in the Zagros foreland basin and Arabian continental margin basin, and the main oil‐producing countries include Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq. The Asia Pacific region is a new oil and gas consumption center, with rapid growth of oil and gas demand. In 2012, this region consumed about 33.6% of the world's total oil consumption and 18.9% of the world's total natural gas consumption, which has been ranked the world's largest oil and gas consumption center. The oil and gas resources are concentrated in China, Indosinian, Malaysia, Australia and India. The abundant European proven crude oil reserves are in Norway, Britain and Denmark and also rich natural gas resources in Norway, Holland and Britain. Norway and Britain contain about 77.5% of European proven oil reserves, which accounts for only 0.9% of the world's proven reserves. The Europe includes main petroliferous basins of the Voring Basin, Anglo–Dutch Basin, Northwest German Basin, Northeast German–Polish Basin and Carpathian Basin. According to the analysis of source rocks, reservoir rocks, cap rocks and traps for the main petroliferous basins, the potential oil and gas prospecting targets in the Belt and Road are mainly the Zagros Basin and Arabic Platform in the Middle East, the East Barents Sea Basin and the East Siberia Basin in Russia–Central Asia, the Niger Delta Basin, East African rift system and the Australia Northwest Shelf. With the development of oil and gas theory and exploration technology, unconventional petroleum resources will play an increasingly important role in oil and gas industry.