Zezva Asanidze

• PhD
• Ilia State University

Diversity and distribution of oribatid mites in the unique, relict Colchic rainforests of Machakhela National Park (MNP), which is UNESCO world heritage have been surveyed. Oribatid mite communities were investigated at six sites of Machakhela National Park (West part of Georgia) in the most common habitat types of Colchic forests: Alder (Alnus bar...

This case study is aimed to investigate the invertebrate fauna and distribution features of the faunal and floral diversity in seven habitats represented on the territory of the Saskhori limestone quarry and its adjacent territories (Eastern Georgia, Caucasus). Totally, 122 species of invertebrates and 131 species of plants were registered. The iso...

Elevational gradients in species richness and species-area relationships are among the most interesting patterns in ecology and biogeography. Both patterns can be characteristic of the same system; however, current knowledge of how these patterns co-exist and how we can disentangle their contributions to biodiversity structure is insufficient. In t...

In mountain areas where livestock farming and overgrazing have led to deforestation and the decrease of forest ecosystem services for centuries, it is necessary to develop sustainable strategies to restore forest ecosystems. We here investigate the case study of Javakheti Highland in the Southern Cau-casus (Georgia), which has been largely deforest...

Prometheus Cave is one of the largest caves in Georgia among the local six show caves. Before opening the cave as a tourist attraction, no research was conducted on the cave to study the invertebrate community living there, despite the cave's status as a natural monument. Before our study, only 22 species of invertebrates were known from Prometheus...

Leaf functional traits widely have been used to understand the environmental controls of resource utilization strategy of plants along the environmental gradients. By using key leaf functional traits, we quantified the relationships between leaf traits and local climate throughout the distributional range of Rhododendron caucasicum Pall. in eastern...

The global climate change will affect all the ecosystems around the world, but the most rapidand sharp changes are expected in high mountain areas with one of the most sensitive biomes.Global climate is changing and this is obvious due to a wide range of observations. GLORIA isa monitoring program to determine the effect of climate global change on...

The Colchis forests contribute to the biodiversity hotspot in the Caucasus eco-region. We investigated the plant diversity of these forests in the central part of Adjara (W Georgia). The aims of our study were (i) to differentiate the forest vegetation diversity in the mountain belt forests by means of phytosociology, (ii) to associate endemic taxa...

Forest degradation worldwide stimulates efforts to restore forests. In particular, in mountain areas, where livestock agriculture and grazing have led to deforestation and a strong decrease in forest ecosystem services over centuries, it is necessary to develop sustainable strategies for the restoration of multifunctional forest ecosystems. We inve...

A widely distributed species of the pine in Georgia is - Pinus kochiana in the Caucasus Mountains. Central Great Caucasus higher is 5047 m of Mt. Kazbegi and many summits are higher than 4000 m. Caucasian pine from 300 to 2600 m above of alpine treeline ecotone. Caucasian Pinus kochiana is on slopes from 784-2417 m. Forest degradation will be activ...

Information about the cave invertebrates of Georgia, Caucasus, is summarised, resulting in 43 troglo- and 43 stygobiont taxa reported from 64 caves. Species distribution analyses were conducted for 61 caves harbouring 58 invertebrate taxa, with the majority of caves (39) located in Apkhazeti (north-western Georgia). In 22 caves from central-west Ge...

Forests in Adjara are distinguished by rich and unique diversity of plants and habitats. In the book are presented inventory materials about the following rare and endangered species of Adjara forest: Arbutus andrachne L., Ostrya carpinifolia Scop., Osmanthus decorus Boiss. & Balansa, - Betula medwedewii Regel, Rhododendron ungernii Trautv; and Rho...

Forests in Adjara are distinguished by rich and unique diversity of plants and habitats. In the book are presented inventory materials about the following rare and endangered species of Adjara forest: Arbutus andrachne L., Arbutus andrachne L., Ostrya carpinifolia Scop., Osmanthus decorus Boiss. & Balansa, - Betula medwedewii Regel, Rhododendron un...

Kazbegi Municipality is located in the Central Great Caucasus at an altitude between 1250 and 5047 m a.s.l. Agriculture of this area is extreme internal variability and complexity, with a multiplicity of highly localized providing the habitats and agricultural lands for much genetic erosion of crop varieties, animals, plants, fungi, and other life...

The elevational gradient in biodiversity, i.e. the decrease in species richness with increasing altitude, is well established in ecology. Here, we examined the respective gradient of parasitic hymenopterans (Encyrtidae) and plants in the Lagodekhi National Park (Country of Georgia) across an elevational gradient from 665 m to 2559 m a.s.l. by means...

We investigate the generality of Rapoport’s rule, that is an increase of elevational range size with increasing elevation, vs. the climatic variability hypothesis, which predicts correlations between the range of variation of climatic parameters tolerated by species and the maximum seasonal variation of these parameters experienced by these species...

Kazbegi Municipality is located in the Central Great Caucasus at an altitude between 1250 and 5047 m a.s.l. Agriculture of this area is extreme internal variability and complexity, with a multiplicity of highly localized providing the habitats and agricultural lands for much genetic erosion of crop varieties, animals, plants, fungi, and other life...

Georgia (South Caucasus) has wild Caucasian pear (Pyrus caucasica) representing as relict and endemic species of the Caucasus. It is determined by molecular analysis as the ancestor of 15 pear landraces of Georgia. We used in situ and ex situ methods for conservation of P. caucasica, as crop wild progenitor and relative for pear varieties breeder....

Pemphigus saliciradicis (Hemiptera: Aphididae: Eriosomatinae) lives on roots of Salix spp. (Salicaceae) and Vitis vinifera (Vitaceae) in Holarctic region. Morphometric data for eight morphological characters, measured from 10 field collected samples (50 specimens) were analysed by principal component analysis (PCA) and canonical discriminant analys...

The problem of genetic erosion of landraces and their wild relatives needs active contributions by national policies and comprehensive measures are urgently needed to avoid the complete loss of ancient crop genetic resources in Georgia. International nature conservation institutions and Georgian scientific and nongovernmental organizations should s...

214 individuals of 26 local, 9 introduced pear cultivars and 3 wild progenitor species of cultivated pear: Pyrus caucasica Fed.; P. balansae Decne. and P. pyraster (L.) Burgsd. have been evaluated by 27 morphological characters. 6 quantitative and 6 qualitative leaf and young shoot and 14 qualitative fruit descriptors have been used in multivariate...