Changing Landscapes in the Tien Shan Mountains of Kyrgyzstan

Dr. Win McLaughlin (Oberlin College) discusses how ecosystems rapidly and drastically change, driving the evolution of modern cold-adapted organisms and ecological communities, as illustrated by the Tien Shan of Kyrgyzstan.
The high Tien Shan mountains that dominate Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia are some of the youngest mountains on Earth. Their extremely rapid uplift continues today, affecting humans with a high earthquake hazard. This ‘mountain-building’ has drastically impacted life and ecosystems over the past 10 million years. As recently as five million years ago, the Tien Shan mountains were semi-forested landscapes full of fantastic beasts such as tusked rhinos, spike-headed giraffes, and grizzly-bear-sized hyenas.