Tugay, also spelt
tugai, is a form of
riparian forest or
woodland associated with
fluvial and
floodplain areas subject to periodic inundation, and largely dependent on floods and groundwater rather than directly from rainfall. Because Tugay habitat is usually linear, following the courses of rivers in arid landscapes, Tugay
communities often function as
wildlife corridors. Tugay habitats occur in
semi-arid and
desert climates in the central Asian region and are highly sensitive to changes in water supply, such as abstraction for
irrigation, and other
anthropogenic effects on the environment. They have disappeared or become fragmented over much of their former range.
