Altitudinal Distribution of Grasshoppers in the Mountains of Inner Asia: Recalling the Past and Imagining the Future

Grasshoppers are one of the most important groups of primary consumers in the mountains of Inner Asia. During outbreaks, they can eradicate all or almost all green phytomass. Besides, these mountains are also home for many endemic taxa. The goal of the article is to reveal the main patterns of acridid altitudinal distribution and its feasible alterations in the mountains of Inner Asia relative to climate change and alteration of human activity. Altitudinal distribution patterns are revealed for the different mountains of Inner Asia, and their peculiarities are characterized. The significant contrast is shown between the northern parts of the region where the altitudinal long-term shifts in grasshopper distribution are absent or very weak and its central and, probably, southern areas wherever such alterations look like extremely considerable. The results of distribution modelling of two mountain endemics (Stenobothrus newskii and S. kirgizorum) are discussed. In this context, importance of adding the data on altitudes is shown. The main trends in grasshoppers’ distribution alterations are characterized for the mountains of Inner Asia. However, these trends are multidirectional and the reasons determining them are not always obvious, problems arise in assessing the factors determining the shifts in the altitudinal boundaries of ranges, and the actual state and probable fate of mountain populations of both possible pests and rare and/or endemic species.