Kuzmina Zh.V., Troshkin S.E., Shinkarenko S.S. Influence of Dammed River Flow and Climate Changes on the Dynamics of Terrestrial Systems of the Low Volga // Arid ecosystems. 2018. V. 24. № 4 (77). P. 3-18. | PDF

This article continues a series, published here previously, about complex ecological studies in the basin of Low Volga, which were started in 2014 to explore the modern state of terrestrial ecosystems and reveal tendencies of transformations of natural environment as well as the responsiveness of those ecosystems under the influence of climate changes and anthropogenic factors. The studies were carried out according to our own original two-stage method of evaluation of disturbances in terrestrial ecosystems under the changes of area flooding. On the first stage we found out about the possible changes in the flooding according to the analysis of changes of perennial climate and hydrological data. On the second stage we evaluated the degree of ecosystems and landscapes disturbance according to the complex of various biological indices. The main reasons of changes of abiotical (hydrological and climatic) components of ecosystems, influencing the transformation of landscapes, were revealed for Low Volga. We determined the main reasons of changes of some components of terrestrial ecosystems, related to the growth of winter low water expense and winter fall-off, which along with climate changes affect the increase of gleying of soils on the entire profile and degradation of floodplain ecosystems.

Keywords: winter low water expense, ground water level, gleying, floodplain ecosystems, vegetation dynamics, ecosystems disturbance.

DOI: 10.24411/1993-3916-2018-00030