Архив метки: pasture

ECOLOGICAL AND PHYTOCENOTIC CHARACTERISTICS OF HALOCNEMETA STROBILACEI PASTURE OF KARAKALPAK USTURT

Arid Ecosystems

UDC 581.5 (575.13)

Shomurodov X.F., Rakhimova N.K., Saitjanova U.Sh. ECOLOGICAL AND PHYTOCENOTIC CHARACTERISTICS OF HALOCNEMETA STROBILACEI PASTURE OF KARAKALPAK USTURT // Arid Ecosystems. 2023. Vol. 29. № 4 (97). P. 154-165. | PDF

The article presents the ecological and phytocenotic characteristics of the Halocnemeta strobilacei type of pastures common on the territory of the Karakalpak Ustyurt (Uzbekistan). The species composition, the productivity of pasture differences, the type of soil, the percentage of projective grass cover, landscape types are characterized, the recommended seasonality of use is determined. According to geobotanical zoning, the Halocnemeta strobilacei type of pasture covers the territory of the Barsakelmes, Sarykamysh and Churuk districts of the Karakalpak Ustyurt and occupies 123736 hectares. This type consists of three pasture differences: Halocnemum strobilaceum, Haloxylon ammodendron-Halocnemum strobilaceum, Kalidium capsicum-Halocnemum strobilaceum, common on wet and plump salt marshes with very close occurrence of highly mineralized soil water, as well as on loamy and sandy loam saline soils. The differences are characterized by sparsity of vegetation cover and extreme poverty of species composition, reaching in some cases to a monodominant community. Such a poverty of the species composition of Halocnemeta strobilacei type is explained by the presence of a high concentration of soil solution, to which a limited number of species are adapted. The seasonal productivity ranges from 0.9 to 4.3 kg/ha, According to estimates of the yield of the eaten part (kg/ha), it is recommended to use the studied pasture differences as an autumn-winter pasture.

Keywords: Ustyurt plateau, aridization, pasture, productivity, pasture load, bonitet, degradation.

Funding: The work was carried out within the framework of the state program (PFI-5) «Assessment of the current state of vegetation cover and pasture resources of the Republic of Karakalpakstan».

DOI: 10.24412/1993-3916-2023-4-154-165

EDN: WVFXAY

PALATABILITY OF PLANT COMMUNITIES AS ONE OF THE CRITERIA FOR QUALITATIVE EVALUATION OF MONGOLIAN PASTURES

Arid Ecosystems

UDC 551.45+631.585

Danzhalova E.V.,  Ariunbold E.,  Dorofeyuk N.I., Myagmarsuren D.,  Bazha S.N. PALATABILITY OF PLANT COMMUNITIES AS ONE OF THE CRITERIA FOR QUALITATIVE EVALUATION OF MONGOLIAN PASTURES // Arid Ecosystems. 2023. Vol. 29. № 2 (95). P. 98-108. | PDF

The study of the ecological state and the socio-economic value of pasture ecosystems in Mongolia lying under the progressive degradation remains an important task. The existing methods of pastures forage assessment are either labor-intensive (zootechnical method), or do not reflect the real situation (assessment of overall productivity) under formation of low-species or monodominant degraded communities. To determine the fodder value and productivity of pasture ecosystems in Mongolia, a Palatability Coefficient (PC) has been proposed. It was determined on the basis of data on the forage attractiveness of plant species making up the community, as well as the diversity of species eaten. The PC was calculated as the ratio of the consumed phytomass to the total aboveground phytomass, multiplied by the number of eaten species consisted of the composition of dominants and co-dominants. The PC was determined for 158 plant communities of meadow and steppe pasture ecosystems. They were ranked in 4 categories. It has been established that a significant part of the studied communities has a high PC. Although these communities are characterized by varying degrees of anthropogenic disturbance, including severe, the high PC is due to the fact that some of the digressively active species have a satisfactory or good palatability. Probably, this fact supports the potential for an increase in the number of livestock in Mongolia, as it has a wide range of forage preferences. At the same time, there are a high proportion of pastures with low and very low PC. To a greater extent, such pastures are formed by true and dry steppe plant communities, which are under the highest pasture load in Mongolia.

Keywords: Mongolia, meadow ecosystems, steppe ecosystems, nomadic animal husbandry, pasture, pasture digression, fodder assessment, above-ground phytomass, feed attractiveness of plants, palatability coefficient.

Financing. The research was carried out for the scientific program of the Joint Russian-Mongolian integrated biological expedition of the Russian and Mongolian Academies of Sciences, topic 3.1.2. “Assessment of Degradation of Vegetation Cover of Steppe Ecosystems Taking into Account Regional and Economic Factors”, and for the state task of the A.N. Severtsov Institute for Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, No. 0109-2019-0007 “Historical Ecology and Biogeocenology”.

DOI: 10.24412/1993-3916-2023-2-98-108

EDN: RXJSPZ

STABILITY OF PHYTOMASS DYNAMICS IN PROTECTED LOW MOUNTAIN-STEPPE LANDSCAPES AND PASTURES IN THE SOUTHERN URALS

Arid Ecosystems

UDC 911.2 (470.56)

Khoroshev A.V. STABILITY OF PHYTOMASS DYNAMICS IN PROTECTED LOW MOUNTAIN-STEPPE LANDSCAPES AND PASTURES IN THE SOUTHERN URALS // Arid ecosystems. 2022. V.28. № 3 (92). P. 3-13. | PDF

In the steppe zone, the high sensitivity of the vegetation cover to humidification contrasts raises the question of the dependence of the intraseasonal dynamics of phytomass on the spatial pattern of vegetation cover and relief in a landscape. We performed a case study in the Aituarskaya steppe (Orenburg region) to test the hypothesis about the inequality of the spatial factors of variability of functioning under the conditions of the reserve regime and pasture impact. Based on the frequency of occurrence of five gradations of deviations of the intraseasonal increments of the vegetation index NDVI from the mean values, the measure of instability of the types of dynamics of green phytomass (Shannon’s index) was calculated. The relationship between the types of dynamics and the types of natural boundaries, due to belonging to the relief forms with the characteristic types of phytocenoses, has been established. Areas of the most unstable phytoproductive functioning are characteristic of valleys with meadow steppes. The reserve regime stabilizes the dynamics of phytomass due to a higher subordination to landscape-scale climatic processes. On grazed areas, frequent changes in the variants of phytomass increments are more characteristic and dependence on local factors (e.g., stoniness, groundwater level) increases. In the pasture area, in some places, the dominant dynamics becomes with an intensive late spring accumulation of phytomass and a small decrease or renewal by the end of summer due to an increase in the proportion of non-palatable and grazing-resistant species.

Keywords: steppe, landscape, reserve, pasture, phytomass, NDVI, seasonal dynamics, stability, relief, Urals.

Acknowledgements. Expressing gratitude to D.E. Sharova, O.M. Podgorny, I.V. Volovinsky, G.M. Leonova for participation in field research and arrangement of remote materials and to reviewers for constructive comments.

Financing. The study was carried out with the financial support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project No. 20-05-00464 «Spatial structure as a factor of stability of landscape functioning», 2020-2022.

DOI: 10.24412/1993-3916-2022-3-3-13