Архив метки: pastures

THE ACTUAL VEGETATION MAP FOR THE TERRITORY OF DISTRIBUTION OF SAIGA TATARICA TATARIC L. POPULATION IN THE NORTH-WESTERN CASPIAN REGION

Arid Ecosystems

UDC 581.527.2; 581.527.5

Safronova I.N., Stepanova N.Yu.,  Karimova T.Yu., Kalmykova O.G., Ulanova S.S., Fedorova N.L., Goryaev I.A., Polyektov S.A., Polyakov D.G. THE ACTUAL VEGETATION MAP FOR THE TERRITORY OF DISTRIBUTION OF SAIGA TATARICA TATARIC L. POPULATION IN THE NORTH-WESTERN CASPIAN REGION // Arid Ecosystems. 2023. Vol. 29. № 3 (96). P. 46-56. | PDF

The map of the current vegetation on the territory of the present and expected distribution of the saiga population in the North-Western Caspian region is presented. The map was created under an agreement with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) at a scale of 1:200,000 in the ArcGIS. Its legend contains 61 numbers, combined into 11 groups according to the dominant formation. In the steppe zone, fallows and pastures of different ages on slightly undulating and undulating plains with light-brown soils (Kastanozem by WRB) are represented by Stipa sareptana, Artemisia lerchiana communities on loamy and sandy loam soils in complex with Artemisia lerchiana and Leymus ramosus, Poa bulbosa, Agropyron desertorum on solonetz (I); Stipa sareptana, S. lessingiana, Festuca valesiaca, Agropyron desertorum, Poa bulbosa, Artemisia lerchiana, Tanacetum achilleifolium communities on loamy and sandy loam soils in complex with Artemisia lerchiana, A. pauciflora, Tanacetum achilleifolium on solonetz (II); Festuca valesiaca, Agropyron desertorum, Stipa sareptana, Leymus ramosus, Artemisia lerchiana communities on loamy and sandy loam saline soils in complex with Artemisia lerchiana, A. pauciflora, Tanacetum achilleifolium, Poa bulbosa, Leymus ramosus on solonetz (III); Poa bulbosa, Agropyron desertorum, Stipa sareptana, Leymus ramosus, Artemisia lerchiana, A. taurica, Tanacetum achilleifolium communities on loamy and sandy loam saline soils in complex with Artemisia taurica, A. lerchiana, A. pauciflora on solonetz (IV); Artemisia lerchiana, A. austriaca, Festuca valesiaca, Agropyron desertorum, Leymus ramosus and Festuca valesiaca, Poa bulbosa, Artemisia austriaca communities on loamy and sandy loam saline soils in complex  with Artemisia pauciflora, A. santonica on solonetz (V). In the desert zone, pastures on  hilly sands, undulating plains with brown desert (Calcisol by WRB) sandy and sandy loam soils are represented by Artemisia lerchiana, Poa bulbosa and Poa bulbosa, Artemisia lerchiana communities (VI); Artemisia lerchiana, Poa bulbosa communities on brown desert saline soils of light granulometric  composition in  complexes with Artemisia pauciflora, Poa bulbosa on solonetz (VII); complexes of Artemisia lerchiana, Poa bulbosa and Artemisia taurica, Poa bulbosa communities on brown desert saline soils of light granulometric composition (VIII); complexes of Poa bulbosa, Artemisia lerchiana and Poa bulbosa, Artemisia taurica communities on brown desert saline soils of light granulometric composition  (IX); Artemisia lerchiana, Poa bulbosa communities on undulating sands, Calligonum aphyllum on hilly sands (X); Poa bulbosa, Stipa sareptana, S. caspia, Agropyron fragile, Sporobolus cryptandrus, annual (Ceratocarpus arenarius, etc.) communities on intensive  pastures with brown desert sandy soils (XI).

Keywords: vegetation map, modern vegetation cover, steppe zone, desert zone, fallows, pastures, saiga antelopes.

Financing. The work was carried out under the research agreement No. 1/71 (30/04/2021) of the V.L. Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences with the World Wildlife Fund “Assessment of Saiga Habitats of the Northwestern Caspian Sea”; the grant of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research No. 15-05-06773 “Vegetation Cover of the Caspian Lowland in the System of Botanical and Geographical Zoning”; on the topic No. 121032500047-1 of the Laboratory of General Geobotany of the V.L. Komarov Botanical Institute “Vegetation of European Russia and Northern Asia: Diversity, Dynamics, Principles of Organization”; under the state task No. 122042700002-6 of the N.V. Tsitsin Main Botanical Garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences; on the topic of the Institute of the Steppe of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences No. AAAAA21-121011190016-1; on the topic of the state task No. AAAAA18-118042490055-7 (0089-2021-0010) of the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences “Fundamental Problems of Wildlife Conservation and Rational Use of Biological Resources”; on the topic of fundamental research plsnned for 2022-2024 of the Water Problems Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences “Research of Geoecological Processes in Hydrological Systems of Land, Formation of Surface and Groundwater Quality, Problems of Water Resources Management and Water Use in the Conditions of Climate Change and Anthropogenic Impacts” (No. FMWZ-2022-0002), State registration No. AAAA-A18-118022090104-8; on the topic of the state task of the Institute for Integrated Research of Arid Territories “Monitoring the Current State of Pasture Resources of the Republic of Kalmykia Using Geoinformation Systems”. It was also supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Central Research and Development Center “Herbarium of the Main Botanical Garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences” (No. 075-15-2021-67).

DOI: 10.24412/1993-3916-2023-3-46-56

EDN: QSGELU

THE STRUCTURE OF SOIL COVER AND SOIL PROPERTIES OF DRY STEPPE PASTURES UNDER DIFFERENT GRAZING INTENSITY

Arid Ecosystems

UDC 631.48

Borisov A.V.,  Idrisov I.A., Pinskoy V.N., Potapova A., Bukhonov A.V., Yeltsov M.V. THE STRUCTURE OF SOIL COVER AND SOIL PROPERTIES OF DRY STEPPE PASTURES UNDER DIFFERENT GRAZING INTENSITY // Arid Ecosystems. 2023. Vol. 29. № 3 (96). P. 131-140. | PDF

The features of the soil cover in different parts of the pasture in the conditions of a dissected relief were carried out. The object of the study was an average sheep farm in the dry steppe zone in the Manych river basin. It has been established that, depending on the intensity of grazing, several types of soil cover can be distinguished on the pasture. In turn, the intensity of grazing is determined by the composition of the vegetation. As a result, the heterogeneity of the soil cover is due to the distance from the farm, as well as the peculiarities of the vegetation cover in different parts of the pasture. The greatest pasture load occurs in areas where the soil cover has a high proportion of Solonetzes with cereal-wormwood plant associations. A tendency towards a reduction in the thickness of the AJ and SEL horizons of Kastanozems and Solonetzes was noted as the pasture load intensified. In areas with feather grass, the share of Solonetzes in the soil cover is much lower, and Kastanzems predominate. As the pasture load increases, the share of Kastanozems may decrease and the area of Solonetzes may expand.

Keywords: steppe, pastures, phytocenoses, cattle grazing, soils, saline process, erosion.

Financing. The work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, grant No. 22-68-00010 “Paleoecology and Paleoeconomics of the Ancient Population of Crimea: Economic Models in Changing Natural Conditions and the Contribution of Ancient Anthropogenic Activity to the Formation of the Modern Soil Cover of the Region”.

DOI: 10.24412/1993-3916-2023-3-131-140

EDN: CRLAES

IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ON THE SOIL PROCESSES OF THE HIGHLANDS OF DAGESTAN

Arid Ecosystems

Alichaev M.M., Sultanova M.G. IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ON THE SOIL PROCESSES OF THE HIGHLANDS OF DAGESTAN // Arid ecosystems. 2021. V.27. № 3 (88). P. 61-65.

The article presents the materials of route, stationary soil, soil-ecological studies conducted in the high-mountain zone of Dagestan with the characteristic: a) the current features of the development of the soil cover; b) the ecological parameters of the soil cover and their changes under the influence of climate warming.

The variety of natural and economic conditions of the object of study caused a significant diversity of the soil cover. The distribution of the soil was greatly influenced by the height of the terrain, the exposure and the steepness of the slopes. Based on the soil erosion studies conducted in previous periods, it can be noted that improper land use and climate warming have led to radical changes in the composition of the soil cover in terms of determining indicators – soil erosion.

In recent years, the area of eroded land has doubled, the area with heavily eroded soils-by 1/3. This led to a decrease in the thickness of humus horizons in almost all soils to an average of 20 cm, and the loss of humus reserves in the soils amounted to 60% of the initial content. The presented analysis of the degradation of the soil cover and the established patterns of soil evolution on the slope lands of the highlands serve as a theoretical basis for the reproduction of soil fertility, the preservation of the ecological role of soil protection from erosion and other degradation processes.

Keywords: soil, fertility, erosion, exposure, highlands, vegetation, ecology, pastures, elevation.

Funding. This work was carried out within the state assignment No. 0733-2019-0005 “To Develop an Assessment System for Modern Trends of Soil Processes Development in Natural Landscapes of the Mountainous Province of the Republic of Dagestan”.

DOI: 10.24411/1993-3916-2021-10164

DEFLATION IN THE PASTURES OF NORTH-WESTERN CASPIAN

Arid Ecosystems

Manaenkov A.S.,  Rybashlykova L.P. DEFLATION IN THE PASTURES OF NORTH-WESTERN CASPIAN // Arid ecosystems. 2020. V. 26. № 4 (85). P. 116-126. | PDF

Basing on the data of the study of phytoecological conditions and long-term monitoring of successions of the restored vegetation cover, we evaluated the efficiency of methods and techniques of phytomeliorative works in large foci of deflation performed in the 80-90 years of the last century on the chernozemel Pastures. The features of the formation of cultural communities, biological diversity, productivity and stability of secondary vegetation are under consideration in the article. The advantage of complex phytomelioration technologies including the use of woody, semi-shrubby and herbaceous plants was revealed. Proposals for their improvement in the direction of reducing the energy intensity of measures, rational use of long-term reserves of soil moisture, enrichment of secondary phytocenoses with valuable forage plants, increasing their functional longevity have been developed.

Keywords: Black lands, pastures, large centers of deflation, morphology and phytoecological conditions, technologies of phytomelioration, succession, efficiency.

DOI: 10.24411/1993-3916-2020-10126

EVALUATION OF ECOLOGICAL CONDITION AND PRODUCTIVITY LOSSES OF ARID PASTURES ECOSYSTEMS OF SARPINSKY LOWLAND

Arid Ecosystems

Vlasenko M.V., Kulik A.K., Salugin A.N. EVALUATION OF ECOLOGICAL CONDITION AND PRODUCTIVITY LOSSES OF ARID PASTURES ECOSYSTEMS OF SARPINSKY LOWLAND // Arid ecosystems. 2019. V. 25. № 4 (81). P. 71-81. | PDF

We monitored the pastures ecosystems of the semi-arid zone in Sarpinsky Lowland of Russia and registered some local problems. The experimental data was collected through 1999-2017. It is stated that the present agro-landscape conditions are critical. The degraded pastures account for more than 600 thousands ha (34%), more than the half of which are highly degraded. 35-40%, of the total area of the regional forage grounds (about 1870 thousands ha) are moderately overgrazed, 30-40% are highly overgrazed, and 15-20% are excluded from the agricultural management and have turned into broken sands and abandoned territories. The digression is severely high on the winter (year-round) pastures. The area of open and drift sands has increased to 20-30%. In some districts the pressure on the pastures exceeds the optimal index 5-7 times. Almost all pastures need resting periods and agricultural restoration. Desertification (salinity, erosion and deflation) is a severe problem of the region. As the result of it the productivity loss of the pastures is 1052.7 thousands hwt of feed-units per year. Agroforestry measures have a significant value for preventing of soil erosion and deflation and are considered to be the many-functional, long-term protection factor. A map of forest conditions was composed to achieve the maximal ecological- and economical result of agroforestation; it was based on the agroforestry classification which represents the natural characteristics of the territory and features of its agroforestry developing

Keywords: desertification, deflation, eroding, salinity, pastures, annual productivity loss.

DOI: 10.24411/1993-3916-2019-10075