The Condition of Flora and Vegetation in the Disturbed Lands of the Eastern Fore-Caucasus (As Exemplified by the Kuma Region Landscapes)

DOI

10.2991/aer.k.200202.009How to use a DOI?

Keywords

the Kuma, Eastern Fore-Caucasus, anthropogenic pressure, steppe vegetation, pastoral digression

Abstract

A large proportion of the Lower Kuma region shows large scale negative changes due to uncontrolled grazing, which are characterized by the emergence of non-stable communities. They feature a poorer composition, a simpler structure and lower values of projective cover, medium height of grass stand, along with its level differentiation. The steppes of the Lower Kuma region are at various stages of grazing succession. Due to this, plant communities that clearly reflect anthropogenic impacts in their structure are widely spread. They include grass and sage, sage (Artemisia santonica, A. austriaca), pyrethrum Tanacetum achilleifolium), and ephemeral communities with a large proportion and an abundance of annual and biennial plants. In these communities, edificators and Poa bulbosa that becomes more abundant due to the grazing load play a significant role. Apart from those, the areas affected by grazing are dominated by a group of seasonal ephemera and ophemeroids. In desert steppes, the synusia of primitive steppe subshrub and dwarf shrub is represented by Ephedra distachya, Kochia prostrata, Thymus marschallianus, Artemisia austriaca, A. santonica, Tanacetum achilleifolium. Subsaline soils are dominated by Artemisia santonica, and the worn-down pastures are dominated by the sobiliferous A. austriaca. Excessive grazing load leads to the quick disappearance of a large number of steppe species from the grass stand. The comparison of the floristic lists of plant communities at various stages of pastoral digression shows that there is a large proportion of low-value ungrazed plants that are resistant to trampling and have a wide tolerance range in the grass stand. Near the sheep pens and settlements, pasture species that cover most of the land are the main pricing factors. These species are indifferent to soil conditions, community types and can be encountered quite frequently.

Copyright

© 2020, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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TY  - CONF
AU  - V.N. Belous
AU  - A.V. Lykhvar
AU  - M.Kh. Alikhadzhiev
AU  - R.S. Erzhapova
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020/02/08
TI  - The Condition of Flora and Vegetation in the Disturbed Lands of the Eastern Fore-Caucasus (As Exemplified by the Kuma Region Landscapes)
BT  - Proceedings of the IV International Scientific and Practical Conference 'Anthropogenic Transformation of Geospace: Nature, Economy, Society' (ATG 2019)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 40
EP  - 45
SN  - 2352-5401
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/aer.k.200202.009
DO  - 10.2991/aer.k.200202.009
ID  - Belous2020
ER  -