An assessment of landscape‐ecological stability in agricultural regions of Ural and West Siberia

Abstract

Aim . An assessment and cartographical analysis of landscape‐ecological stability in agricultural regions of Ural and West Siberia, subjects of Asian Russia, using eight steppe areas as an example. Material and Methods . An assessment of landscape‐ecological stability through calculating the coefficient of the ecological stability of a landscape on the base of the conjugate analysis of 13 indicators grouped into two blocks – stable and unstable landscape components. Monitoring of the state of an agricultural area using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) of crops on the base of Earth remote sensing. Results . Specific territorial features and inter‐regional relations were determined according to separate landscape components. A schematic map reflecting the state of ecological stability was formulated; it was shown that this rises the more easterly the location. Conclusion . The Tyumen region is distinguished by clearly expressed ecological stability, which is also well expressed in the Novosibirsk region. Most other regions are characterized by a conditionally stable state. The Orenburg region’s landscapes are in an unstable state. Arable lands are characterized by the most instability among unstable components of a landscape. The coefficient of landscape ecological stability (CESL) is tightly connected with the proportion of tillage in a region’s total area. It rises with the reduction of a tillage area in 74% of cases studied. Withdrawal from cultivation of unstable and degraded lands during the intensification of agriculture in highly fertile areas and transfer to fodder lands (including protected areas), which contribute to an increase in the proportion of stable landscape elements, can be considered as the main direction for increasing their stability and preserving biological diversity.