Current State of Pasture Vegetation of the Arid Zone (On the Example of Key Rural Municipalities of the Republic of Kalmykia)

Abstract

The article presents the results of field observations over 2012–2018 carried out by the Department of Environmental Research of the Institute for Complex Studies of Arid Territories. The work includes materials on the climatic review and the original results of geobotanical investigation of 5 farms in rural municipalities of the Republic of Kalmykia (RK) over the period of the study. We used materials of a large geobotanical survey of YUZHNIIGIPROZEM Company (1991–1995) and materials of earth remote sensing (by Landsat satellite). According to the studies, the period from 2012 to 2018 demonstrates a general trend of climate warming throughout the territory of Kalmykia accompanied by a decrease in precipitation and an increase in extreme droughts in the summer. Geoecological monitoring of pastures at five key sites of the RK revealed that in the dry steppe zone (Manych municipality) and in the semi-desert zone (Khanatinsky municipality), deterioration of pastures is observed; in the desert zone (Adykovskoye municipality), significant degradation processes were identified associated with strong anthropogenic impact and fires, manifested in the loss of valuable food crops (wormwood) and increased influence of cereal crops. Floristic and phytocenotic analyzes revealed an increase in the number of plant species in the weed and ruderal groups.