Trends in vegetation cover dynamics in the Russian part of the Amur River basin in relation to the economic development of the territory

Abstract

This work presents the research results in condition and trends in the vegetation cover of the Amur River basin resulting from economic activities. The economic activity impact is assessed both directly and indirectly. Vulnerability of the vegetation cover in the Amur Region is determined according various factors: ecotone position, unstable living environment; relict nature of plant taxa and communities and low degree of adaptation; insularity of relicts, endemic taxa and communities. Risk factors for the plant cover of the Amur Region include large-scale fires, continuous plowing of lands, forest cuttings, construction of hydraulic facilities (hydro-electric stations and reservoirs), expansion of road infrastructure, mining of non-ferrous metals, etc. The effects of development on the Amur Region territory include discontinuity of the habitats of many relict and endemic species, increase of the pattern structure of their spatial distribution and formation of isolated, unstable populations, decrease in the floral and regional ecological diversity of biogeocenoses, synantropization, unification of the vegetation cover, transformation and destruction of historically established ecosystems, habitats and increasing environmental risks. Four types of ecological state are identified: catastrophic, critical, stressed and satisfactory. The identified zones of catastrophic and critical ecological states of the vegetation cover are confined to the most developed southern parts of the Amur Region and urban agglomerations. Most of the Amur River basin features stressed and satisfactory ecological states, the preservation of which is facilitated by the inaccessibility of these territories.