Physical Geographic Regions Research Articles

Spatial Relationships between Topographic Variables and Their Interactions with Natural and Climatic Zonalization in Mongolia

The main objective of this investigation is to examine the spatial relationship between the topographic variables in Mongolia, which is important in the pattern of regional relief, geomorphological regionalization, and natural zonalization. For the analysis, we used seven different terrain parameters such as elevation, slope, aspect, topographic position index (TPI), topographic wetness index (TWI), latitude, and longitude. Five of seven variables were obtained from a digital elevation model (DEM) of the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) at a spatial resolution of 30 m. The location of the latitude and longitude were extracted from the central point of the gridded vector data. The correlation analysis of seven topographic variables showed that the highest positive correlation (r=0.55) was detected between elevation and slope. In contrast, the highest negative correlation (r=-0.63) was detected between elevation and longitude. The lowest correlations were detected between the aspect and the remaining six variables. The significance levels of elevation, slope, latitude, longitude, and TWI noted p < 0.0001 for each pair of variables. The correlation between aspect and TPI ranged p < 0.01 while elevation and aspect, latitude and TPI, and longitude and TPI ranged p < 0.1, respectively. The corresponding frequency distributions are characterized by three left skew, two bimodal, and two normal distributions, respectively. We also examined the contribution of the topographic variables to natural and climatic zonalization in Mongolia. The result confirmed that topographic variables were key indicators for identifying regional differences in physical geographic regionalization, and natural and climatic zonalization. The examination of topographic variables allowed more knowledge of geographic characteristics. At the same time, the result is of great value in the investigation of natural geographic divisions, and regional nature conservation research.

The approbation of web resource «Biodiversity of Ukraine» on example of dragonflies (Insecta: Odonata) of Ukrainian Carpathians

The paper examines of individual possibilities of the "Biodiversity of Ukraine" web resource for the analysis of collections, observations and literary data on the example of dragonflies for the territory of Ukrainian Carpathians. The possibility of analyzing the spatial distribution of Odonata in terms of physical and geographical regions of the model territory was studied. Their faunal similarity was determined using the Sorensen and Jaccard indexes integrated into the web resource. Mountain massifs have been established, which are promising for further research into the fauna and ecology of dragonflies. Preliminary data on the spatial distribution of dragonflies for the territory of the Ukrainian Carpathians were obtained as a result of the approbation of the information capabilities of the "Biodiversity of Ukraine" web resource, in the context of administrative and physical-geographic regions. The most studied is the Ciscarpathians Upland (58 species). Territories that are the least studied and require thorough faunal studies of dragonflies have been identified, namely the Marmarosh-Chyvchyny region The perspective of the expediency of using the "Biodiversity of Ukraine" web resource to compare the dragonfly fauna of different administrative regions of the Ukrainian Carpathians has been established. It should be noted that the national biomonitoring system involves development on a pan-European basis, the use of modern methods of data collection, accumulation, analysis and information exchange, and the creation of conditions for free access to information by a wide range of interested. All these principles are provided by the Data Center "Biodiversity of Ukraine", as shown in this paper.

Spatial Distributions, Compositional Profiles, Potential Sources, and Intfluencing Factors of Microplastics in Soils from Different Agricultural Farmlands in China: A National Perspective.

More attention has been paid to ubiquitous microplastics (MPs). As a major food producer, the situation of MPs in China's farmland is of even greater concern. Spatial distributions, characteristics, and compositions of MPs in five types of agricultural lands with representative crops were investigated by collecting 477 soil samples from 109 cities in 31 administrative regions of mainland China. To better control MPs in farmland, nearly 400 field questionnaires were obtained, and meteorological conditions, soil properties, and other statistics were collected to quantify potential sources and determine influencing factors. The average abundances of MPs was 2462 ± 3767 items/kg in the agricultural soils, and MP abundance in the greenhouses, farmlands with film mulching, and blank farmlands from four integrated physical geographic regions were determined. The contributions of agricultural films, livestock and poultry manures, irrigation water, and air deposition to MPs in farmlands have been calculated. Influencing factors, such as recovery method, plowing frequency, meteorological conditions, and part of soil properties, were significantly correlated with the abundances of MPs in the agricultural soils (p < 0.05), while mulching age mainly affected MPs in the greenhouses (p < 0.05). This study provides basic scientific data for decision-making and further analysis.

Landscape science in Ukraine: The current state and trends

The state of landscape science in Ukraine has been considered since the early 2000s, when, moving away from the Soviet canons of this science, it acquired its own face and its leaders. From that time until now, two general trends in the development of Ukrainian landscape science have been set: expansion in the field of landscape research and strengthening the theoretical foundations of its concept. Currently, in Ukraine the landscape is studied in three academic areas—landscape science, landscape ecology and transdisciplinary geoecology. There are different points of view on their essence and correlation among Ukrainian scientists, and they are discussed in the article. There is also no consensus on understanding the concept of the landscape, because there are at least three interpretations of it: the landscape as a general metascientific category, the landscape as a real object, and the landscape as a representation or an image of reality. The article discusses the current state, gaps and prospects for the development of landscape science in Ukraine regarding the main problem areas of ​​this science, namely landscape theory, landscape mapping, dynamics of landscapes, their anthropization, humanitarian dimensions of the landscape, landscape planning, landscape modeling, physical-geographical regionalization.

Taxonomic diversity of Brassicaceae in the Samara-Ulyanovsk Volga Region

In the flora of the Samara-Ulyanovsk Volga region, the Brassicaceae family is one of the leading ones. It is of interest to study the composition of the genera of this family at the level of the territory of the entire Samara-Ulyanovsk Volga region, as well as the physiographic regions included in it. It helps to understand whether there are local features in the composition of the cruciferous flora and what they are. Two natural zones are distinguished in the study area: forest-steppe and steppe; four provinces and 15 physical-geographic regions. In this paper, we consider in more detail 7 floras, they are described most fully. All of them are located in the forest-steppe zone. In the spectra of flora families of the considered physiographic regions, the Brassicaceae family is located on the 4th5th place. In the spectrum of the adventive fraction of the flora, it rises to the 2nd3rd position, and in the native fraction it falls to the 7th9th place. The composition of the complete flora of cruciferous plants throughout the territory of the Samara-Ulyanovsk Volga region contains 40 genera and 89 species. It is not possible to unambiguously single out the head part in the generic spectrum, concentrating in itself a significant part of the flora species of this family. The most numerous genera are Rorippa, Lepidium and Alyssum. The species representation of these genera, as well as those of slightly smaller weight (Cardamine, Erysimum and Sisymbrium), does not differ in the considered physiographic regions. An exception is the genus Alyssum, whose representatives are confined to limestone and chalk substrates, which are not common in all areas. The Brassicaceae family has a fairly wide ecological spectrum; it includes species that grow in different ecotopes.

黄河流域濒危物种保护热点区与保护空缺识别

黄河流域具有重要的生物多样性保护意义，通过研究珍稀濒危物种分布热点区可为生物多样性保护提供依据。选取70种濒危维管植物和陆生脊椎动物，综合多来源的分布数据，运用物种分布模型Maxent模拟物种分布区，结合自然地理区划，计算保护价值，进行热点区分析，并结合国家级自然保护区和国家公园体制试点区的分布情况进行空缺分析。研究结果显示，黄河流域濒危物种分布主要呈现出南高北低、集中于山地的特征，热点区包括秦岭区域、太行山区域、子午岭-六盘山区域、陇中高原至松潘高原、祁连山、贺兰山和沿黄湿地等。在区分自然地理区后，现有的国家级自然保护区和国家公园体制试点区覆盖了热点区面积的13.89%，保护空缺主要出现于子午岭南部、六盘山南部、松潘高原南部和拉脊山等。建议在推进黄河流域生态保护和高质量发展中将濒危物种热点区考虑在内，对黄河流域自然保护地体系进行优化，并针对黄河流域的三个自然地理分区提出了相应的保护建议。此外，研究发现，在进行热点区分析时，考虑自然地理区域划分，并综合多类群叠加和单一生物类群的分析结果进行统筹考虑，可能会更好满足生物多样性就地保护需求。;The Yellow River Basin has important biodiversity protection significance. Research on the distribution hotspots of rare and endangered species can provide a basis for biodiversity protection and establishing protected area system. In this study, 70 endangered species were selected, including 26 vascular plants and 44 terrestrial vertebrates. Distribution data from multiple sources of these species were integrated to provide distribution point samples for modeling. The species distribution model Maxent was used to simulate distribution areas. All the Maxent simulation results were superimposed according to different taxa and physical geographical regions, and we calculated the biodiversity conservation value for analyzing hot spots. the conservation gaps were analyzed by integrating the distribution layer of national nature reserves and national parks (pilot area). Results show that the distribution of endangered species in the Yellow River Basin is mainly high in the south, and is concentrated in the mountain areas. The hot spots include Qinling Mountains, Taihang Mountains, Ziwuling-Liupan Mountains, Longzhong Plateau to Songpan Plateau, Qilian Mountains, Helan Mountains, and wetlands along the Yellow River. After distinguishing the geographical regions, the existing national nature reserves and national parks (pilot area) cover 13.89% of the hot spots' area, and the protection gaps are mainly found in the southern Ziwuling Mountains, the southern Liupanshan Mountains, the southern Songpan Plateau and the Laki Mountains. It is suggested that the threatened species hotspots should be taken into account in ecological conservation and high-quality development planning of the Yellow River Basin, and the natural protected area system of the Yellow River Basin should be optimized. For three different physical geographical regions in Yellow River Basin, specific suggestions are put forward:in Qinghai-Tibet Alpine Region, the protected areas should be optimized and biodiversity survey should be strengthened; in Northwest Arid and Semi-arid Region, lakes in Ordos Plateau are worthy of the enhanced protection; in Eastern Monsoon Region, the leopard, great bustard and Baer's pochard should be considered as key species and put more efforts on their habitat protection. In addition, this study also shows that, when analyzing biodiversity hotspots, considering the division of physically geographic regions and combining the hot spot analysis results of multiple taxa and single taxa for overall consideration may be better for meeting the needs of biodiversity in-situ conservation.

РЕГИОНАЛЬНЫЙ АНАЛИЗ ПРОЕКТОВ СОЗДАНИЯ НОВЫХ ШТАТОВ В ИНДИИ

The article examines the history of the formation of the administrative-territorial structure of India and the constitutional foundations of the formation of new states. Investigated the aspirant states in India, presented a figure of their location on the territory, identified the principles on which they are based (ethnolinguistic, economic development of the territory, rationalization of management, cultural and historical) and two groups of principles are defined – «cultural and historical» and «economic and administrative». Shown that the movements for the creation of new states are contrary to the official ethnolinguistic principle. Presented the typology of the aspirant states which is composed according to a number of socio-economic, demographic and natural characteristics that affect the population quality life (population density, urban population, Human Development Index, Multidimensional Poverty Index, share of scheduled castes and tribes, unemployment, access to clean drinking water, forestry area, production of major crops, household electrification, road density, number of cities with a population more than 500,000) for each district in the aspirant state. The relationships between the internal division of states into cultural, physical-geographical, historical and administrative regions and proposals for the creation of new states are determined.

Floristry and plant biogeography of the Eastern part of the Volga Upland

Analysis of taxonomic indicators traditionally leads the overall analysis of flora. In this case, first of all, it is necessary to consider the range of families. The triad of leading families deserves special attention, according to the third member of which it is customary to distinguish the type of flora. The type of flora characterizes the corresponding territory within which a floristic “zone” is distinguished. According to the published data on the floras of the administrative units of the Volga basin, we have previously outlined the boundaries within the territory of the Middle and partly the Lower Volga region, on which the Fabaceae-type of flora is revealed. At the same time, the Upper Volga region is represented by Rosaceae-type floras. However, these selected administrative units are too large to outline more specific boundaries.In this article, we propose a similar analysis based on the data of the floras of physical-geographical regions with an area of 2.3–9.7 thousand km2. For the analysis, we selected six areas belonging to the forest-steppe province of the Volga Upland, which is part of the Middle Volga region. We found that the border of the floristic zones (Fabaceae and Rosaceae) runs along the considered area of the Volga Upland. With respect to physical-geographical regions the border runs on one side between Korsun-Sengileevsky and Sredne-Sviyazhsky areas, on the other, between Zasursky and Tsivil-Kubninsky areas. Within the studied territory, the border is determined by the occurrence of representatives of the genera Alchemilla and Potentilla (for Rosaceae), as well as Vicia and Astragalus (for Fabaceae) The prevalence in the number of the common lady’s mantles is more noticeable to the northwest. The genera Carex, Galium, Viola, Potentilla, Artemisia, Salix, Vicia, and Veronica are leading in the frequency of occurrence in the head part of the spectra of floras in the territory under consideration.

Структура и оценка состояния древесных пород буковых лесов Дагестана

Aim. To identify the structural features and assess the current condition of woody species in the beech forests of Dagestan, Russia.Material and Methods. Research was based on the analysis of data from 69 sampling areas located in various physical-geographical regions of Dagestan. A detailed accounting of individual specimens of all age groups of each species was undertaken in the sampling areas. The total area surveyed was 43,125 m2. In total, 11,446 individuals of different species were involved in the statistical analysis, of which 1,974 form a tree tier, in which each individual is evaluated according to a scale of condition categories.Results. A study of the structure of beech forests showed the participation rate of Fagus orientalis Lipsky to be from 7.5 to 8.5 points. The average age of the upper sub-level of beech in the foothills was 110 years and in the highlands 160 years. For most woody species the age spectrum was sinistral and incomplete. Beech with a full-membered age spectrum were observed in the beech forests of the southwestern sub-region and in the high mountain region. A general trend is observed of deterioration of the condition of individuals in the transition from the upper to the lower sub-level. The average condition of beech individuals within the tree tier is 1.4 points. The condition categories of other species are characterized as being generally closer to 'weakened'.Conclusion. The results obtained regarding the structure and condition of woody species in the beech forests of Dagestan confirm the highly edifying role of beech. The greatest negative impact is exerted by the anthropogenic factor, which is confirmed by the incompleteness of the beech age spectrum and the low participation rate of the old-growth generative group and of the post-generative period.

СОЗДАНИЕ И ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИЕ ГЕОИНФОРМАЦИОННЫХ РЕСУРСОВ ДЛЯ ФИЗИКО-ГЕОГРАФИЧЕСКОГО РАЙОНИРОВАНИЯ ТРАНСГРАНИЧНОЙ РОССИЙСКО-МОНГОЛЬСКОЙ ТЕРРИТОРИИ

The article is aimed at the development of methodological foundations for the creation of geoin-formation resources of transboundary territories based on cartographic materials and remote sensing data, as well as physical and geographical zoning of the transboundary Russian-Mongolian territory. The methodological basis of the study is cartographic and statistical research methods, geoinformation technology, as well as processing and analysis of remote sensing data. As a result, the study deter-mines the features of geoinformation resources, presents their characteristics, develops a classification and substantiates their integrating value in making interstate territorial decisions. The article gives the physical and geographical characteristics of the territory, determines the scale of mapping, establishes the basic units of geoinformation mapping and modeling, creates the coverage of the basin division, and proposes a scheme for creating basic geoinformation resources for the physical and geographical zoning of the territory. Based on the analysis of the digital elevation model, the territory was zoned according to the morphometric parameters of the relief. As a result of processing and analysis of Landsat images at different times, the territory was zoned in terms of the amount of photosynthetically active biomass (NDVI). As a result of zoning, 6 physical-geographical regions and 33 physical-geographical areas were identified.

ГЕОІНФОРМАЦІЙНИЙ АНАЛІЗ АНТРОПОГЕННИХ ЗМІН ЛАНДШАФТІВ ЛІСОСТЕПОВОЇ ЗОНИ УКРАЇНИ

The purpose of the publication is to present the results of the study of anthropogenic changes in the landscapes of the Forest-Steppe zone of Ukraine, implemented by assessing the indicators of landscapes anthropogenic transformation, their diversity and fragmentation. The basic research methods are methods of geospatial GIS analysis and decoding of remote sensing data of the Earth, geoinformation mapping. According to the indicators of anthropogenic transformation of landscapes at the level of physical-geographical regions and districts of the Forest-Steppe zone, the features of changes for the period 1992-2018 are determined. The results of assessment of anthropogenic changes in forest-steppe landscapes of Ukraine show that in 1992 as well as in 2018 the vast majority of the landscapes of the territory are strongly and excessively transformed by anthropogenic activity. Such patterns persist, despite the fact that during the analyzed period in part of the investigated area there is a certain decrease in anthropogenic pressure on landscapes. The regular relations between the indicators of anthropic landscape diversity and fragmentation of landscapes are determined, which corroborates to their certain conditionality by the degree and nature of anthropogenic transformation of the territory. The novelty of the study are the proposed methods of spatial and temporal changes in landscapes estimating and identifying such changes in landscapes at the level of physical and geographical regions for the period 1992-2018 and revealing trends in the structure of land use, especially agricultural lands, forests, built-up territories as the leading types of land use in the Forest-Steppe zone of Ukraine.

ТАКСОНОМИЧЕСКОЕ РАЗНООБРАЗИЕ СЕМЕЙСТВА FABACEAE НА ТЕРРИТОРИИ САМАРО-УЛЬЯНОВСКОГО ПОВОЛЖЬЯ

The flora of фSamara-Ulyanovsk Volga Region belongs to the Fabaceae type (the third place in the family spectrum), while having inclusions of other types of local flora. The study examines how homogeneous is the species representation of the genera of the Fabaceae family throughout the research area. The authors used 445 floristic lists from the FD SUR database as source data. Based on these lists, the authors obtained combined lists of all the floras and their generic and family spectra. The heterogeneity of the composition of the Fabaceae family at the generic and species levels was studied in 12 physical-geographical regions. The authors identified 15 reference floras in six of examined regions, where the lists of vascular plant species include 700 species. The area of the identified reference floras is 300–900 km2. The general list of the Fabaceae family in the research area includes 113 species from 23 genera. The genus Astragalus L. is at the top of the genera. The other large genera are Vicia L. and Lathyrus L. The authors registered some differences from the overall picture for certain physical and geographical areas. This is the consequence of various local environmental conditions in the research area. In some cases, the genus Vicia becomes the most abundant, but the distribution of Astragalus becomes rather small. The genus Lathyrus does not always hold the third place in the spectrum. The considered reference floras are nominally divided into three groups according to the composition of the generic spectrum of the Fabaceae family: the flora group with numerical dominance of the genus Astragalus, the group with predominance of the genus Vicia and the group in which the genus Trifolium L. and Amoria C. Presl. form the basis of the composition. The first two groups are characterized by the multiplicity of the corresponding genera in comparison with others. On the contrary, the composition of the third group is explained by the relative paucity of genera Astragalus and Vicia. The composition and abundance of the genera Trifolium and Amoria are the most stable in all considered floras. The authors note the lack of uniformity in the order of leading genera of the Fabaceae family in Samara-Ulyanovsk Volga region.

La diversidad paisajista en el estado de Chiapas, México

El objetivo de la presente investigación es conocer y evaluar la distribución de la complejidad y diversidad de los paisajes físico-geográficos del estado de Chiapas, México. Para cumplir con este objetivo se aplicaron dos índices de complejidad, uno de riqueza y dos de diversidad geoecológica al mapa de los paisajes físico-geográficos del estado de Chiapas, a escala 1: 250 000. Los resultados indican una coincidencia espacial entre la diversidad y la complejidad paisajista. Los niveles alto y muy alto de esta correlación son representados por una minoría de extensos paisajes de origen tectónico-kárstico, tectónico-acumulativo y tectónico-intrusivo; las regiones físico-geográficas con estos tipos de paisajes son Sierra Lacandona, Sierras del Norte de Chiapas y Sierras del Sur de Chiapas. Las investigaciones sobre heterogeneidad geoecológica bajo el enfoque de la Geografía Física Compleja generan relevantes contribuciones a la Planificación Territorial, debido a que los resultados permiten identificar de manera clara y objetiva las áreas con mayor geodiversidad.

The Application of Directional Univariate Structure Functions Analysis for Studying the Spatial Anisotropy of Environmental Variables

Abstract As anisotropy is a fundamental property of the real-world environmental spatial variables, the conventional omnidirectional variograms and correlograms do not provide means enough to characterise spatial dependence between observations. The purpose of this article is to introduce directional univariate structure functions analysis to explore and quantify the spatial anisotropy of environmental variables. Analysis of six environmental variables within three physical–geographical regions proved the leading role of relief for landscape differentiation; it also defined the size and extension of major landforms responsible for the organisation of spatial pattern. The arrangement of the vegetation patches demonstrated linkage with the major landforms. The other relief derivatives, being prone to noise and artefacts in the original data, showed a random-variable type of behaviour. In the lack of any particular spatially anisotropic structure, the results of the analysis can provide a clue about meaningful distances of interest at finer scales. The approach can also be an exploratory tool for discrete measurements to recognise the features of spatial continuity.

Impact of Climate on Food Security in Mainland China: A New Perspective Based on Characteristics of Major Agricultural Natural Disasters and Grain Loss

Under the background of global warming, China has experienced frequent natural disasters that have seriously affected grain production in recent decades. Based on historical documents from 1978–2014, we explored the spatio-temporal variation of five major kinds of natural disasters and grain losses in China using statistical techniques: the Mann-Kendall (MK) test, social network analysis (SNA), and geographic information system (GIS) tools. The disaster intensity index (Q) clearly showed the variation of natural disasters; all of China experienced a significant increasing trend at an annual scale, reaching its peak (27.77%) in 2000. The step change points in floods, droughts, hail, and low-temperature events began to occur in 1983, 1988, 1988, 1992, respectively, while no obvious trend was detected for typhoon activity from 2001 to 2014. Drought and flood were the most serious types of disaster over the last four decades, accounting for more than 50% of total grain losses. Eight major provinces were identified with severe grain losses: Heilongjiang, Shandong, Henan, Hebei, Anhui, Sichuan, Jiangsu, Hunan, and Hubei. Five studied natural disaster types were identified throughout the seven physical geographical regions. Spatial distribution for the different disaster types showed significant geographical distribution characteristics. Natural disasters gradually became more diverse from north to south. Droughts, hail, and low-temperature disasters were randomly distributed throughout China; flood and typhoon disasters exhibited significant spatial auto-correlation and clustering patterns. Finally, in accordance with the intensity of natural disaster, the annual grain losses at the provincial scale initially increased (ranging from 0.14 million to 3.26 million tonnes in 1978–2000), and then decreased after 2000 (ranging from 3.26 million to 1.58 million tonnes in 2000–2014). The center of gravity of grain losses gradually moved northward. These results emphasize that developing different strategies for disaster prevention and mitigation programs in the major grain producing areas (e.g., Heilongjiang, Shandong, and Henan) are critical and important to China’s food security.

ПРОСТОРОВА ДИФЕРЕНЦІАЦІЯ НАЗЕМНИХ МАЛАКОКОМПЛЕКСІВ НА РІВНИННИХ І ПЕРЕДГІРНИХ ТЕРИТОРІЯХ ЗАХОДУ УКРАЇНИ

The peculiarities of the distribution of the land molluscs in the plain and foothill territories of Western Ukraine have been analysed on the basis of the personal long-term collections (1994–2017), the critical study of other collections and the literature data. The species lists were precised for 9 physical-geographical regions: Volhynian (Western) Polesia, Volhynian Upland, Male Polesia, Roztochia and Opillia, Western Podolia, Central (Northern) Podolia, Prut-Dniester Upland, Ciscarpathia, Transcarpathian Lowland. With due regard for the literature data, the records of 138 species of land molluscs (76 genera, 30 families) from the plain and foothill territories of Western Ukraine can be considered as reliable ones. The maximum species richness has been marked in Roztochia and Opillia (106 species), slightly less – in Western Podolia (95 species) and Ciscarpathia (94 species), the minimum – in Volhynian Upland (32 species). According to the taxonomic composition and ecological spectra of the land mollusc complexes, in the plain territories of Western Ukraine two faunistic complexes can be distinguished, the boundary between which passes along the northern edge of the Podolian Upland. The land mollusc fauna of Male Polesia and Volhynian Upland shows a greater similarity with the mollusc fauna of Western Polesia than with other parts of the deciduous forests zone, and is characterized by reduced taxonomic diversity, the lesser number of Carpathian species, the lesser part of the forest and, especially, stenobiontic forest species and an increased proportion of the hygrophilous species. In studied area a number of the land molluscs can be marked, which have penetrated to Western Ukraine exclusively due to the anthropochory (not less than 16 species). The most common of these at present are L imax maximus , Cepaea hortensis , Boettgerilla pallens , Krynickillus melanocephalus , Monacha cartusiana . A rapid spreading of the slugs from the complex Arion lusitanicus s.l. has been observed recently in Western Ukraine. The influence of anthropochory on shaping of present species composition of land mollusc complexes becomes the most apparent in Roztochia and Opillia, where the part of molluscs-anthropochores is not less than 11.3 %, and in the Transcarpathian Lowland (at least 12.2 %).

Regionalización Físico-Geográfica (RFG) de Jalisco, México a escala 1:500, 000

&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; El proceso de Regionalización físico-geográfica (RFG), es una forma de clasificación del espacio geográfico en unidades homo- géneas. La diferenciación de las unidades se realiza teniendo en cuenta índices diagnósticos, según el sistema de clasificación taxonómica propuesto para México (Bollo et al., 2015), en el cual se diferencia al territorio de estudio en las unidades inferiores de la clasificación: Subprovincias, Distritos y Regiones físico-geográficas. De tal manera, el proceso de regionalización de los pai- sajes físico-geográficos del estado de Jalisco, permitió la distinción y delimitación a detalle de, 15 Subprovincias, 28 Distritos y 66 Regiones físico-geográficas. Las unidades espaciales obtenidas pueden ser utilizadas en estudios regionales de la degradación ambiental, en diagnósticos del estado del medio ambiente del territorio, y como unidades ambientales para distintas formas de ordenamiento del territorio, entre otras aplicaciones. &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D;

Multi-dimensional eco-land classification and management for implementing the ecological redline policy in China

The ecological civilization characterized by the ecological redline policy (ERP) has been a new long-term national development strategy in China. The ERP emphasizes the need to define ecological baseline areas to provide ecosystem services and guarantee the national ecological safety. Eco-land units delineated by the individual spatial boundaries of ecosystems may facilitate an understanding of ecosystem patterns and the associated ecological processes at the landscape level. An eco-land classification system may help to identify and manage ecological baseline areas. In this study, a multi-dimensional eco-land classification system was designed to show how eco-land types could provide a reliable work platform for implementing the ERP and land management. Based on previous studies of eco-land types, we extracted three characteristics comprising the scale dependence, functional dominance, and adaptability of management. These three features were then integrated with the existing land use classification to develop a hierarchical eco-land classification system with four primary classes (fundamental eco-land, auxiliary eco-land, productive eco-land, and daily-life eco-land), 11 secondary classes, and 21 sub-secondary classes. Using a performance index based on spatial overlay analysis, we found that the fundamental eco-land covered up to 65% of the ecological redlining areas at the national scale, but not in some physical geographical regions. Thus, productive eco-land, auxiliary eco-land, and daily-life eco-land were also classified to fill the national level gaps among fundamental eco-lands, where the percentage cover of eco-land types at both the regional and urban scales could exceed 65% of the ecological redlining areas at the corresponding scale. Therefore, the disconnected fundamental eco-lands within ecological redlining areas at the national scale might be linked together as a conterminous green infrastructure if productive, auxiliary, and daily-life eco-land types located in strategic gap sites can be identified and protected at regional and urban scales. The eco-land classification system developed in this study may provide a useful land management framework for implementing the new ERP in China.

The chronology of the Kura-Araxes: New data and old problems of periodization and chronology of the Early Bronze Age materials in Armenia

In a recent article I defined my concept for the periodization and chronology of the Kura-Araxes in Armenia, the main provisions of which are as follows:&#x0D; The Kura-Araxes sequence had a discrete character. Its periodization can be dated between 3600/3500–2900 (KA I) and 2900–2600/2500 (KA II) BC. The distinction of the Kura-Araxes phenomenon is reflected in the largely single-layered character of both early (KA I) and late (KA II) settlements: a destroyed layer demonstrates the discontinuity of certain multi-layered (KA I-II) settlements.&#x0D; The KA I phase represented throughout Armenia is marked by ‘Elar-Aragats’ type ceramics, which belong to a rather homogeneous complex, widespread almost all over the Armenian Highland.&#x0D; The homogeneity of the complex disintegrates around 2900 BC, and a mosaic of local ceramic styles follows. The KA II phase contains a series of ceramic complexes similar in basic characteristics, but stylistically rather specific. Today throughout Armenian territory there are at least three synchronous complexes, whose areas correspond to physical-geographical regions of the country: the ‘Shresh-Mokhrablur’ complex in the central part of Ararat valley, ‘Karnut-Shengavit’ to the north and east (Aragatsotn, Shirak, Kotayk, and Lori-Pambak regions), and ‘Ayrum-Teghut’ in the basins of the Aghstev and Debed rivers.&#x0D; Newly obtained data and my observations correspond to the above provisions. This research allows us to complement and flesh out some of them, particularly the periodization of the first period of the Kura-Araxes and a list of local variations of the KA II ceramic complexes.

Desertification of landscapes in low mountainous and plain sloping foothills of Kur depression

As the result of utilization of modern landscapes for various purpose in low mountainous and plain sloping foothills (39.7%) of Kur depression (4036644 hectares) some desertification factors and desertification holes occurred and the danger of degradation of landscapes has increased. In this regard, there is a great need to explore the current state of desertification in the area. The main objective of the research is to determine the current state of the desertification process, mapping and defining the landscape areas that are subject to desertification in Kur mountainous lowland. Route-sectoral, comparison, evaluation, statistical interpretation, satellite image decoding methods and ArcGis software were used during the research. Particularly semi-stratified research methods for the determination of desertification indicators, desertification types and desertification rates have played a speci-al role. The following key findings were obtained during the research: Based on ArcGIS statistical analysis of databases of large scale electronic desalination maps that we have compiled, the areas of desertification of landscapes for the total area and separated physical-geographical regions have been identified and quantitative indicators have been compared. 46.1% of the landscape complex of the study area was not affected by desertification in practice. Deserted complexes at various levels make up 53.9% of the total area. Geographical distribution of desertification territories in the area depends on the characteristics of natural and anthropogenic desertification factors and the structural-genetic characteristics of landscapes. Development of desertification in the region is largely caused by active natural exodynamic processes in semi-desert, dry-steppe, arid-sparse forests and bush. In the modern landscape of the study area, sometimes all categories of desertification are observed within a landscape unit. The scientific achievements of the research. - For the first time, the area of deserted landscapes has been identified by indicators of desertification in terrain landscapes and factors that led to the formation and development of desertification habitats. - It was determined that 11.5% of landscapes were slightly, 16.1% moderately and 26.3% severely deserted in the study area. - NDVI Index based on LANDSAT-8 satellite images (2017) of the area is determined during separation of desertification holes and degradation rates in landscapes. Practical implications. The results obtained in the research can be used in landscape planning, preparation of meliorative action plans, efficient use of natural resources and implementation of a number of agricultural and environmental projects.