The Importance of the Ecological Framework for Biodiversity Conservation in the Agricultural Landscape of the Southern Steppe

Steppe landscapes with a high proportion of plowing, which have undergone a radical transformation of natural complexes, need landscape-oriented approaches to the biodiversity conservation. Using the typical Kuban agricultural region in the south of the European Russia as an example, the stages of monitoring, assessment and mapping at different spatial levels of preserved fragments of natural ecosystems as elements of the ecological framework are presented. The study was carried out on the basis of field descriptions of vegetation and wildlife, compilation of flora and fauna lists of protected species, their ecological and geographical analysis and mapping using GIS technologies. The structure of the ecological framework includes sets of elements (types of natural ecosystems) that differ in the degree of preservation of landscape complexes, environmental protection functions, sizes, and potential for biota conservation. Among the main elements in the steppe agro-landscape, the most important are forest belts for various purposes, coastal water complexes, gullies and island forests; among the auxiliary ones are isolated areas of degraded steppe communities, boundaries, mounds and protected areas of economic facilities. The priority of protection and the level of management depend on belonging to a particular group. It is shown that the steppe biome, under conditions of almost complete plowing and the absence of a protected area system, can ensure the preservation of typical floral and faunal diversity, including at least 115 rare and protected species. Together, the elements of the ecological framework occupy about 7% of the area of the district, they are distributed everywhere and interconnected by ecological corridors. Steppe landscapes with a high degree of tillage, which have undergone a radical transformation of natural complexes, require landscape-oriented approaches to the biodiversity conservation.

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