CONVERGENCE OF VEGETATION AND SOILS OF INTERMONTANE BASINS OF THE CENTRAL CAUCASUS
https://doi.org/10.7868/S037324441706007X
Abstract
The study showed that the conventional schemes of the exposition-dependent changes in plant communities and soils in the intermountain basins of North Ossetia do not meet their contemporary distribution.
Communities of mountain meadow steppes and subalpine meadows are located regardless of the climatic differences between the slopes of intermountain basins. Soil studies revealed the similarity of properties of soils of different slopes and clear evidences of long agricultural impact. However, buried soils, found in many soil profiles indicate a pronounced expositional differentiation of soils in the past. According to the history of land use, the studied grasslands have experienced a number of stages as agrolandscapes: centuries of agricultural use, subsequent decades of grazing load and weakening or termination of anthropogenic impact in the last 15–20 years. The observed reduction in diversity of ecosystems and their convergence is explained by initial stages of their formation after centuries-long unifying agricultural impact. Made based on satellite and ground-based measurements the assessment of contemporary climate changes in the investigated altitude range showed an increasing temperature and moisture. Improvement of vegetation conditions along with a reduction in anthropogenic load may contribute to the restoration of wood and meadow vegetation, and the gradual progradation of soils.
About the Authors
Raisa G. Gracheva
Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Moscow
Russian Federation
Moscow
Elena A. Belonovskaya
Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Moscow
Russian Federation
Moscow
Vera V. Vinogradova
Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Moscow
Russian Federation
Moscow
Il’ya G. Shorkunov
Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Moscow
Russian Federation
Moscow
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Review
For citations:
Gracheva R.G., Belonovskaya E.A., Vinogradova V.V., Shorkunov I.G. CONVERGENCE OF VEGETATION AND SOILS OF INTERMONTANE BASINS OF THE CENTRAL CAUCASUS. Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk. Seriya Geograficheskaya. 2017;(6):78-88. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.7868/S037324441706007X
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