Ecological Analysis of Pastureland Vegetation of Karakalpak Ustyurt (Uzbekistan)

Abstract To assess the ecological position of the pasture vegetation of Karakalpak Ustyurt, belonging to the middle and southern subzonal types of Turanian deserts and represented by the perennial saltwort ecological–physiognomic type of vegetation (Botanicheskaya geografiya…, 2003), an ecological analysis of geobotanical descriptions collected in various years, 1953–1973 and 2017–2021, was carried out. The data array analyzed represents various types of pastures: biyurgun (Anabaseta salsae), wormwood (Artemisieta terrae-albae), hawthorn (Xylosalsoleta arbusculae), black saxaul (Haloxyleta ammodendron), keireukove (Caroxyleta orientale), potash (Kalidieta caspicum), and sarsazan (Halocnemeta strobilacei). They are common on gray–brown zonal saline, sandy, gypsum, takyr, and solonchak soils. According to the moisture scale developed by I.A. Tsatsenkin (1967), communities occupy a segment from 10 to 58 steps, which corresponds to desert and dry meadow moisture. On the soil richness–salinity scale, the values vary from 17 to 20 steps, reflecting predominantly the moderately saline level of salinity. The CCA-ordination of geobotanical descriptions allowed us to consider the differentiation of vegetation in the space of three ecological factors: W, soil moisture; S, soil salinity; D, degree of anthropogenic degradation. For the central group of descriptions, an in-depth analysis of the species composition was carried out, followed by ordination, the results of which are presented in the form of a cluster dendrogram. The analysis showed that the greatest scatter of data is observed for the salinity factor (S), which indicates its leading role in structuring vegetation. The central group is represented by background pasture communities.

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