Vascular plant diversity and spatial heterogeneity on the dried bed of the Aral Sea (Uzbekistan): a grid-based floristic assessment

The desiccation of the Aral Sea has resulted in the formation of the Aralkum, one of the largest anthropogenic deserts in the world. Despite profound environmental transformation, spatially comprehensive assessments of vascular plant diversity across the Uzbek sector of the dried seabed remain limited. This study presents a grid-based floristic analysis of vascular plants on the dried bed of the Aral Sea (DBAS) based on field surveys conducted between 2020 and 2023. A total of 225 species belonging to 130 genera and 35 families were recorded, with the flora strongly dominated by taxa of Amaranthaceae s.l. (including Chenopodiaceae: totally 25.8%). Annual species constitute approximately 45% of the flora, indicating early-to-intermediate stages of primary desert succession. Using a standardized 5 × 5 km grid-based mapping system, 18,822 occurrence records were aggregated within 1,378 grid cells, revealing pronounced spatial heterogeneity in species richness. Former island territories, particularly Vozrozhdeniya Island, function as floristic hotspots, whereas 34.5% of grid cells had no recorded vegetation formed by vascular plants. Beta diversity analysis indicated high compositional heterogeneity (βSOR = 0.67), driven mainly by species turnover across environmental gradients.

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