The Map of the Current Vegetation on the Territory of Distribution of the Population of Saiga tatarica tatarica L. in the North-Western Caspian Region

Abstract—The map of the current vegetation on the territory of the present and expected distribution of the Saiga population in the North-Western Caspian region is presented. The map was created due the research work under an agreement of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) at a scale of 1 : 200,000 in the ArcGIS. The legend contains 61 numbers, which are combined into 11 groups according to the dominant formation. In the steppe zone fallow lands and pasture fields of different ages on slightly undulating and undulating plains with light chestnut soils (Kastanozem by WRB) are represented by Stipa sareptana, Artemisia lerchiana communities on loamy and sandy loam soils in complexes with Artemisia lerchiana and Leymus ramosus, Poa bulbosa, Agropyron desertorum communites on solonetzes (I); Stipa sareptana, S. lessingiana, Festuca valesiaca, Agropyron desertorum, Poa bulbosa, Artemisia lerchiana, Tanacetum achilleifolium communities on loamy and sandy loam soils in complexes with Artemisia lerchiana, A. pauciflora, Tanacetum achilleifolium communites on solonetzes (II); Festuca valesiaca, Agropyron desertorum, Stipa sareptana, Leymus ramosus, Artemisia lerchiana communities on loamy and sandy loam saline soils in complexes with Artemisia lerchiana, A. pauciflora, Tanacetum achilleifolium, Poa bulbosa, Leymus ramosus communites on solonetzes (III); Poa bulbosa, Agropyron desertorum, Stipa sareptana, Leymus ramosus, Artemisia lerchiana, A. taurica, Tanacetum achilleifolium communities on loamy and sandy loam saline soils in complexes with Artemisia taurica, A. lerchiana, A. pauciflora communites on solonetzes (IV); Artemisia lerchiana, A. austriaca, Festuca valesiaca, Agropyron desertorum, Leymus ramosus and Festuca valesiaca, Poa bulbosa, Artemisia austriaca communities on loamy and sandy loam saline soils in complexes with Artemisia pauciflora, A. santonica communites on solonetzes (V). In the desert zone pasture fields on hilly sands, on undulating plains with brown desert (Calcisol by WRB) sandy and sandy loam soils are represented by Artemisia lerchiana, Poa bulbosa and Poa bulbosa, Artemisia lerchiana communities (VI); Artemisia lerchiana, Poa bulbosa and Poa bulbosa, Artemisia lerchiana communities on brown desert saline soils of light granulometric composition in complexes with Artemisia pauciflora, Poa bulbosa communites on solonetzes (VII); complexes of Artemisia lerchiana, Poa bulbosa and Artemisia taurica, Poa bulbosa communities on brown desert saline soils of light granulometric composition (VIII); complexes of Poa bulbosa, Artemisia lerchiana and Poa bulbosa, Artemisia taurica communities on brown desert saline soils of light granulometric composition (IX); Artemisia lerchiana, Poa bulbosa communities on undulating and wavy sands, Calligonum aphyllum on hilly sands (X); Poa bulbosa, Stipa sareptana, S. caspia, Agropyron fragile, Sporobolus cryptandrus, annual (Ceratocarpus arenarius, etc.) communities on intensive pastures with brown desert sandy soils (XI).