References

gesj

GEOGRAPHY, ENVIRONMENT, SUSTAINABILITY

2071-93882542-1565

Russian Geographical Society

10.24057/2071-9388-2019-31

gesj-832

Research Article

SPECIAL ISSUE

Ecological Zonation As A Tool For Restoration Of Degraded Forests In Northern Mongolia

Kusbach

Antonín

kusbach@mendelu.cz

Štěrba

Tadeáš

Šebesta

Jan

Mikita

Tomáš

Bazarradnaa

Enkhtuya

Dambadarjaa

Sarantuya

Smola

Martin

Department of Forest Botany, Dendrology and Geobiocoenology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University, Brno Forest Management Institute, Brandýs nad LabemCzech RepublicForest Management Institute, Brandýs nad LabemCzech RepublicDepartment of Forest Botany, Dendrology and Geobiocoenology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University, BrnoCzech RepublicDepartment of Forest Management and Applied Geoinformatics, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, BrnoCzech RepublicSchool of Agroecology and Business, Mongolian University of Life Sciences, Darkhan UulCzech RepublicDepartment of Forest Botany, Dendrology and Geobiocoenology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University, Brno Lesprojekt Východní Čechy Ltd. Company, Hradec KrálovéCzech Republic

2019

14102019

12398116

2019

Kusbach A., Štěrba T., Šebesta J., Mikita T., Bazarradnaa E., Dambadarjaa S., Smola M.

Данная работа распространяется под лицензией Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://ges.rgo.ru/jour/article/view/832

We developed a geo-vegetation zonation in the Khaan Khentii massif, northern Mongolia. Our specific objective was to assess and classify the response of the tree vegetation to environmental factors operating at a coarse climatic level. We sampled forest ecosystem vegetation, climate, physiographic features, and soil properties. Our analysis included clustering, ordination, classification, and ANOVA techniques. Based on the complex data set, we identified three geo-vegetation zones: forest-steppe, montane and dark taiga zone. We characterized them based on the regional environmental factors; (1) climate as indicated by altitude, i.e., precipitation, (2) geomorphology by an index of the vertical distance to channel network and soils by O horizon thickness and soil types. Birch and aspen ecosystems were excluded as discrete zones due to their broad ecological amplitude.

The geo-vegetation zonation outlined in this paper is the first attempt at quantifying vegetation along with the environment at a macroclimatic level in Mongolia. This coarsescale zonation provides a framework for building a comprehensive ecological classification, a background for sustainable forest management, which is currently unavailable in Mongolia and many central Asian countries. Additionally, it offers a roadmap for a comprehensive ecosystem survey and may act as an information platform and reference for current environmental issues such as forest degradation across Mongolian landscapes.

Ecological classificationForest degradationSustainable managementGeovegetation zoneZonal concept

The paper was supported by the project grants of the Czech Development Agency: (i) Development of Forests and the Gene Pool of Local Forest Tree Ecotypes in Mongolia 2015-18, CzDA-ROMN-2014-6-31210 realized by the Forest Management Institute, Brandýs nad Labem, Czech Republic, and (ii) Placement of Czech Teachers to Developing Countries, 22-ČRA19-02_05 realized by the Mendel University in Brno in 2019. We thank all anonymous reviewers for help in improving the paper.

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The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest present.