FORMATIONS OF SHRUBS IN PLANT COVER OF KARSHI DESERT

ABSTRACT

Karshi desert is the area where the southeastern localities of shrublands are located. Different combinations of soil conditions and landforms in the region somewhat limit the widespread of shrubs formations. The percentage of shrubs such as Salsola arbuscula, Artemisia diffusa, Calligonum microcarpum and Convolvulus divaricatus in the phytocenosis in the areas adjacent to Kyzylkum increases.

АННОТАЦИЯ

Пустыня Карши - район, где расположены юго-восточные местонахождения кустарников. Различные сочетания почвенных условий и форм рельефа в регионе несколько ограничивают распространение кустарниковых формаций. В фитоценозах на участках, прилегающих к Кызылкумам, увеличивается доля таких кустарников, как Salsola arbuscula, Artemisia diffusa, Calligonum microcarpum and Convolvulus divaricatus.

Keywords: Karshi desert, psammophytes, Salsola richteri, formation, oil and gas industry.

Ключевые слова: Пустыня Карши, псаммофиты, солянка рихтери, формация, нефтегазовая промышленность.

Introduction

Water-scarce or arid areas occupy at least 22% of the globe, or 31.4 million km2 [1]. About 74.3 percent of the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan is occupied by desert areas [2]. These regions are characterized by the lack of water, the amount of precipitation in a certain season of the year is 30-50 mm to 250 mm, it is very hot in the summer, it heats up to forty or more degrees, the sand dunes are characterized by the presence of gypsum, limestone, and various salt residues under them.

According to the calculations of the vegetation map of Uzbekistan, psammophilic type plants occupy 9119.9 thousand hectares or 27% of the plain [3;4].

Materials and methods

The study area is the Karshi desert, which includes sandy plains in the south of Uzbekistan, west of the Kashkadarya region. The area is located in the Sundukli district of Kashkadarya physical-geographic district [2]. Barren, sandy desert, light-brown soils and meadow swamps are well developed in the territory of the Karshi desert [5].

In order to identify Shrub communities and analyze their species spectrum in the Karshi desert, generally accepted geobotanical, transect and semi-stationary methods (Polevaya geobotanical, 1964; Shennikov, 1964; Chibrik et al., 2014) were used [6;7;8]. The plant species were given based on information from "Flora of Uzbekistan" (1941-1966) [9], S.K. Czerepanov (Czerepanov, 1995) [10] and internet side plantarium.ru [13]. The life forms of the species were given based on the "Central Asian Plant Identifier" (1982-1993) [11], and distribution areas were given based on the "Flora of the USSR" (1934-1984)[12]. The psammophilous plant communities in the Karshi desert area included 2 types, 5 formations and 8 associations [3].

Results

In the formation of shrublands, Cherkez Salsola richteri (Moq.) Kar. ex Litv. and Salsola paletzkiana (Litv.) Akhani & Roalson species are dominant. Salsola richteri (Moq.) Kar. ex Lithuania is widespread in Karshi desert.

Field research shows that representatives of the Circassian community are scattered in the areas of the Karshi desert at heights of 200-300 meters above sea level, in sandy, loamy and unevenly distributed sand heap areas. In the region, the chert formation includes seline-chert, carpet-chert, and ephemeral-chert associations (table No. 1).

Table 1.

Species composition of representatives of the Circassian formation distributed in the Karshi desert

+ -species present in the association

%-the percentage of landcover of the species in the associations.

The table shows the analysis of 3 types of associations of Karshi desert shrublands. In the association №1, the dominant species is Salsola richteri (Moq.) Kar. ex Litv, which is 18%/30%, 11%/20%, and 10%/20% respectively of the landcover. The subdominant species is Astragalus villosissimus Bunge, accounting for 12%/30%, 9%/20% and 10%/20%, respectively of the landcover. A total of 20 types of plants can be found in this association. In the association №2, the dominant species is Salsola richteri (Moq.) Kar. ex Litv, which makes up 10%/15%, percentage of the landcover. The subdominant species is Ferula foetida (Bunge) Regel, which is 5%/10%. A total of 9 types of plants can be found in this association. In the association №3, the dominant species is also Salsola richteri (Moq.) Kar. ex Litv, which is 8%/30% and 12%/40% percentage of the landcover. The subdominant species are Artemisia diffusa Krasch. ex Poljakov, Ferula foetida (Bunge) Regel and Mausolea eriocarpa Bunge, 5%/30%, and Bromus tectorum L. is 11%/40% percentage of the landcover. A total of 31 types of plants can be found in this association. Our analysis shows that Salsola richteri (Moq.) Kar. ex Litv is the dominant species in all associations.

Conclusion

Animal husbandry also plays an important role in the economy of our country. Desert areas have been used as pasturage for livestock since ancient times, and it can be seen that the Karshi desert areas are still used for livestock. However, a large part of this breeding farms belongs to private farms. That's probably why livestocks are grazed for a long time in some small areas, around cowsheds, corrals and wells. Shrublands are no exception to this, their use as wild pastures is causing their area to shrink. If the attitude towards the Shrublands and the flora of the Karshi desert in general does not change, if livestock feeding is not organized based on the latest scientific achievements, the above negative consequences may lead to a change in the vegetation cover and their decline.

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