- •Geomorphology of the Region
- •The Diversity of Mineral Resources Complexes of Altai Region
- •Lecture 3 The Climate of the Altai Region
- •Mode of Solar Radiation
- •General Circulation of Atmosphere
- •In autumn, cyclonic activity increases over south-east regions of West Siberia.
- •A Spreading Surface
- •Thermal Mode of Air and Ground
- •Lecture 4 Surface and Underground Waters
- •In places where surface runoff is blocked, such as the low bottomlands, fliere are marshes. One can differentiate three types of marshes: bottom marshes, surface marshes and transitional marshes.
- •Characteristics of the Largest Rivers and Lakes
- •Underground Waters
- •Lecture 6 Vegetation of the Altai Region
- •Pine Forests
- •Meadows
- •Distribution of Plant Species of the Altai Region According to the 3 Altitude Categories
- •Lecture 7 Altai Region During Reforms
Lecture 6 Vegetation of the Altai Region
The characteristics of the vegetation of the Altai region arise from its geographical location, its complicated geographical history, and the variety of present environmental conditions, especially in the mountainous part. Being surrounded by the West Siberian and the Kazakhstan steppes in the south and west, by the vast forested areas of the Salair and the western Sayan mountains in the east, and by de- sert-steppe landscapes of Central Asia in the south-east, the vegetation comprises many different elements of the flora of adjacent regions. Endemic and relic plants give one more peculiarity of the floristic composition of the region.
The steppes of the Altai arc similar to the adjacent plains. Differences arise mostly from the more humid climate of the region, which supports the growth of a more mesophilic flora.
Meadows of the Altai region are mostly used as pastures. The species number is rather low in comparison with meadows of other regions and comprise usually 30-40 species.
In the southern steppe zone the amount of xerophytic plants increases whereas the role of mesophytic herbs decreases. __
The xcerophytic desert steppes occur mostly in the Chuyskaya depression. In the other mountain regions steppes may be observed only as more or less isolated islands. In the south-east of Altai the steppes merge directly in the high- mountain vegetation.
A great diversity of plant communities can be met on steppe soils of different degree of alkalinity' and on salt licks (sodic soil, white alkali). These communities cover large areas on the slopes of lake depressions. The holophytic vegetation d
is characterized by a low species number and the low abundance of grass species. Currently these areas are mostly used for pastures.
Pine Forests
Pine forests are characteristic for Altai region. They are mostly composed of Scotch pine. Pines can be found in the Altai up to an altitude of 1570 m.
Pines in the region suffer from frequent fires and a great amount of fimgi diseases as well as entomo-pests - silk-worms, homtails, moths, and inch-worms. Belts of pine forests stretch from north-east to south-west in the valleys of the Ob and Irtysh rivers. These areas are from 3 to 12 km wide and about 400 km long. Those forests are composed of pine birch, aspen, fern, grasses and a high number of herbs.
In the vicinity of the Altai pine forests can be found in the northern parts. During the Tertiary the Altai was covered to a large extent by broad-leaved forest containing beech, sequoia, maple, lime, ash and others.
Taiga with islands of lime (Tilia cordata) trees can still be found in the Salairsky mountain chain and in the Lebed river basin in North-Eastern Altai. Additionally the forests comprising Tilia are also characterized by a high number of herbacens species occurring in the European and Asian broad-leaved forests. In Siberia those plants show a disjunctive distribution pattern and occupy an isolated distribution range. Due to the fact these forests are affiliated with European and East-Asian forests and.are considered to be relicts of tertiary broad-leaved forests.