Ecosystem diversity on the Black Sea coast of the Northwest Caucasus and their current state

• A.P Andreeva

  Yu. A. Izrael Institute of Global Climate and Ecology, 20B, Glebovskaya str, 107258, Moscow, Russian Federation

  Автор

The ecosystems on the Black Sea coast of the Northwest Caucasus
include the world's easternmost Mediterranean forests and a unique inversion forest-steppe located above the forest belt in the mountains. They are characterized
by high species diversity and the presence of endemic flora of various ranks. The
study area includes 16 vegetation formations. Their distribution patterns were
identified based on relief characteristics. Four disturbance categories are presented
for each formation: nominally primary, short-term, long-term, and severely
disturbed. Using remote sensing data, a mosaic of elementary units based on
elevation, aspect, and slope was created and compared with the vegetation
classification results. Thus, a map of ecosystems was constructed, reflecting their
diversity and current state. Formations of oaks (Q. pubescens Willd. and Q. petraea
(Matt.) Liebl.) occupy the largest area (33% and 24%), compared to hornbeam (C.
betulus L.) and beech (F. orientalis Lipsky) (each about 10%), which are much less
widespread. Long-term communities are the most common (40%). Degradation
and fragmentation of ecosystems are observed in the study area compared to
literature and cartographic data from previous years.

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