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Vegetation of the Aralkum

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Aralkum - a Man-Made Desert

Part of the book series: Ecological Studies ((ECOLSTUD,volume 218))

Abstract

The Aral Sea depression is part of the temperate continental desert and semidesert belt. Accordingly, the vegetation of the Aralkum is desert vegetation. It is in various stages of development. The main vegetation types are halophytic, psammophytic, tugai and salt meadow vegetation. The typical pattern of landscapes and of vegetation and soils on the desiccated seafloor is striated. The salt and sand deserts and accordingly the halophytic and psammophytic vegetation types dominate. The area of sandy and sandy-loamy sediments is about 20% of the whole Aralkum, mainly in the oldest parts of the desiccated seafloor. This is a potential area for the spreading out of psammophytes. The area of salt deserts is about 70% of the whole Aralkum, mainly in the younger parts of the desiccated seafloor. This is a potential area for the spreading out of halophytes. The climatic border between the Aralsk and Muinak subdistricts is also recognisable from the phytogeographical side. The southern and southeastern parts of the Aralkum belong to the southern Turanian phytogeographical area, and the western, northern and northeastern parts belong to the northern Turanian area. The main vegetation districts of ancient marine terraces at the former coastline and of the dry seafloor are described.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF grant 0339714 and BMBF grant 0330389).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany

    S-W. Breckle

  2. Foundation for Nature Protection, Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

    W. Wucherer

  3. Institute of Botany and Phytointroduction, Academy of Science, Almaty, Kazakhstan

    L. A. Dimeyeva

Authors
  1. S-W. Breckle
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  2. W. Wucherer
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  3. L. A. Dimeyeva
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to S-W. Breckle .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Fakultät für Biologie, Abteilung 3 - Ökologie, Universität Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany

    Siegmar-W. Breckle

  2. Michael Succow Foundation, University of Greifswald, Grimmer Str. 88, Greifswald, Germany

    Walter Wucherer

  3. Institute of Botany and Phytointroductio, Timiryazeva Str. 36-D, Almaty, 050040, Kazakhstan

    Liliya A. Dimeyeva

  4. CRS@GIS „Terra“, Zhabaeva Str. 83, Almaty, 050010, Kazakhstan

    Nathalia P. Ogar

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© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Breckle, SW., Wucherer, W., Dimeyeva, L.A. (2012). Vegetation of the Aralkum. In: Breckle, SW., Wucherer, W., Dimeyeva, L., Ogar, N. (eds) Aralkum - a Man-Made Desert. Ecological Studies, vol 218. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21117-1_9

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