Classification of the desert steppes ecosystems of Western Kazakhstan

Abstract

The results of the steppe zone ecosystems investigation in Western Kazakhstan are presented. Theclassification of the main types of terrestrial ecosystems of the desert steppes subzone, divided by the forms of macrorelief(elevated plains, river valleys, sand massifs) and grouped into categories according to the type of water regime (automorphic,semihydromorphic, hydromorphic), is presented. Within the automorphic category, one zonal class of ecosystems hasbeen distinguished: cereal-wormwood desert steppes on light chestnut soils. The semi-hydromorphic category includesecosystems of wormwood-halophytic-cereal steppe meadows on meadow-chestnut soils. The hydromorphic categoryof river valleys is characterized by ecosystems of floodplain forest-meadow and tree-shrub tugai on floodplain meadowsoils.