Vegetation Cover of the Coastal Strip in the Neftchala District of Azerbaijan

Abstract

The article discusses the vegetation cover of the Caspian coast and part of the Kura riverine strip bordering the sea (Neftchala district). Leading families (Asteraceae, Poaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Fabaceae) and characteristic species of this zone (Aeluropus littoralis, Heliotropium sibiricum, Suaeda confusa, Suaeda altissima, Salicornia europea, Salsola tragus, Chenopodium album, Limonium meyeri, Tamarix meyeri, Carduus arabicus, Senecio vernalis) have been identified. Communities (shrub, ephemeral, and secondarily saline annual saltwort riverine) have been determined, experiencing a large anthropogenic load. Factors influencing the state of vegetation are grazing and the use of the sandy coastal zone for a "spontaneous beach". The main landscape communities of the coastal part of the region have been identified. These include shrub communities with the dominance of Tamarix ramosissima, annual saltwort with Petrosimonia brachiata and Suaeda confusa, shrub saltwort communities with Halocnemum strobilaceium, psammophyte-littoral with the dominance of Heliotropium sibiricum, Cakile euxina.