The Classification of Desert and Semi-desert Vegetation of the Caspian Coast (Azerbaijan)

The article outlines the fractional classification of the semi-desert, desert vegetation covers of the studied territory of the coastal strip of the Caspian Sea of Azerbaijan. We studied the phytoceonological indicators of communities related to forests, shrubs, semi-desert, desert, vegetation. 3 types, 12 formation classes, 69 formation groups and 92 associations are distinguished.

DESERT AND SEMI-DESERT VEGETATİON OF GARAGUSH MOUNTAIN

Desert and semi-desert vegetation It is observed in the form of a narrow strip from north to south, and local spots in the direction of Ordubad region after the Araz Lake. It covers the areas of 600-1000 meters in the plains of Sadarak, Sharur, Boyukduz, Nakhchivan, Gulustan, Yayji, Desta and Ordubad. Some of the typical desert elements have been found in the foothills of Mountain Garagush, especially in the Gendara zone. Of these species, Amaranthaceae Juss. , (Chenopodiaceae Vent.) Suaeda dendroides Mog, belonging to the genus Chenopodiaceae. - Woody herb, Halocnemum strobilaceum (Pall.) Bieb. - Condensed sorrel and Seidlitzia florida (Bieb.) Bunge are examples of flowering marigold species. However, it is possible to claim that the desert vegetation was not fully formed, but that the desert vegetation formed a transition to semi-desert vegetation. Demiler, Gendera, Sariagil, Ramlar and Lizbird valleys of Garagush Mountain have local salinity, ephemeral-gallant (colored soil), gamma (gypsum soil) and sandy areas. The latter sandy area is more noticeable in the Lisbird Valley.

Influence of Surface Water on Desert Vegetation Expansion at the Landscape Scale: A Case Study of the Daliyabuyi Oasis, Taklamakan Desert

Surface water is an important factor affecting vegetation change in desert areas. However, little research has been conducted on the effects of surface water on vegetation expansion. In this study, the annual spatial distribution range of vegetation and surface water in the Daliyabuyi Oasis from 1990 to 2020 was extracted using Landsat time-series images. Based on multi-temporal and multi-scale remote sensing images, several plots were selected to demonstrate the process of landform change and vegetation expansion, and the influence of surface water on vegetation expansion was analyzed. The results show that the vegetation distribution and surface water coverage have increased from 1990 to 2020; and surface water is a critical factor that drives the expansion of vegetation. On the one hand, surface water in the study area was essential for reshaping the riparian landform, driving the transformation of dunes into floodplains, and increasing the potential colonization sites for vegetation. However, landform changes ultimately changed the redistribution of surface water, ensuring that enough water and nutrients provided by sediment were available for plant growth. Our study provides a critical reference for the restoration of desert vegetation and the sustainable development of oases.

A Hybrid Approach of Combining Random Forest with Texture Analysis and VDVI for Desert Vegetation Mapping Based on UAV RGB Data

Desert vegetation is an important part of arid and semi-arid areas, which plays an important role in preventing wind and fixing sand, conserving water and soil, maintaining the balanced ecosystem. Therefore, mapping the vegetation accurately is necessary to conserve rare desert plants in the fragile ecosystems that are easily damaged and slow to recover. In mapping desert vegetation, there are some weaknesses by using traditional digital classification algorithms from high resolution data. The traditional approach is to use spectral features alone, without spatial information. With the rapid development of drones, cost-effective visible light data is easily available, and the data would be non-spectral but with spatial information. In this study, a method of mapping the desert rare vegetation was developed based on the pixel classifiers and use of Random Forest (RF) algorithm with the feature of VDVI and texture. The results indicated the accuracy of mapping the desert rare vegetation were different with different methods and the accuracy of the method proposed was higher than the traditional method. The most commonly used decision rule in the traditional method, named Maximum Likelihood classifier, produced overall accuracy (76.69%). The inclusion of texture and VDVI features with RGB (Red Green Blue) data could increase the separability, thus improved the precision. The overall accuracy could be up to 84.19%, and the Kappa index with 79.96%. From the perspective of features, VDVI is less important than texture features. The texture features appeared more important than spectral features in desert vegetation mapping. The RF method with the RGB+VDVI+TEXTURE would be better method for desert vegetation mapping compared with the common method. This study is the first attempt of classifying the desert vegetation based on the RGB data, which will help to inform management and conservation of Ulan Buh desert vegetation.

Research and Protection of the Coastal Psammophyte-Desert Vegetation of Absheron National Park

Absheron National Park was established based on Absheron State Nature Lowland in 783 hectares of the territory of Khazar district of Baku city by the decree of the president of the country on February 08, 2005; the main purpose is to provide the protection of environment, efficient use, protection of endangered rare plant species, the development of ecotourism, organization of the tourism and recreation zones and environmental enlightenment. For this purpose, the geobotanical research of the psammophyte-desert vegetation formed in the ecosystem (biogeocenosis) of Absheron National Park which located in the part of Suiti cape and Shahdili of the Caspian Sea in Absheron peninsular were executed by the method of “route” on May-June of 2018–2019 and the following were identified. As it can be seen from “The classification of the vegetation of Northern and southern Caspian coast” made up by us for the first time, 2 formation classes, 4 formation groups and 7 associations have been determined in the psammophyte-desert vegetation that formed in the territory of Absheron National Park.