Ecological Zonation As A Tool For Restoration Of Degraded Forests In Northern Mongolia

We developed a geo-vegetation zonation in the Khaan Khentii massif, northern Mongolia. Our specific objective was to assess and classify the response of the tree vegetation to environmental factors operating at a coarse climatic level. We sampled forest ecosystem vegetation, climate, physiographic features, and soil properties. Our analysis included clustering, ordination, classification, and ANOVA techniques. Based on the complex data set, we identified three geo-vegetation zones: forest-steppe, montane and dark taiga zone. We characterized them based on the regional environmental factors; (1) climate as indicated by altitude, i.e., precipitation, (2) geomorphology by an index of the vertical distance to channel network and soils by O horizon thickness and soil types. Birch and aspen ecosystems were excluded as discrete zones due to their broad ecological amplitude.The geo-vegetation zonation outlined in this paper is the first attempt at quantifying vegetation along with the environment at a macroclimatic level in Mongolia. This coarsescale zonation provides a framework for building a comprehensive ecological classification, a background for sustainable forest management, which is currently unavailable in Mongolia and many central Asian countries. Additionally, it offers a roadmap for a comprehensive ecosystem survey and may act as an information platform and reference for current environmental issues such as forest degradation across Mongolian landscapes.

Effect of edaphic factors on the vegetation zonation in some littoral and inland salt marshes of Egypt

Shawky R., 2018: Effect of edaphic factors on vegetation zonation in some littoral and inland salt marshes of Egypt. - Botanica, 24(2): 202-210. The segregation of a few dominant plant species into distinctive zones is characteristic of salt marshes. Vegetation zonation was investigated in the littoral salt marshes (South Marsa Alam region) and the inland salt marshes (Wadi El-Natrun region) of Egypt. Twenty taxa belonging to 18 genera and 11 families were recorded and classified into two sets at the two studied sites and subdivided into four groups by TWINSPAN, according to a relevance value: group A) co-dominated by Juncus acutus and Juncus rigidus; B) - dominated by Aeluropus lagopoides; C, D) - Limonium axillare. The analysis of species diversity in the inland salt marshes as well as the Shannon and the Simpson indices showed the highest species richness compared to that in the littoral salt marshes. The soil of the inland salt marshes was characterized by high percentages of silt, clay, also the soluble anion SO4-2was the highest. While the most effective factor in the littoral salt marshes was EC, sand fractions, moisture content, soluble cations as Na+, Ca+2, soluble anions as Cl-, organic matter and CaCO3. The proximity matrix between the two types of salt marshes indicated that they were different, except for the stands of Juncus rigidus, the elucidation distance was the smallest and they were similar together.