The Main Results of Agroforestry Amelioration and Desertification Control in the Northern Caspian Semidesert Area in Russia

摘要

Desertification control and soil conservation and reclamation are the urgent ecological problems in the Caspian region of Russia. The detailed and integrated fifty-year-long biogeocenotic investigations have been conducted at the Djanybek Research Station of Institute of Forest Science RAS with special attention to afforestation under arid climatic conditions, changes in soils caused by agroforestry amelioration and to the experience of the desertification control and silvicultural amelioration of croplands. The Northern Caspian Region is characterized by dry continental climate. Mean annual precipitation is 298 mm, and almost one half of it (136 mm) falls during the warm period (April-September), when the monthly evaporation reaches 900 mm—1000 mm and the maximum day temperature is above 40℃. Dry winds are observed for about 80 days per year. The stable snow cover persists from November till March, and the average depth of snow is 10 cm.