Журнал

About Editorial Board Information for authors and reviewers Publication ethics Contacts User Account: send / review a manuscript

The impact of climate change on mountain landscapes of the North Caucasus

V.V. Vinogradova¹ , T.B. Titkova¹ , E.A. Belonovskaya¹ , R.G. Gracheva¹

¹ Institute of Geography RAS, Moscow, Russia

Changes in the boundaries of high-altitude mountain belts can be treated as a proof of climate change. These changes were caused by termination of human activities. The article demonstrates the role of climatic factors in changes of the boundaries and state of sub-alpine landscapes in the North Caucasus, where the transformation of land use system was observed. Heat and moisture are the limiting factors of vegetation existence. The estimate of changes in heat and humidity was made for the territory of 42–44N 42–44.5E using vegetation index (NDVI), the index of vegetation conditions (VCI), Satellite Climatic Extremes Index (SCEI) and the sum of active temperatures (air temperature above + 10 °C). In the foothills moisture decreases, whereas in the middle mountains the increase in moisture is observed. The estimate of the amount of active temperatures and precipitation for the period of modern warming (1981–2010) compared to the previous period (1951–1980) shows the increase of these parameters in the early twenty-first century. These changes cause the increase in vegetation. It is evidenced by the growth of vegetation index (NDVI) and regeneration of natural boundaries of altitude zones at the beginning of the twenty-first century in this area.

Keywords: climate change, mountain landscapes, vegetation index (NDVI), index of vegetation conditions (VCI), satellite climatic extremes index (SCEI), sum of active temperatures

Full text

References:

http://www.meteo.ru
Asoyan D.S., Belonovskaya E.A., Chernavskaya M.M. Mezhgornye kotloviny Severnoi Osetii-Alanii (Intermountain basins of North Ossetia-Alania), Izvestiya RAN. Seriya Geograficheskaya, 2013, No. 3, pp. 71–85.
Vinogradova V.V., Titkova T.B., Cherenkova E.A. Dinamika uvlazhneniya i teploobespechennosti v perekhodnykh landshaftnukh zonakh po sputnikovym i meteorologicheskim dannym v nachale XXI veka (Dynamics of moisture and heat fluxes in the transition landscape zones from satellite and meteorological data at the beginning of the XXI century), Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2015, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 162–172.
Gracheva R.G., Belonovskaya E.A. Sovremennoe sostoyanie pastoral’nykh ekosistem Tsentral’nogo Kavkaza (The current state of pastoral ecosystems of the Central Caucasus), Izvestiya RAN. Seriya Geograficheskaya, 2010, No. 1, pp. 90–102.
Gracheva R.G., Belonovskaya E.A. Shorkunov I.G. Preobrazovannye landshafty Tsentral’nogo Kavkaza (Transformed landscapes of the Central Caucasus), Geomorfologi, 2014, Issue 5, pp. 78–93.
Efremov Yu.V., Il’ichev Yu.G., Panov V.D. Khrebty Bol’shogo Kavkaza i ikh vliyanie na klimat (The ridges of the Greater Caucasus and their influence on the climate), Krasnodar: Prosveshchenie-Yug, 2001, 145 p.
Zolotokrylin A.N., Konyaev K.V., Titkova T.B. Zavisimost’ mezhdu anomaliyami indeksa vegetatsii I mesyachnykh sum osadkov v zone umerennogo I nedostatochnogo uvlazhneniya (The relationship between vegetation index anomalies and monthly precipitation in temperate and insufficient moisture), Issledovanie Zemli iz kosmosa, 2000, No. 6, pp.74–78.
Zolotokrylin A.N., Vinogradova V.V. Sootnoshenie mezhdu klimaticheskim i antropogennym faktorami vosstanovleniya rastitel’nogo pokrova yugo-vostoka Evropeiskoi Rossii (The relationship between climatic and anthropogenic factors vegetation recovery south-east of European Russia), Aridnye ekosistemy, 2007, Vol. 14, No. 33–34. pp. 20–33.
Zolotokrylin A.N., Vinogradova V.V. Issledovanie zasukhi na yugo-vostoke Evropeiskoi Rossii v kontse XX – nachale XXI veka po sputnikovym dannym (The study of drought in the south-east of European Russia in the end of XX – the beginning XXI century from satellite data), Problemy ekologicheskogo monitoringa i modelirovaniya ekosistem, 2010, Vol. XXIII, pp. 128–137.
Zolotokrylin A.N., Titkova T.B. Novyi podkhod k monitoringu ochagov opustynivaniya (A new approach to the monitoring centers of desertification), Aridnye ekosistemy, 2011, Vol. 17, No. 3(48), pp. 14–22.
Zolotokrylin A.N., Titkova T.B. Sputnikovyi indeks klimaticheskikh ekstremumov zasushlivykh zemel’ (The satellite climatic extremes index of dryland), Aridnye ekosistemy, 2012, Vol. 18, No. 4(53), pp. 5–12.
Kogan F.N. Vegetation index for areal analysis of crop conditions. In Proceedings of the 18th Conference on Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, American Meteorological Society, 1987, West Lafayette, Indiana. pp. 103–107.
Kogan F.N. Global Drought Watch from Space, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 1997, Vol. 78, pp. 621–636.
Prince S.D. Satellite remote sensing of primary production: comparison of results for Sahelian grasslands 1981–1988, Int. J. Remote Sensing, 1991, Vol. 12, pp. 1301–1311.
Tucker C.J. Maximum normalised difference vegetation index images for Sub-Saharan Africa for 1983–1985, Intern. Journ. Remoute Sensing, 1986, Vol. 7, No. 11, pp. 1383–1394.
Tucker C.J., Newcomb W.W. Mean and inter-year variation of growing-season normalised difference vegetation index for the Sahel 1981–1989, Intern. J. Remote Sensing, 1991, Vol. 12, No. 6, pp. 1133–1135.
Zolotokrylin A.N., Droughts: Causes, Occurrence, and Consequence, In: Natural Disasters. Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems, EOLSS PublishersCo. Ltd., 2003.

создание сайта - TXL