State of Saxaul Plantations in Kazakhstan’s Section of the Aral Sea Region

Abstract

The article aims to assess the survival rate of saxaul plantations on the dry seabed of the Aral Sea (DSAS) and these close to the villages along the original seacoast. Protective black saxaul (Haloxylon ammodendron) plantations on the DSAS were established in the course of 2009-2019 with the grant support of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS), Japan’s environmental funds, UNDP Kazakhstan, as well as under the Grass-Roots Program of the Embassy of Japan in Kazakhstan. During September 1-14, 2020, the target plantation plots at 24 sites adjacent to the villages of Aralkum and Karateren underwent examination, including forest surveying, projected species cover determination, as well as seed regeneration and survival rate assessment. The findings of 2020 revealed the varying condition of target saxaul plantations. Thus, the survival rate of saxaul inside forest plantations ranged between 0.12 and 78.0%. The actual number of saxaul trees varied from 1 (one) to 1,000 per ha on the DSAS and from 888 to 2,633 per ha in Aralkum village. The novelty of the obtained results is due to the fact that they clearly demonstrate that the survival rate and development of forest plantations, as well as saxaul seed self-renewal, above all, depend on the overall ecological conditions at specific sites. Saxaul demonstrated the best survival rate and growth at the sites with sandy loam and saline light loamy soils with sandy cover, and the worst – at the sites with crusty and takyr (dry-type playa) saline soils.