Vegetation of the Sand Massifs of the Northern Gobi Desert

Abstract

The plant communities of the sandy massifs of the Northern Gobi Desert on the territory of the Bulgan Omnogovi aimag are considered. The classification of vegetation by the Braun–Blanquet method, first carried out for vegetation of the flat part of the Bulgan soum, revealed six vegetation associations belonging to three unions of three orders of the class Stipetea glareosae-gobicae Hilbig 2000. The flora of sandy massifs includes 108 species from 73 genera and 28 families. The species structure of genera and families reflects the specifics of the flora of this desert–steppe region within the Bulgan soum. In the spectrum of life forms of plants in sandy communities, perennial and annual and biennial grasses predominate, although in terms of participation in the structure of plant communities, the dominant phytocenotic role belongs most of all to woody plants. Dominant types of vegetation of the sandy massifs (Krascheninnikovia ceratoides, Caragana korshinskii, Haloxylon ammodendron, Psammochloa villosa, Nitraria sibirica, Brachanthemum gobicum, etc.) are natural sand fixers. At the same time, these species are for the most part well-eaten food for livestock. Consequently, grazing in such habitats must be strictly regulated.