Rangeland Resource Assessment in the Aqmola Region of Kazakhstan

Abstract

The Republic of Kazakhstan in central Eurasia, is the ninth largest country in the world (2.7 million km²) and ranks fifth internationally in terms of land area of rangeland and pastureland. The spatial and temporal variability of rangeland conditions in Kazakhstan are not specifically known. The Kazakhstan government, as well as private land managers, require systematic knowledge of plant community dynamics and land use impacts, so national strategies can be customized to enhance, manage, and sustain the country's rangelands. Here, rangeland study sites from within the Aqmola region, Kazakhstan, were used to produce a framework for future rangeland monitoring, ecological site, and state and transition model development. A rangeland resource inventory (partially modelled after USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service National Resource Inventory) sampled 51 locations across the Aqmola region. Classification and ordination were then used to explore field-based data to establish a methodology for identifying unique plant groupings or clusters for the development of provisional ecological sites. Ecological associations and potential sites were identified, whereby a prototypic state and transition model was developed that included five unique ecological states and their respective disturbance/restoration transition pathways. This paper highlights an international collaboration between USA and Kazakhstan rangeland professionals to develop a land management framework to conserve and sustain rangelands.