Classification of mountain taiga geosystems of the Cisbaikalia and their mapping

Abstract

Geosystem studies were carried out in the Cisbaikalia, in its southeastern part—in the section of the Khamar-Daban ridge. Basically, this territory is dominated by mountain-taiga geosystems, which change with height to subgoletz and goletz geosystems, which include subalpinotype and alpinotype landscapes. The study area belongs to the Baikal State Biosphere Reserve. The regularities of the structure of mountain-taiga geosystems at the regional and topological levels are revealed. The main indicators of differentiation at the regional level are the exposure, the structure of rocks, height above sea level, steepness of slopes, vegetation. The vegetation is differentiated in more detail at the topological level, especially for the grass-dwarf shrub layer. Landscape maps were created as a result of field work, analysis of satellite images for different seasons and years, forest inventory data, previously published thematic maps of different scales: geological, soil, botanical. At the regional level, the map shows the landscape structure of the rank of the facies classes, and at the topological level—the facies. Using the methodology of the geosystem school of V.B. Sochava on a medium-scale map shows the dynamic categories of landscape structure. Primary stablest, pseudo-primary, and serial geosystems were identified here, with the main area occupied by the last two categories. On the site along the Vydrinaya River, where the ecological path passes, the vegetation was studied in more detail, as the most rapidly reacting component to the proposed development of tourism here. In general, the specially protected territories of the Baikal region need scientifically-based nature management planning with the study of landscape components individually and as a whole, as well as the creation of landscape maps that reflect the current state of these landscapes.