human impact

CURRENT VEGETATION COVER OF THE CASPIAN LOWLAND IN THE SOUTH-EAST OF EUROPEAN RUSSIA

The distribution of steppe and desert vegetation is typical for the Caspian Lowland. There are two subzones of the steppe zone of Eurasia (the Middle subzone with dry steppes and the Southern subzone with desert steppes) and one subzone of the desert zone of the Pre-Caspian and Turan (the Northern subzone with dwarf semishrub and shrub deserts). At present, natural regularities are invisible because of the results of human impact. Natural dry bunch-grass steppes have completely disappeared to the East from the Volga River.