Changes in terrestrial ecosystems of the Lower Volga region caused by river flow regulation

Abstract

We continued our complex ecological studies in the Lower Volga region started in 2014–2015 (Kuz’mina et al., 2015a) in order to investigate the current state of floodplain terrestrial ecosystems in changing climate conditions (Kouzmina and Treshkin, 2014a) and during regulation of the river flow. We studied typical ecosystem changes in two of four geological and geomorphological regions: western substeppe ilmens and the central part of the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain, which had not been investigated earlier (Kuz’mina et al., 2015a). We estimated changes in ecosystems and the tendencies of landscape dynamics in current conditions.