Taxonomic diversity of partial flora found on chalk hills in North-Western Kazakhstan

Abstract

The chalk hills in North-Western Kazakhstan (NWK) are one of the unique in botanical and geographical terms objects located at the junction of Europe and Asia. Here, the calciphyte complex has been preserved, which is of scientific interest for the study of landscape and biological diversity, the main stages of the genesis of the flora of the region and as a refugium center for relict, endemic, red-book species. The purpose of the work is to carry out an inventory and compare the features of the taxonomic, biomorphological, ecological-phytocenotic and geographical composition of the partial flora of the chalk hills in NWK. Field work was carried out by route method in combination with stationary key areas using generally accepted methods. The object of the study was the flora of the chalk hills of the Obshii Syrt (OS), Sub Ural plateau (SUP) and Emba plateau (EP). As a result of the conducted research, it was revealed that 938 species of vascular plants belonging to 389 genera and 84 families grow on the chalk landscapes of the NWK. On three chalk hills 11 partial floras have been identified. The most original of them are the partial flora of the SUP, here the dominant position belongs to families Asteraceae, Poaceae, Brassicaceae. The richest genera are Astragalus, Artemisia, Allium and etc. Here an endemic calciphytic complex stands out. Steppe species prevail in all partial flora. The research results were used in the program of environmental protection measures in the West Kazakhstan region.