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Tundra and Steppe Locations of Altai Highland Depressions: Features of Vegetation Community and Soil Cover and Their Thermal Regime

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Abstract

The combination of steppe and tundra locations at Altai highland depressions—Bertek and Khindiktig-Khol’—is considered with regard to verifying the hypothesis of the existence of a tundra steppe in northern Eurasia during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and its contemporary landscape analogues. Data on soil–vegetation cover diversity at the Altai highland depressions are represented. Cause-and-effect relations explaining the spatial differentiation of nature complexes are identified. The thermal regime of locations with the predominance of steppe and dwarf-birch vegetation is investigated. The interrelation between soil–vegetation cover differentiation and distinction in the microclimate and the permafrost boundary are proved.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project no. 18-05-00860 A, and a state task of the Komarov Botanical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, project no. AAAA-A19-119032090096-4.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. St. Petersburg University, 199034, St. Petersburg, Russia

    K. V. Chistyakov, M. I. Amosov, Yu. N. Kurochkin, S. N. Lessovaia, I. I. Strelkov & G. A. Tyusov

  2. Komarov Botanical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 197376, St. Petersburg, Russia

    G. A. Tyusov

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  1. K. V. Chistyakov
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  2. M. I. Amosov
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  3. Yu. N. Kurochkin
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  4. S. N. Lessovaia
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  5. I. I. Strelkov
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  6. G. A. Tyusov
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Correspondence to K. V. Chistyakov or G. A. Tyusov.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. This article does not contain any studies involving animals or human participants performed by any of the authors.

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Chistyakov, K., Amosov, M.I., Kurochkin, Y.N. et al. Tundra and Steppe Locations of Altai Highland Depressions: Features of Vegetation Community and Soil Cover and Their Thermal Regime. Contemp. Probl. Ecol. 14, 231–240 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1995425521030045

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1995425521030045

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