Role of Biotic and Abiotic Factors in the Processes of Soil Encrustation on Fallow Lands of the Barguzin Hollow

Abstract

The results of a study on the condition of the soil and vegetative cover of the fallow lands in steppe ecosystems of the Barguzin Hollow (Republic of Buryatia) are presented. We studied the soil encrustation process on fallow lands during moss–lichen cover formation on their surface, which resulted in the slowing of regenerative processes in plant communities. The main factors of the transformation of regeneration in the Barguzin Hollow were revealed. They differ from the classical scheme of restoration of plant communities that had been earlier identified for the fallow lands of the steppe zone of Kazakhstan, Southern Siberia, and Mongolia.