Natural and climatic conditions of Kalmykia. Natural and climatic conditions of Kalmykia Climatic map of Kalmykia

The Republic is located in the south - east of the European part of the Russian Federation. In the west, it borders on the Rostov region, in the north and northwest - on the Volgograd region, in the east - on the Astrakhan region, in the south - on the Republic of Dagestan and in the southwest - on the Stavropol Territory. The length of the territory of the republic from north to south is 448 km, and from west to east - 423 km.

On the territory of Kalmykia, three natural and economic zones are conditionally distinguished: western, central and eastern. The western zone covers the territories of the Gorodovikovskiy and Yashaltinsky districts, the central zone - the territories of the Maloderbetovsky, Sarpinsky, Ketchenerovsky, Tselinny, Priyutnensky and Iki-Burulsky regions, the eastern zone - the territories of the Oktyabrsky, Yustinsky, Yashkulsky, Chernozemelsky and Lagansky regions. The western zone is the most favorable in terms of soil and climatic conditions.

A very large specific territory of the eastern zone is the so-called Black Lands.

From the south, the territory of Kalmykia is bounded by the Kumo-Manych depression and the Manych and Kuma rivers, in the southeastern part it is washed by the Caspian Sea, in the northeast, in a small area, the border of the republic comes to the Volga River, and in the northwest is the Ergeninskaya Upland. Within the territory of the republic, the northern part of the Caspian lowland is called the Sarpinskaya lowland, and the Black Lands are located in its southern part. The dominant type of relief of the republic, which occupies most of its territory, are plains.

Climate The republic is sharply continental - summers are hot and very dry, winters have little snow, sometimes with great cold. The continentality of the climate increases significantly from west to east. The average January temperatures throughout the country are negative: from -7...-9 in its southern and southwestern parts to -10 -12 in the north. The lowest temperatures sometimes reach -35 and above in the northern regions. A feature of the climate is the significant duration of sunny days per year - 280. The duration of the warm period is 240 - 275 days. Average July temperatures are 23.5-25.5. The absolute maximum temperature in hot years reaches 40-44.

An increase in air temperature is observed from north to south and southeast of the territory of the republic. In winter, there are thaws, on some days - snowstorms, and sometimes the resulting ice damages agriculture, causing icing of grass pastures and winter crops.

A specific feature of the territory of the republic are droughts and dry winds: in summer there are up to 120 dry windy days. The region is the driest in the south of the European part of Russia. The annual rainfall is 210-340 mm. According to the conditions of moisture supply in the republic, four main agro-climatic regions are distinguished: very dry, dry, very arid, arid.

I. Literature review

Influence of arid conditions on the main physiological processes in plants

II. Materials and methods

Place of growth and objects of study

Determination of indicators of the water regime

Determination of the intensity of transpiration

Determination of total water content

Determination of growth parameters

Statistical processing of results

III. Results and its discussion

Water regime, growth and productivity of wormwood and prostrate prostrate when growing in the conditions of Kalmykia

Comparative characteristics of growth parameters and productivity of the studied plants

CONCLUSIONS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Biological features of prostrate prostrate and white wormwood

Systematics:

Department: Magnliophyta

Class: Magnolipsida

Order: Caryophyllales

Family: Chenopodiaceae

Style: prostrate

Synonyms.

Salsola prostrata L., Chenopodium angustatum All.
Prutnyak, creeping kochia, red wormwood, izen.

Biological features of the prostrate prostrate:

Xerophytic perennial semi-shrub, rarely spring-type semi-shrub, 30-120 cm in height, with ascending branches and powerful deep-penetrating root system. The whole plant is slightly or strongly pubescent. Leaves 0.6-1.5 cm long and 0.05-0.28 cm wide, lanceolate to linear (filamentous) Fruit - glomerulus. Exceptionally photophilous and wind-pollinated plant. Flowering and seed ripening ends in October-November. 2n=18, 36, 54.

The species grows in dry steppe, semi-desert and desert zones, from plains to the upper belt of mountains (up to 3800 m above sea level), on sands, salt licks, sometimes on salt marshes where 90-350 mm of precipitation falls annually. Promising desert fodder plant. It is characterized by high nutritional properties, stable yield. It is a long-vegetating plant (200-230 days in the conditions of Kazakhstan), due to which it can be used as a pasture forage in almost all seasons of the year. Suitable for use as a perennial component in the creation of cultivated pastures in the extreme conditions of the arid zone.

Systematics:

Department: Magnliophyta

Class: Magnolipsida

Order: Asteralis

Family: Astraceae

Genus: Artemisia

Species: Absinthium

Biological features of wormwood (white):

Perennial herbaceous rhizomatous plant, 50-125 cm high, with a strong specific smell. The rhizome is short with a taproot, branched root and adventitious buds located on the basal neck. Leaves and stems are greyish-silvery, densely covered with short hairs. The stems are straight, slightly ribbed, branched in the upper part, at the base often forming short, barren shoots with long stalks. thrice-pinnately dissected leaves, 6-9 long, 3-7 cm wide. Middle stem leaves are short-petiolate, double-pinnately dissected, upper three-incised or entire. Segments of all leaves are linear-oblong, blunt-pointed, from 3-5 to 15-20 mm long, 1-4 mm wide.

Inflorescences are spherical drooping baskets 2.5-3.5 mm in diameter, collected on short branches with one-sided brushes, which in turn form a narrow pyramidal panicle. The wrapper of the baskets is tiled; its outer leaflets are linear, the inner ones are broadly elliptical, obtuse, membranous along the edges. The common bed of the basket with whitish hairs, almost equal in length to the flowers. Each basket has about 85 yellow flowers. All flowers are tubular, small, no calyx. Marginal flowers are usually 25, they are narrow-tubular, pistillate; median usually 60, they are wide-tubular bisexual. Stamens 5; pistil with lower one-celled ovary, style and two stigmas.

The fruits are brownish, oblong, pointed achenes, about 1 mm long, devoid of a tuft. The weight of 1000 achenes is about 0.1 g. It blooms in June - August; fruits ripen in August - September. In medicine, grass (flowering leafy tops) and wormwood leaves are used.

A close view is Sivers' wormwood - Artemisia sieversiana Willd. differs from wormwood in a strongly ribbed stem and less pubescence, giving the plant a gray-green color. Baskets at wormwood Sievers are larger - 4-6 mm in diameter, contain up to 100 flowers. Its use in scientific medicine is not allowed.

Natural and climatic conditions of Kalmykia

The region is located in the zones of steppes, semi-deserts and deserts and occupies a territory with a total area of ​​75.9 thousand square meters. km., which is more than the territory of such states in Western Europe as Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland and the Netherlands combined.

The Republic is located in the south - east of the European part of the Russian Federation. In the west, it borders on the Rostov region, in the north and northwest - on the Volgograd region, in the east - on the Astrakhan region, in the south - on the Republic of Dagestan and in the southwest - on the Stavropol Territory. The length of the territory of the republic from north to south is 448 km, and from west to east - 423 km.

On the territory of Kalmykia, three natural and economic zones are conditionally distinguished: western, central and eastern. The western zone covers the territories of the Gorodovikovskiy and Yashaltinsky districts, the central zone - the territories of the Maloderbetovsky, Sarpinsky, Ketchenerovsky, Tselinny, Priyutnensky and Iki-Burulsky regions, the eastern zone - the territories of the Oktyabrsky, Yustinsky, Yashkulsky, Chernozemelsky and Lagansky regions. The western zone is the most favorable in terms of soil and climatic conditions.

A very large specific territory of the eastern zone is the so-called Black Lands.

From the south, the territory of Kalmykia is bounded by the Kumo-Manych depression and the Manych and Kuma rivers, in the southeastern part it is washed by the Caspian Sea, in the northeast, in a small area, the border of the republic comes to the Volga River, and in the northwest is the Ergeninskaya Upland. Within the territory of the republic, the northern part of the Caspian lowland is called the Sarpinskaya lowland, and the Black Lands are located in its southern part. The dominant type of relief of the republic, which occupies most of its territory, are plains.

The climate of the republic is sharply continental - summers are hot and very dry, winters have little snow, sometimes with great cold. The continentality of the climate increases significantly from west to east. The average January temperatures throughout the country are negative: from -7...-9 in its southern and southwestern parts to -10 -12 in the north. The lowest temperatures sometimes reach -35 and above in the northern regions. A feature of the climate is the significant duration of sunny days per year - 280. The duration of the warm period is 240 - 275 days. Average July temperatures are 23.5-25.5. The absolute maximum temperature in hot years reaches 40-44.

An increase in air temperature is observed from north to south and southeast of the territory of the republic. In winter, there are thaws, on some days - snowstorms, and sometimes the resulting ice damages agriculture, causing icing of grass pastures and winter crops.

A specific feature of the territory of the republic are droughts and dry winds: in summer there are up to 120 dry windy days. The region is the driest in the south of the European part of Russia. The annual rainfall is 210-340 mm. According to the conditions of moisture supply in the republic, four main agro-climatic regions are distinguished: very dry, dry, very arid, arid.

The climate is normal for seasonal travel. The weather in Elista varies from month to month. it is very far from the equator. The cool average annual ambient temperature is +14.5°C during the day and +7.1°C at night. This is a city in Russia. Below is information about the climate and weather in Elista in winter and summer.

The best months to travel

High season in Elista in September, April, May with excellent weather +15.5°C...+27.2°C. During this period, the city has the least rainfall, about 2 days a month, from 23.5 to 30.0 mm of precipitation falls. The number of clear days is from 17 to 23 days. The monthly climate and temperature in Elista are calculated based on recent years.

Air temperature in Elista by months

The warmest weather in Elista by months and in general in Russia is in June, July, August up to 32.8°C. At the same time, the lowest ambient temperatures are observed in January, February, December down to -7°C. For lovers of night walks, the figures range from -10.8°C to 23.6°C.

Number of rainy days and precipitation

The most rainy periods are December, April, May, when the weather is bad for 4 days, up to 34.5 mm of precipitation falls. For those who do not like humidity, we recommend January, February, June during this period, the average monthly rain falls only 0 days and the monthly rainfall is 16.4mm.

Comfort Rating

The climate and weather rating in Elista is calculated by months, taking into account the average air temperature, rainfall and other indicators. For a year in Elista, the rating ranges from 2.5 in February to 5.0 in September, out of five possible.

Climate Summary

Number of sunny days

The greatest number of sunny days was noted in September, August, July, when there are 28 clear days. During these months, the weather in Elista is excellent for walks and excursions. The sun is least in January, February, December, when the minimum number of clear days is 2.

(function(w, d, n, s, t) ( w[n] = w[n] || ; w[n].push(function() ( Ya.Context.AdvManager.render(( blockId: "R-A -142249-1", renderTo: "yandex_rtb_R-A-142249-1", async: true )); )); t = d.getElementsByTagName("script"); s = d.createElement("script"); s .type = "text/javascript"; s.src = "//an.yandex.ru/system/context.js"; s.async = true; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); ))(this , this.document, "yandexContextAsyncCallbacks");

I have been dreaming about a trip to Kalmykia for a long time. And after exactly three years ago our friends wentmy desire to go there grew even stronger.

My husband promised that we would definitely go there. But, as you know, the promised three years are waiting. 🙂

Lion at the entrance to the Golden Abode of Buddha Shakyamuni

In addition, there was another good reason - my husband's brother, he certainly wanted to go on a trip to the Kalmyk steppes with us, but he was always drifting somewhere, then, then into ...

On the eve of the Year of the Horse, they sent me an exotic gift,. And soon we ourselves were tying prayer flags at Buddhist shrines...

Well, some purely pragmatic considerations also influenced: the roads of Kalmykia are deserted, in winter it is better to drive around in two cars.

Be that as it may, another dream of mine finally came true and we spent these New Year holidays in the European patrimony of Buddhism.

Sign at the entrance to the Republic of Kalmykia

In 5 days we traveled all over Kalmykia, from the border of the Rostov region almost to the very Volgograd region. We dashed off one and a half thousand kilometers, learned what Kalmyk off-road is,

Crossing a frozen stream in the Kalmyk steppe

visited,

We barely found Syakyusn-Sume in the fog ...

Kalmyk wind farm disappointed…

we went to a natural monument and a holy place for all Kalmyks, Purdash-bagshi, which stands alone in a very picturesque place a few kilometers from the village of Khar-Buluk,

And, of course, we visited the sights of Elista more than once.

The Seven Days Pagoda is especially beautiful at night.

But I will not rush and tell you about everything in order ...

What impressed you in Kalmykia?

First of all, people left a deep impression. Kalmyks are very hospitable, smiling and friendly. Sometimes we did not even have time to ask questions, as they themselves introduced us to their culture, traditions, customs, explaining everything very intelligibly. I have not seen this anywhere before.

Secondly, the deserted expanses of the Kalmyk steppe were shocked.

Endless steppes of Kalmykia

Here you can drive tens of kilometers without meeting a soul.

The roads of Kalmykia are deserted in winter...

Even under Elista itself, settlements are quite far from each other. When we drove from Elista towards Volgograd, we met the first working gas station 80 kilometers from the capital of the republic.

And, of course, I was struck by the exotic atmosphere itself.

You know very well that you are in Russia, while there are very few people with a Slavic appearance on the streets, and at the same time everyone speaks Russian (I heard the local speech only once, and then, frankly, I’m not 100% sure that it was the Kalmyk language, I'm not familiar with it, and who knows, maybe they were Korean, Mongolian or Japanese tourists), and around - khuruls, pagodas and stupas ...

Altn Bosch, Golden Gate in Elista

That alone is worth coming here for.

Pros and cons of winter travel to Kalmykia

There is only one indisputable plus in a trip for the New Year holidays: there are very few tourists in Kalmykia in winter. No one is pushing elbows at local attractions.

Prayer wheels at the Golden Abode of Buddha Shakyamuni

But, alas, we got a few more minuses.

on the way to City Chess

Firstly, during the New Year holidays in Elista, all museums were closed, with the exception of the Museum of Buddhism on the territory of the Golden Abode of Buddha Shakyamuni. Starting from January 3, we diligently called and stopped by the National Museum of Kalmykia.

Yes, we would love to welcome you!

But no one picked up the phone, and the doors were closed.

…but the national museum of Kalmykia was closed all the time…

As for the Chess Museum in City Chess, they told us right away that it would definitely open no earlier than January 8th.

The Chess Museum was closed, but at least we looked at the Chess Palace

Secondly, many cafes and hotels also have a rest on New Year's holidays. With housing, we solved the issue simply: we rented apartments.

We lived in this house, near the monument to the Kalmyk shepherds "Master of the Steppe", on the very outskirts of Elista

And from our window you can see City-Chess Square… 🙂

But we managed to taste the national food in the Kalmyk Cuisine cafe only on January 6 and 7, already at the end of our trip.

Thirdly, it is very windy here in winter. And even with a slight frost of -2 degrees in the steppe, you freeze so that it does not seem small at all.

The horses of the wind in Syakyusn-Sum rang with ice in the wind ...

I will tell about the Kalmyk cuisine separately, it deserves it. As, however, and everything else.

But, to be honest, despite all the disadvantages of winter travel, we were satisfied with the trip to this hospitable and exotic republic.

Triumphal Arch on Lenin Square in Elista

And we will definitely come back here. When it'll be warm…

Have you been to Kalmykia? What did you think of it?

© Galina Shefer, website "Roads of the World", 2014. Copying text and photos is prohibited. All rights reserved.

In the west is the Ergeninskaya Upland. From the northwest to the southeast, the Kuma-Manych depression stretches - the channel of the strait, which in ancient times connected the Caspian and Black Seas.

Now these are the valleys of the Western and Eastern Manych rivers, the lower reaches of the Kuma and numerous salt lakes and estuaries. The Gorodovikovskiy district of Kalmykia is located on the northern outskirts of the Stavropol Upland. The highest point of the republic - Mount Shared (222 meters) - is located in the southern part of the Ergeninskaya Upland.

Water resources

The total area of ​​land under water bodies is 327.1 thousand hectares or 4.4% of the land fund of Kalmykia.

The largest lake in the republic is Lake Manych-Gudilo. Important water bodies are the Sarpinsky and Sostinsky lakes, the Deed-Khulsun lake, the Small and Big Yashalta lakes.

The largest river on the territory of the republic is the Volga, which crosses the territory of Kalmykia in the area of ​​​​the village of Tsagan Aman (12 km). Other large rivers are the Yegorlyk (a section of the republic's border in the extreme southwest runs along the river), Western and Eastern Manych, Kuma (the border with Dagestan runs along the river). On the territory of the republic are the sources of the rivers Dzhurak-Sal and Kara-Sal, the confluence of which forms the river Sal.

The natural water systems of Kalmykia have undergone a significant transformation. In addition to natural ones, there are currently 6 large artificial water systems created in the 1960-1970s on the territory of the republic:

• Chernozemelskaya irrigation and watering system;
• Pravo-Egorlykskaya irrigation and watering system;
• Kalmyk-Astrakhan Irrigation and Irrigation System.
• Chogray reservoir (located on the border with the Stavropol Territory) with adjacent main and distribution canals.

Climate

The Republic of Kalmykia is located in the zones of steppes, semi-deserts and deserts. The climate in Kalmykia is continental with a transition to sharply continental in the eastern and central regions of the republic. Precipitation falls on average 200-300 mm per year. The duration of sunshine is 2180-2250 hours per year. Summer is hot and long (+22°С - +24°С), sometimes up to +44°С. In the summer of 2010, in the territory of Kalmykia, at the Utta weather station, a new absolute maximum temperature for Russia +45.4 ° C was recorded. Winter with little snow (-8° - +3°C), sometimes with short frosts down to -20°C. The lowest temperatures in the northern regions sometimes reach −35°С and above. Often spring comes early and the temperature in May is +20°С - +23°С. September - early October are warm, with short rains.

There is an increase in air temperature from north to south and southeast of the republic. In winter, there are thaws, on some days - snowstorms, and sometimes the resulting ice damages agriculture, causing icing of the herbage of winter crops and pastures.

A specific feature of the territory of the republic are droughts and dry winds: in summer there are up to 120 dry windy days. The region is the driest in the south of the European part of Russia. The annual rainfall is 210-340 mm.

Most of Kalmykia is a zone of strong winds and has significant wind energy resources.

Soils

The main types of landscapes and soils of Kalmykia:

Vegetable world

Kalmykia is located in 4 natural zones: steppe, dry steppe, semi-desert and desert. The flat relief and sharply continental climate determined the biodiversity of Kalmykia. The plant biodiversity of Kalmykia includes more than 800 species belonging to approximately 80 families. More than 300 species of them are valuable and economically promising (forage, medicinal, food, technical, ornamental, phytomeliorative). Among them, the most intensively used are pasture plants belonging to the families of cereals, haze, Asteraceae. Some of them play a soil-protective role (various types of astragalus, teresken gray, leafless juzgun, giant grate (kiyak), prostrate kochia).

Natural fodder lands occupy 5321.0 thousand hectares, which is 71.2% of the territory of Kalmykia and are represented by hayfields and pastures. Hayfields occupy about 107 thousand hectares, or 2% of the total area of ​​fodder lands. The vegetation of hayfields consists mainly of cereals: common beckmania, couch grass  creeping. Under the influence of constant anthropogenic processes, the qualitative composition is deteriorating, unproductive forbs are growing: elecampane British, bedstraw tenacious, mountaineer bird.

The species composition of plants changes from west to east: steppe communities are gradually replaced by desert ones. In the herbage of the dry steppe on chestnut soils, turf grasses predominate: feather grass, Lessing, fescue, Valisian. More moisture-demanding types of cereals and herbs are replaced by drought-resistant species: yarrow noble, wormwood Austrian, rarely white wormwood. In the semi-desert zone, on light chestnut and brown soils, sagebrush-soddy-grass vegetation has formed. The vegetation of the desert steppe changes depending on the composition of the soils. A common feature of semi-desert pastures is that white sagebrush and other xerophilous species become the dominant plants in complexes.

In the eastern part of Kalmykia, sandy and sandy soils predominate, with psammophilic species of cereals and herbs.

More than 100 species of medicinal plants grow on the territory of Kalmykia, of which 53 species are used in scientific medicine. The composition of medicinal plants is most diverse on the Ergeninsky Upland and in the southwestern regions. Of the wild flora of the republic, 16 species of plants are listed in the Red Book of Russia, more than 113 species are classified as rare and endangered plants, 15 of them are species prohibited for collection (feathery wheatgrass, low onion, short-leaved spargia, Volga maykargan, Korzhinsky licorice, licorice naked, iris dwarf, iris leathery, sarmatian belvadia, tulip Schrenk, tulip two-flowered, feather grass feathery and beautiful, singeria Bibershnein, larkspur crimson).

Animal world

Of the mammals listed in the Red Book, the bandage lives reliably in Kalmykia. Stable settlements of this animal are preserved in the Lagansk region. Single meetings of dressing were noted in the Chernozemelsky and Yashulsky districts.

The Republic of Kalmykia is located in the very center of the Black Sea-Caspian bird flyway, which is one of the main ones in the European part of Russia. According to scientists, about 7.04 million river ducks, 5.59 million diving ducks, 953 thousand geese and 2.074 million coots migrate towards the steppes and semi-deserts of the Azov-Caspian.

The nesting bird fauna includes more than 150 species. Virgin areas and semi-deserts are inhabited by several species of larks.

A large number of species is represented by a complex of aquatic and near-water birds inhabiting the coasts and islands of inland waters and the northwestern Caspian. Background nesting species are mallard, gray duck, red-headed duck, grey-headed goose, mute swan, gray heron, gulls, steppe trikushka, herring and black-headed gulls, common tern, sea plover.

In Kalmykia, 16 species listed in the Red Book regularly or sporadically nest (order Copepods - pink pelican, curly pelican; detachment Cicciformes - spoonbill, loaf; detachment Anseriformes - European duck; detachment Falconiformes - long-legged buzzard, steppe eagle, imperial eagle, white-tailed eagle; detachment Crane-like - watercress, stilt, avocet, black-headed laughter).

The stable state of the population is maintained by the Long-legged Buzzard. However, the reduction in forest plantations leads to a reduction in the capacity of the nesting stages of this species. In the desert part of Kalmykia, the density of nesting pairs of Long-legged Buzzard remains very low. To some extent, the trend towards a reduction in the number of the Steppe Eagle continues.

Aquatic biological resources Kalmykia:

The fishery fund of the republic consists of the Volga and Vostochny Manych rivers, Chogray reservoir (area 185 sq. km), Sarpinsky lakes (Sarpa lake - 42.6 km², Barmantsak lake - 25.8, Tsagan-Nur lake - 23.5, Lake Batyr-Mala - 21.9 km²). The water area of ​​the Caspian Sea adjoins the coast of the republic. The main commercial fish species are: sturgeon, herring, bream, pike, zander, vobla, carp, catfish, rudd, tench, crucian carp, perch.

Minerals

The ancient East European platform on the territory of Kalmykia is represented by the Caspian Depression. Parts of the Caspian depression - the southwestern slope of the Astrakhan arch, the Karakul-Smushkovskaya dislocation zone, the Sarpinsky megatrough and the Karasal zone. Each part, in turn, is much more complicated by other uplifts. The thickness of the sedimentary cover within Kalmykia is up to 18 km in the Sarpinsky megatrough, up to 9-12 km in the Astrakhan arch, up to 20 km in the junction zone of the Russian and Scythian platforms.

The main element of the mineral resource base of the republic is fuel and energy resources (oil, gas, condensate), building materials (sand, clay, shell rock), fresh and mineral underground waters, agrochemical raw materials (potash and rock salts, dolomites), bischofite raw materials and others. In the Republic of Kalmykia, two clay-gypsum deposits (Yashkulskoe and Leninskoe) were discovered. In the unallocated fund of the Republic of Kalmykia there are: Zunda-Tolginskoye-II deposit of limestone-shell rocks, studied for the production of lime; deposits of building stones (sandstones); deposits of aggloporite raw materials. In the Iki-Burulsky district of the republic, the Cholun-Khamursky-II deposit of cement raw materials was explored. Limestone-shell rocks of this deposit meet the requirements for the carbonate component in the manufacture of Portland cement. To obtain cement from limestone, it is necessary to study the clay component.

Ecological situation

desertification

The main natural components of the desertification process are:

However, the background for Kalmykia was a weak stage of desertification - 71.9%, strong and very strong - occupy - 13.3%, while in 1987 the first of them in 1987 was only 8.3%. In particular, this was facilitated by a sharp decrease in the number of grazing livestock in the 1990s, the change from an arid climate cycle to a humid one led to the demutation of the vegetation cover of pastures. Since 1989, the amount of precipitation within the region has increased from 180 mm to 320 mm or more, and the number of days with dust storms and dry winds has decreased. The area of ​​open sands has decreased to 250 thousand hectares (1998) .

Despite this, the problem of desertification in Kalmykia has not lost its acuteness, since an increase in anthropogenic pressure, climate aridity can again cause an intensification of desertification processes and, as a result, a deterioration in the socio-economic development of the region, which affects the well-being of the population. According to experts, currently there is an intensification of the process of desertification, the deterioration of pastures.

Secondary salinization

One of the most acute environmental problems in Kalmykia is secondary soil salinization. In the Republic of Kalmykia, the area of ​​saline arable land amounted to 2824.7 thousand hectares, of which 76.6% are solonetzes. Secondary salinization is widespread on 10.2 thousand hectares, of which 8.9 thousand hectares are arable land. So, only in the area of ​​the Sarpinsky lowland, about 1,500 thousand hectares of rice fields were withdrawn from the economic turnover in 2000.

The main reasons for the processes of secondary soil salinization in Kalmykia were miscalculations in the design and construction of irrigation systems. Currently, five large watering and irrigation systems are being operated in the Republic (Sarpinskaya, Kalmytsko-Astrakhanskaya, Pravo-Egorlykskaya, Chernozemelskaya, Caspian). The reclamation fund in the zone of operation of the systems is 43,700 hectares, including regular - 19761 hectares, initiative - 4764 hectares and estuary - 19175 hectares. Drainage availability is less than 15%. Up to 30% of the lands in these systems were initially characterized by a poor ameliorative state due to the high proportion of solonetzes and natural salinization of the root layer.

Almost the entire network of main, distribution and discharge canals of irrigation and water systems (IOS) of Kalmykia is made in an earthen channel without impervious screens, which leads to large water losses, especially on light soils, contributes to the development of processes of secondary salinization, alkalinization, flooding and waterlogging. In the area of ​​environmental protection activities, irrigated lands with a good ameliorative state in terms of the degree of soil salinity (in the layer 0 - 1 m) are 2206 ha (2%), satisfactory - 42017 ha (37%), unsatisfactory - 69125.4 ha (61%), of them with an average degree of salinity - 48%. The average salinity of soils in a meter layer can vary from 0.2 to 0.6%. In terms of the depth of groundwater, lands with a good ameliorative condition occupy 24451.6 ha (21.6%), satisfactory - 35036.8 ha (30.9%), unsatisfactory - 53860 ha (47.5%).

The total area of ​​secondary saline irrigated lands with varying degrees of salinity is about 45 thousand hectares, or 85% of the irrigated area. Secondary salinization of a strong and very strong degree is observed in almost all environmental protection areas, except for the Pravo-Egorlykskaya environmental protection area

Water pollution

Kalmykia, due to its geographical position, has been turned into a utilizer of highly mineralized, chemically polluted waters and industrial effluents. Technogenic sources of pollution of the water bodies of the Republic are enterprises of the fuel and energy, metallurgical, chemical and agricultural complexes adjacent to Kalmykia in the Volgograd, Astrakhan regions and the Stavropol region. About 3 million m3 of industrial wastewater containing more than 200 names of compounds of various hazard classes are annually discharged into the water bodies of the Republic.

Significant damage to the water resources of Kalmykia is caused by the Sarpinsk irrigation and irrigation system, which discharges collector-drainage water from rice paddies without treatment into Lake Sarpa.

The discharge of polluted wastewater from neighboring regions is 86.3% of the total amount of wastewater entering the region.

For many years, phenol and its derivatives have been used in Kalmykia for sanitizing sheep. It was found that phenol entered surface watercourses.

In the groundwater of the region, there are centers of pollution with organochlorine compounds.

In general, in Kalmykia, the sanitary and chemical indicators of water are the worst in Russia, as evidenced by official statistics given in the state reports "On the sanitary and epidemiological situation in the Russian Federation" for 1998-1999. 84.7 percent of water samples do not meet the regulatory requirements for sanitary and chemical indicators, 30 - microbiological, and in rural water supply systems, respectively, 91 and 52 percent. Bringing the main parameters of drinking water to compliance with the requirements of GOST for the main indicators is hindered by the technical depreciation of the existing water supply and sanitation systems, the lack of the necessary complex of treatment facilities, disinfection plants, and, as a result, insufficient water treatment and outdated water treatment methods. The drinking water of the city of Elista and the regional centers of the republic does not meet modern hygienic standards for organoleptic indicators, the content of fluorine, inorganic substances of 1 and 2 hazard classes.

The main factor that destroys the habitat of aquatic biological resources of the Caspian Sea is pollution with oil products, sewage, etc. Sea level rise and more frequent surges of water masses on the developed coastal strip in recent years have increased the washout of chemicals and other waste products into coastal waters, worsened the conditions of natural reproduction and fattening of fish, led to the withdrawal of 300 thousand hectares of agricultural land from agricultural rotation, the flooding of the city of Lagan, the villages of Burannoye, Krasinskoye, Dzhalykovo.

Specially protected natural areas

The system of specially protected natural areas of Kalmykia began to form in the early 1960s in the face of increasing anthropogenic impact on nature.

The system of protected natural areas of republican significance is currently represented