степная зона

Article is devoted to history of creation of Institute of the steppe which is the only academic geographical institute in the Urals and in the Ural branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The article presents the results of the geo-ecological state analysis of steppe landscapes of oil and gas fields within the Volga-Ural oil and gas province. As a key parcel were selected polygons with an area of around 100 sq. km each. The digitization of key sites of oil and gas objects location and road transport network has been executed. It has been shown that the most large-scale and widespread changes are disturbances of soil and vegetation cover, which occur as a result of the introduction and operation of the area and linear infrastructure of fields.

The article presents the study results of changes in the plant cover of ribbon forests of the Priobsky Plateau during the Holocene. According to satellite imagery data, a change in the role of different types of vegetation cover, corresponding to the current environmentally friendly conditions of the steppe and forest-steppe zones has been established.