Department of Landscape Study and Problems of Nature Management

 Ландшафт1 Head of the Department –  Doctor of Geographical Sciences   

Skorintseva Irina Borisovna

History. Department of Landscape Study and Problems of Nature Management started from the landscape group by the Sector of Geography of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR in 1960 under the leadership of Doctor of Geographical Sciences, Professor Chupakhin Viktor Mikhailovich. From 1976 till 2006, Head of the Department was a well-known scientist, Doctor of Geographical Sciences, Professor Geldyyeva Galina Viktorovna, who was the founder of landscape school of Kazakhstan. Today, Head of the Department is Doctor of Geographical Sciences Skorintseva Irina Borisovna. Research works of employees of the department is aimed at the achievement of balanced territorial development including solution of problems of nature management by different types and kinds of anthropogenic impact to the landscapes.

Ландшафт2

Landscapes of Kazakhstan

Main directions of researches:

 Classification and systematization of landscapes of Kazakhstan;

  • Principles and methods of different scaled landscape and landscape-ecological mapping;
  • Principles and methods of assessment and mapping of sustainability of landscape-irrigational systems of arid zones of Kazakhstan;
  • Methods of assessment and mapping of landscape, landscape-ecological condition of transboundary territories for sustainable nature management;
  • Complex landscape-ecological and ecological-demographic researches directed to organization of sustainable natural-economic systems;
  • Identification of criteria of landscape-ecological assessment of the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan by different types of anthropogenic impacts;
  • Applied and target landscape researches for the territorial-planning works, land cadastre, sustainable development of natural-economic systems, land use and land-utilization of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

According to the project: “Geographical bases for managing agricultural development lands in Zhambyl region under conditions of water resources limitation” the following types of works are carried out in the laboratory:

  • Methodical bases for managing agricultural development lands of Zhambyl region taking into account restriction of water resources are developed;
  • Field studies of agricultural lands are conducted, on the basis of which a series of thematic maps on land resources of Zhambyl region (maps - modern landscapes, landscape-ecological state, efficiency of agricultural land use, etc.) is created.);
  • The current landscape-ecological state of agricultural development lands and the effectiveness of their use on the basis of modern GIS-technologies;
  • The scheme for managing agricultural development lands aimed at the sustainable development of the agro-industrial complex and the profitability of agricultural units.

Realized programs of fundamental and applied researches allowed to receive the following main results:

  • Theory and methods of landscape assurance of regional networks for desertification control;
  • Theory and methods of landscape assurance of regional networks for rational land use and land-utilization, land-cadastre works;
  • Theory and principally new methodical approaches to assessment and mapping of social-demographic processes taking into account landscape-ecological factors;
  • Methods and criteria of landscape-ecological assessment and mapping of zones of irrigated arable farming of destabilized intercontinental basins of Kazakhstan;
  • Methods of assessment of impact of agricultural production to the landscapes;
  • Methods and criteria of landscape-ecological assessment and mapping of boundary territories of Kazakhstan by different types of economic;
  • Methodic of analysis and assessment of landscape-ecological condition of especially protected natural territories;
  • It was done systematization and classification of kinds of landscapes, developed structure and content of legend to the landscape maps;
  • Geo-information support of Kazakhstan's pastures with the development of GIS-cartographic models of forage resources, livestock loading on pastures, irrigation of pastures, pedigree zoning and inventory of land stock to increase the productivity of distant pastures and ensure sustainable pasture livestock of Kazakhstan. Certificate of state registration of rights to the object of copyright No. 1929 of June 15, 2018;
  • A scheme for the organization of sustainable environmental management of the border area of Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan in the context of cross-border cooperation;
  • Theoretical and methodological and applied provisions of landscape planning of balanced land use for the desert natural-agricultural systems of Kazakhstan;
  • Maps series of regions of Kazakhstan: inventory, assessment, indicative, prognostic, recommended, scientific-reference, multipurpose functional and other.

Staff. At present time in the department are working 10 employees:

- Doctor of Geographical sciences Skorintseva Irina Borisovna, Head of the Department;

- Doctor of Geographical Sciences, Professor Geldyyeva Galina Viktorovna, Principal Staff Scientist;

- Candidate of Biological Sciences Basova Tatyana Anatolievna, Lead Research Worker;

- Candidate of Geographical Sciences Makanova Ainash Undaganovna, Senior Research Worker;

- Candidate of Geographical Sciences Krylova Viktoria Sergeyevna, Senior Research Worker;

- Khusnitdinova Marina Alexandrovna, Research Worker;

- Tuletayev Askhat Borombayevich, Research Worker;

- Kuderin Amanzhol Alimzhanovich, Junior Research Worker;

- Omarov Aidos Nurlanovich, Junior Research Worker;

- Aldazhanova Gulnara Bulatovna, Lead Engineer.

Specialists of the Department are high qualified and have large experience in the area of landscape study, ecology, and environment protection, cartography, solution of problems of nature use. They posses international certificates proving their qualification in application of GIS-technologies and earth remote sensing.

Ландшафт3

Fragment of landscape map of Shchuchinsk-Borovskaya  health-resort zone

Prospect of development. During last years, new prospective directions, having big importance for the development of new branches of Kazakhstan's economy, are developing in the department:

  • Assessment of landscape inhomogeneity of regions in the Republic of Kazakhstan for rational land use and land planning;
  • Study and mapping of landscape of suburb zones of urban agglomerations of the Republic of Kazakhstan for architectural-planning and project developments;
  • Working out landscape assurance of works for creation of Land cadastre of the Republic of Kazakhstan;
  • Working out methods of assessment and mapping of ecological-demographic processes in the Republic of Kazakhstan;
  • Working out methods of  assessment of effectivity of landscape use for agricultural production.

 Publications. During last 5 years, 3 monographs and more than 100 scientific articles were published due to the obtained results of researches in the department. Main of them are:

  • Landscape provisions for desertification combating scheme in the Syrdarya river valley. Almaty: Arkas, 2004. - 235 p. (monograph).
  • B. Skorintseva, T.A. Bassova Ecological bases of the balanced territorial organization of landscapes of the Akmola region of the Republic of Kazakhstan // KazATK Bulletin. - Almaty, 2010. No. 3. - P. 12-20.
  • B. Skorintseva, T.A. Bassova The danger of the impact of agricultural production on the environment of the Republic of Kazakhstan // Proceedings of the Russian scientific-practical conference "Landscape Planning". - M., 2011. - P. 46-55.
  • Bassova Principles and methods of assessment and mapping of modern landscapes (on the example of the Akmola region) // Geology and Subsoil Protection, No. 5, 2011, Almaty. - P. 9-19.
  • Landscape-environmental problems of environmental management of the border areas of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Almaty, 2011. - 236 p. (monograph).
  • S-W. Breckle and G. Geldyeva Dynamics of the Aral Sea in Geological and Historical Times (chapter 2) / Aralkum-a Man-Made Desert: The Desiccated Floor of the Aral Sea (Central Asia). Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2013. - P. 13-37.
  • Geldyeva and S-W. Breckle Geography and Geomorphological and Lithological Characteristics of the Aralkum (chapter 3) // Aralkum-a Man-Made Desert: The Desiccated Floor of the Aral Sea (Central Asia). Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2013. - P. 37-50. IF 1,562.
  • Bassova, Phd student M. Khusnitdinova, G. Geldyeva, I. Skorintseva Anthropogenic disturbance of landscapes in the border area of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan // 16th International multidisciplinary scientific geoconference & EXPO SGEM. Book 5. Ecology,  Economics, Education and Legislation // Conference Proceedings, 2016. - Albena, Bulgaria, 2016. - P. 45-52. (Impact Factor in SCOPUS is - 5 and the hi-index in ISI Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) is 6, which has increased with the listings of SGEM 2015 volumes).
  • А. Medeu, I. Skorintseva, T. Bassova, V. Krylova Assessment of supply sufficiency of agricultural lands of southern Kazakhstan by water resources // 17th International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference & SGEM 2017. Ecology, Economics, Education and Legislation: Conference Proceedings - Albena, Bulgaria. ISSN - 1314-2704. 29 June - 9 July, 2017. - Р. 125-131. IF 1,760.
  • Barrett, G. Feola, V. Krylova, M. Khusnitdinova The application of Rapid Appraisal of Agricultural Innovation Systems (RAAIS) to agricultural adaptation to climate change in Kazakhstan: A critical evaluation. Agricultural Systems 151 (2017) - P. 106-113, United Kingdom. ISSN - 0308-521X. IF 2,571.
  • I. Alimaev, I.B. Skorintseva, T.A. Bassova, V.S. Krylova Sustainable management of the residential resources of Kazakhstan with the use of GIS technologies. // Issues of Geography and Geoecology, No. 2, April-June, Almaty. - P. 64-74.
  • T. Barrett, G. Feola, V. Krylova, M. Khusnitdinova  Adapting Agricultural Water Use to Climate Change in a Post-Soviet Context: Challenges and Opportunities in Southeast Kazakhstan. // Human Ecology 30 October 2017, - P. 1-16. IF 2,571.

Field researches. Many field researches on different landscape-ecological problems of the Republic of Kazakhstan were conducted by the employees of department. Field researches were concentrated on the study of the issues of formation and functioning landscapes of Kazakhstan. The priority in field researches is the study of spatial-temporal changes of landscapes under impact of anthropogenous factors of influence, study of sustainability of natural-economic systems, monitoring and mapping of modern condition of landscape of Kazakhstan. On the base of field researches, there was developed structure and content of legends to landscape maps of the republic and its regions, main landscape-ecological problems of the regions of Kazakhstan were revealed.

Field research on the project "Geographical bases for managing agricultural development lands in Zhambyl region under the conditions of water resources limitation".

 The composition of the research team: senior researcher  Krylov V. S., chief researcher Basova T. A., senior researcher Makanova A. U., junior researcher Kuderin A. A., junior researcher, Omarov A. N. Trip date: from July 10 to August 11, 2018

The purpose of the research: Conducting field research to assess the land and water resources of Zhambyl region

Tasks:

- carrying out adjustment of contours of used and cultivated agricultural land;

- identification of sources of watering for agricultural lands and assessment of their condition;

- conducting research on the degradation of irrigated and pasture lands in the Zhambyl region, identifying disturbed lands.

A group of landscape scientists of LLP "Institute of geography" in the period from July 10 to August 11, 2018 conducted a field survey of land and water resources of Zhambyl region.

The routes were designed to survey the land used in crop and livestock production in different regions of the region. Thus, the lands involved in agriculture, located in different natural conditions - river complexes, sand massifs and foothills.

1 2

Foothill plains traditionally used as pastures (near Taldybulak village, Merki district)

3

Pre-sand zone of the Moynkum massif used for livestock grazing (near Akyrtobe, T. Ryskulov District)

4

Natural hay land along the river Kurahatti (Merki district)

5

River valley of the river Assy, used for grazing (near Birlesu-Enbek, Zhambyl district)

According to the program of field survey were clarified and described the types and contours of agricultural land (pasture, arable land) and their productivity, identified the sources of their flooding.

6 7

Growing corn and plantations (irrigation by hand-dug furrows)

8 9

Growing beets and onions (drip irrigation)

10 11

Garden cultivation (on the left - by modern technology "turnkey garden", on the right-traditionally)

12

Cattle grazing on the harvested cereal field with water supply for watering (Shu district)

Particular attention was paid to the sources of watering. These include all the major rivers of the region, as well as a network of channels designated for irrigation. During the work examined the condition of the shorelines of rivers and channels, etc.

13 14 15

A separate point of the survey was a visit to the Tasutkol reservoir and the main canal (MC) diverted from it, flooding irrigation arrays of the Shu district.

16 17

Dam of Tasutkol Reservoir                              Scheme of irrigation networks

18 19

View from the dam on the Tasutkel MC           Pumping installations along the Tasutkel MC

Local water sources (wells, ditches) were also examined

2021

Typical organization of watering in the farms of the region

22 23

Farmer manor, in the past organized wintering near the well, with a place for watering livestock (Baizak district)

The condition of the aryks of the region is mainly favorable, they are full-flowing. But there are also destroyed and abandoned aryks (in earthen beds).

24 25 26 27

Also, as a result of the measurements, the data on pasture yields, fodder capacity, and fodder stock were refined. All this together allowed us to determine the nature of the disturbance and the degree of vegetation degradation.

28 29 30 31 33 34

An example of using the Ramensky grid to determine the yield of vegetation of sand massifs and foothills.

A total of 51 points were surveyed. In the course of the work, forms of a geobotanical description were filled for both arable lands and pastures, as well as irrigation points and irrigation sources were described.

35

There were also recorded cases of anthropogenic pollution that adversely affect the ecological state of land and water resources.

36 37

Plastic hoses of irrigation systems             Violation of the rules of storage and fertilization

40

Siltation of irrigation canals and untimely cleaning

According to the results of the expedition surveys, the research objectives and tasks were fully implemented in accordance With the program of the field study of the project " Geographical basis of land management of agricultural development of Zhambyl region in conditions of water resources limitation»:

- corrected contours of used and cultivated agricultural lands;

- the sources of watering for agricultural lands (pasture and irrigated arable lands) are established and the associated assessment of their condition is carried out;

- a complex of works on the study of degradation on irrigated and pasture lands of Zhambyl region and identification of disturbed lands was carried out.

The results obtained during the processing of the field materials were reflected in the interim and final reports on the project theme.