Forage plants of Karakalpak Ustyurt (Uzbekistan)

Abstract

It has been found that in the territories of the Karakalpak Ustyurt (Uzbekistan), there are at least 497 species belonging to 244 genera and 54 families. The basis of the forage flora of the research area is represented by representatives of the families Amaranthaceae (80 species), Asteraceae (77), Poaceae (58), Brassicaceae (55), Fabaceae (34), Boraginaceae (33), Apiaceae (16), Caryophyllaceae (14), and Polygonaceae (11), characteristic of the flora of the Turan province. The role of herbaceous plants is high in the composition of pasture vegetation -they make up about 60% of the forage plants of the Karakalpak Ustyurt. The analysis of the distribution of forage plants in biotopes shows that the majority of species grow both on the cliffs and on the plateau (274 species). There are 148 species characteristic of the cliffs, and for the plateau of the Ustyurt - half as many - 75. This once again proves that the cliffs, especially the Eastern cliff, is one of the key botanical territories of the Turan Lowland.