Nature of Inner Asia
Bibliographic description:
, , TRENDS AND SCALES OF NATURAL ENVIRONMENT TRANSFORMATION IN THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING LANDSCAPES OF THE KUYTUNKA RIVER BASIN BY OLD BELIEVERS OF TRANSBAIKALIA // Nature of Inner Asia. - 2025. №1(30). . - С. 84-92.
Title:
TRENDS AND SCALES OF NATURAL ENVIRONMENT TRANSFORMATION IN THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING LANDSCAPES OF THE KUYTUNKA RIVER BASIN BY OLD BELIEVERS OF TRANSBAIKALIA
Financing:
The research was supported by the grant of the Russian Geographical Society.
Codes:
Annotation:
The article presents an assessment of the scale of transformation of natural environment during the development of the territory in the Kuytunka River basin by Old Believers. It has been revealed that the key directions of anthropogenic transformation were the interrelated processes of plowing virgin lands and reducing forest areas. Based on cartographic methods with the use of topographic maps of 1896–1914 and Landsat satellite survey data, we have established that during the period of maximum plowing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries the area of arable land reached 580 km2 (58 thousand hectares), which is 1,6 times more than at present. At the same time, the land area covered by forest vegetation was less than 680 km2, or 59 % of the entire basin area. This is the lowest figure for the entire historical period. The economic activity of the Old Believers led to the formation of unique agricultural landscapes, the potential of which is currently being used.
Keywords:
landscapes, arable lands, Selenga Highlands, Landsat, Kuytun intermountain basin, Old Believers.
List of references:
Article.pdf