Assessment of the Current Plant Diversity Status in Kazakhstan

Abstract

Biological diversity is a main source of satisfying the human needs and serves as the basis for adaptation to changing environmental conditions. The practical value of biodiversity lies in the fact that it is an inexhaustible source of biological resources. At present, the number of species on the Earth is a rapidly decreasing. Among the main environmental issues, reduction of biodiversity takes a special place. This chapter presents an analysis of the plant resource biodiversity in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Attempt has been made to explore such natural zones in the ecosystems such as the forest-steppe, desert, semidesert, foothill, and mountainous. All include a detailed description of communities and dominant plants, endemics, and relict taxa. Furthermore, has been carried out the assessment of current biodiversity status, as well as degradation degree of the steppe ecosystems subjected to a large-scale plowing in the 1960s too. The aim here has been to present a quantitative assessment of biodiversity parameters as indicators of ecological safety based on multivariate statistical analysis. According to the indices, the biodiversity is determined as high, acceptable, medium, low, and critical.