Current Status of the Vegetation of the South-Western Tenir-too Reserves

There are 10 nature reserves in Kyrgyzstan. In 2022, we conducted short-term monitoring of the vegetation cover of the Sary-Chelek Biosphere Reserve and the Besh-Aral State Reserve in Jalal-Abad oblast. The study area is located within the Western Tenir-Too. Species composition of vegetation of the study area is rich. In Jalal-Abad oblast out of 83 Red Data Book species of plants of Kyrgyzstan, 46 species can be found. During the vegetation survey, 7 Red Data Book species of plants of Kyrgyzstan were noted: Abiessemenovii; Amygdalus petunnikowii; Hedysarum chaitocarpum; Malus sieversii; Sorbus persica; Tulipa kaufmanniana and Tulipa anadroma. Sary-Chelek Biosphere Reserve was established in 1959. Besh-Aral State Reserve was established in 1979. The article presents the results of reconnaissance monitoring of vegetation of Besh-Aral State Reserve and Sary-Chelek Biosphere Reserve. According to preliminary data, the vegetation of the reserves is strongly influenced by the complete absence of anthropogenic impact. Monitoring of vegetation cover was carried out in the reserves as well as in the control areas. The vegetation of the control areas is exposed to the effects of grazing. As a result, the species diversity of plant communities decreases, the floral composition is depleted, and a significant part of plant species does not undergo a full vegetation cycle. Overall 13 geobotanical descriptions were compiled indicating the floral composition, abundance, height, phenological phase and vital condition of each plant species. To assess the abundance of plant species, ocular methods of direct accounting on the Drude model were used: cop2 – plants are abundant, cop1 – quite abundant, sp (sparsae) – rare, sol (solitaries) – isolated. The foliage projective cover occupied by projections of the aboveground parts of plants was taken into account for the plant community under study.