Ecological successions of coastal vegetation in the Caspian Sea level modern dynamics conditions

Succession processes occur continuously throughout the planet. Changes occur in all ecosystems, either naturally or artificially. Depending on the reasons that caused the change in biocenosis, successions are divided into natural and anthropogenic. Coastal vegetation is characterized by ecological successions, which represent a successive change of biocenoses in the same territory under the influence of both natural and anthropogenic factors. The coastal plains of the Caspian region are the youngest land areas, the vegetation cover of which has not yet formed and is at different stages of successional development. The flora and vegetation of the regions were significantly influenced by the transgressive and regressive stages of the history of the Caspian Sea. The coastline was constantly changing under the influence of natural and, nowadays, anthropogenic factors. In 1996, a change in the water balance of the sea occurred, which led to a decrease in the level of the Caspian Sea to approximately –26.96 m. In 2000, the sea level dropped by about 30 cm, and by 2002 it had stabilized and was at about –27 m. Since 2006, the decline in the level of the Caspian Sea began and by 2022 it had reached a critical level of –28.7 m. At the present stage, the Caspian Sea is in a regressive phase. The task arises of determining the further development of dynamic changes in coastal vegetation. The results of observations of the dynamics of vegetation on stationary transects located at key sites differing in the degree of water flow are presented. Using cluster analysis, 3 ecotopes of plant communities were identified. The coastal strip of the Caspian Sea of the Republic of Dagestan is, as it were, a “model”, the study of which allows us to trace the ecological succession of vegetation associated with changes in water levels.