Fire frequency in the sagebrush deserts of Central Kazakhstan

The frequency of fire occurrence in sagebrush communities of Central Kazakhstan was studied on the example of model plots with a total area of about 4.3 thousand km2 in the Ulytau region during the last 40 years. Data from Landsat satellite imagery 1984-2023 and geobotanical descriptions of communities made on different-aged burned areas in 2014-2023 were used to determine the combustibility of communities. It was revealed that for most of the territory the fire frequency is once in 20 years, the maximum (under intensive anthropogenic impact) is once in 8-13 years. Based on actual data, models for calculating fire probability were obtained for the whole territory and separately for communities of the most characteristic formation Artemisieta terrae-albae.