Using GIS for mapping the Great Eurasian Natural Backbone

Abstract

The article presents the results of the first two stages of the project on the assessment and mapping changes in the state of the Great Eurasian Natural Tract (GEANT) as a factor of global environmental stability and a source of ecosystem services carried out in the Laboratory for Biogeography of the Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences. We consider biomes or their integrated parts as units of ecosystem cover. An assessment of the state of the natural frame within each biome is given by a combination of losses in size and phytomass of natural ecosystems. GIS analysis of remote sensing data of the study area is carried out basing the concept of actual biogeography. Field verification is carried out by the method of rapid long-distance observations, which allows collecting data on large territories with an accuracy sufficient for the project. Key natural areas are mapped by summarizing data on specially protected and other natural areas for which their high conservation value is showed. The space between the key areas is considered as connecting areas (“corridors”), from which settlements, mining areas and other transformed landscapes are excluded. GEANT is mapped as an integrated biome complex from Fennoscandia to the Pacific. Several biomes are included in the southern edge of the GEANT in only a small part. We identified biomes the most changed as a result of mining, logging, and fires. Biomes are noted with the most significant spread to the north of woody-shrubby vegetation and a rose up of the upper border of the forest distribution. By contrary, in the south of Primorye the lower border of the primary forest distribution rose up because of frequent fires. The strategic principles of the territorial conservation are formulated for biomes depending on the stage of digression of the natural frame. A basis has established for the quantification of GEANT ecosystem services at the final stage of work.