Chapter
19    

A. S. Shestakov

Russian Academy of Sciences
Moscow, Russia

Abstract

Loss of farming and range land along the Caspian coast of Kalmykia has been documented by means of space photographs, field observations and statistical data. Between the onset of the current Caspian transgression in 1978 and 1996, cultivated land in the Lagan region had been diminished by 48% and grazing land by 76.8%. Marshes and submerged lands have increased by 460 and 700%, respectively. Some changes, such as increases in submerged and marshland and in brushy cover, are easily observed on conventional aerial and space photographs.

Citation for the published article

Shestakov, A. S., 2000. Land-use changes in the northwest Caspian coastal area, 1978 through 1996: Case study of the Republic of Kalmykia, in Dynamic Earth Environments: Remote Sensing Observations from Shuttle-Mir Missions (K. P. Lulla and L. V. Dessinov, eds.), John Wiley & Sons, New York, pp. 231-239, 268, 284.

Links to Color Images

	Figure 19.1 Location map of the study area: Lagan Region, Republic of Kalmykia.
	Figure 19.2 Space photograph of the Volga delta region and the coastal zone of Kalmykia, April 14, 1994 (NASA photograph STS059-218-64). The white box shows the area featured in Figure 19.2
	Figure 19.3 Space photograph of the Lagan coastal region, September 1994 (NASA photograph STS064-101-17).
	Figure 19.4 Land-use dynamics in the Lagan region. Bars indicate percent of total area; range in legend indicates percentage in 1978 and in 1996. (Data from the State Committee on Land Resources of the Republic of Kalmykia and the Committee on Land Resources of the Lagan Region.) "Meadows" includes the category "Marshy Meadows" used from 1978 to 1989; "Pastures" includes the category "Marshy Pastures" used from 1978 to 1991; "Forests" includes the category "Forested Lands" used from 1978 to 1989; "Others" includes the categories "Public Courtyards, Streets, Squares," "Public Buildings," and "Degraded Lands."
	Figure 19.5 Land-use map of the Lagan coastal region, Kalmykia, based on interpretation of space photographs.

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