Landscape-ecological characteristics of the permafrost mire massif situated near Tsagany Mountain (the Iolgo mountain ridge, Central Altai)

Mountain mires and peatlands of Western Siberia are weakly covered by scientific literature. The separate data about biological diversity, ecological types and distribution of mires can be found in regional floristic and very limited geobotanical papers and 'the species lists'. The information about the extent of paludification of the territory can originate from the satellite images and aerophotographs. We started special researches focused on the mountain mires of the Altai Mountains in2004. Mire flora and vegetation, peat stratigraphy, botanical and chemical composition of the peat, mires typology, features of development and functioning as well as interrelations to the local environment were studied. We got new data on the types of environmental management and nature use that is practiced on south-Siberian mountain mires; gave the assessment of the modern state and stability of the mire ecosystems under conditions of anthropogenic press and climate change. It is noticed that the mire massifs in the mountains are mostly small and sensible to the environmental changes as well as to the direct anthropogenic impact. Vegetation and landscape structure of mountain peat mires of Altai depending on climate changes and thermokarst processes is reported in the article. Environmental changes in mountain regions on the South of Western Siberia manifest themselves in dynamics of various components and features of unique and poorly studied mire ecosystems. It especially concerns mire massifs with permafrost in the peat deposit as, in this case, the ecosystem changes are connected not only with the climate, but also with dynamics of thermokarst processes. That is why the mountain permafrost mires are important objects of environmental monitoring. The landscape characteristics of the permafrost mire massif in the central part of the Altai Mountains as the object for the modern climate change monitoring are given in the article. The investigation included the complex research of the mire massif situated on the mountain saddle. The methods of geobetanical releves (that means full-floristic vegetation samples), fine-scale geobotanical and landscape mapping and peat coring were used. The full landscape-ecological characteristics and the description of the mire landscape dynamics connected to the environmental changes resulted from the research. The vegetation of the mire represents a pattern of heterotrophous complex with meso-oligotrophous and oligotrophous partially degrading hillocks (mounds) and mesotrophous and eu-mesotrophous shallows. Some of hillocks were replaced by little lakes as a result of permafrost thawing. The heterogeneity of the vegetation and the mire surface microrelief are conditioned by the combination of ecological conditions at the flat and sloping position of the mire massif on the mountain saddle, multidirectional streams of ground waters and a succession stage of the mire development, but most of all - by thermokarst processes that are characteristic of the type of flat-mound permafrost mires.

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