Biothic factors and soil cover of the Sharyn river basin

Abstract

The study of the patterns of functioning of the soil and vegetation cover of altitudinal zonal geosystems is among the most important problems of the geosystem-basin approach. The landscapes of the
Sharyn river basin belong to the specially protected natural territories of Kazakhstan, which is the relevance of the study of this territory. The article discusses the functioning of the land and vegetation cover
of the Sharyn river basin based on the geosystem-basin approach, GIS technology and mapping. The
object of study is the Sharyn river basin, located in the extreme south-east of Kazakhstan, in the foothills
of the northern slopes of the Tien – Shan. Administratively, this is the territory of Raiymbek, Kegen and
Uygur districts of Almaty region. The authors’ own results are the mapping of the study area, using GIS
technology made on ArcGIS 10.1: digital thematic maps of physical geography, hydrographic network,
mesogeological systems of the Sharyn river basin; subgeosystems of the Uppersharyn mesogeosystem.
Differentiation of the soil cover by altitude – zone geosystems carried out according to the method of
K.M. Dzhanaleeva is also the result of the work of the authors. One of the objectives of “Digital Kazakhstan” is the digitalization of economic sectors, which include the use of online capabilities and innovative digital technologies in scientific research. The digital soil maps made by the authors for high-altitude
zones and the Uppersharyn, the Middlesharyn and the Lowersharyn mesogeosystems of the Sharyn river
basin can be actively used in planning and recommendations on environmental protection, in planning
ecological tourism. Also, these digital maps can be used when planning agricultural, cartographic and
cadastral works.
Key words: soil, vegetation, geosystems, high-altitude zone, GIS technology