Research Article
Rare Vegetation Degradation within Buffer Zones In Gobustan State National Park, Azerbaijan
Yelena M. Gambarova* and Adil Y. Gambarov
R.I.S.K. Company, Rəşid Behbudov Küçəsi, Bakı, Azerbaijan
- Corresponding Author:
- Yelena M. Gambarova
R.I.S.K. Company, Rəşid Behbudov
Küçəsi, Bakı, Azerbaijan
Tel: +994 12 497 37 37
E-mail: ElenaG@risk.az
Received April 06, 2016; Accepted April 21, 2016; Published April 25, 2016
Citation: Gambarova YM, Gambarov AY (2016) Rare Vegetation Degradation within “Buffer Zones” In Gobustan State National Park, Azerbaijan. J Earth Sci Clim Change. 7:344. doi:10.4172/2157-7617.1000344
Copyright: © 2016 Gambarova YM, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
This paper investigates the spatial change of rare vegetation cover of Gobustan, Azerbaijan. The Gobustan State National Park (Conservation Area) is a nationally important desert/semi-desert located west and south-west of Baku, Azerbaijan. In 2007 Gobustan was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site considered being of "outstanding universal value" for the quality and density of its rock art engravings. The Study Area at Gobustan contains a wealth of historical and archaeological sites and is also known for its rare vegetation. This investigation includes monitoring of existing threats to rare vegetation (Global Climate Change, oil and gas exploration, overgrazing of winter and summer pastures by domestic sheep, goats and cattle, pollution, etc.) as well the processing of remote sensing data to produce “measured” vegetation indicators. This study has shown that oil and gas infrastructure, in an ecologically important semi-arid region, has a negative effect on species abundance and cover of vegetation. Rare vegetation classification within a buffer zone indicates: Plant cover has decreased in the buffer zone and is higher than the Sensitive Area. Bare ground has increased dramatically in the buffer zone whereas in the Sensitive Area it has decreased slightly.
