Stages of grassland degradation in subalpine ecosystems of the Central Caucasus, Russia

Overgrazing and grassland degradation are significant environmental problems in the mountain ecosystems of Central Caucasus. The aim was to define criteria for stages provide land managers with useful guidelines on evaluating status. We identified four based a statistical analysis 23 vegetation soil parameters at 126 model plots subalpine meadows. Main indicators were grass height, coverage forage species, grazing-resistant fresh herbage yield. Grass height decreased significantly (P < 0.05) each stage from 31.4 ± 3.6 cm untransformed grasslands 3.3 1.7 severely degraded pastures. Fresh yield (120.8 12.5×102 kg ha-1) 81% higher than highly Coverage species row 72% 34%, while increased grazing intensity 23% 77%. Critical values integral index these reliable assessment status field.