ISSN 2079-0961, Arid Ecosystems, 2020, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 114–122. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2020. Russian Text © The Author(s), 2020, published in Aridnye Ekosistemy, 2020, Vol. 26, No. 2(83), pp. 34–42. SYSTEMATIC STUDY OF ARID TERRITORIES Assessment of the Spatial and Temporal Variability of Arid Ecosystems in the Republic of Buryatia E. Zh. Garmaeva, b, *, A. A. Ayurzhanaeva, **, B. Z. Tsydypova, Zh. B. Alymbaevaa, B. V. Sodnomova, S. G. Andreeva, M. A. Zharnikovaa, V. S. Batomunkueva, N. Mandakhc, ***, T. K. Salikhov d, e, ****, and A. K. Tulokhonova, ***** aBaikal Institute of Nature Management, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Ulan-Ude, 670047 Russia bBanzarov Buryat State University, Ulan-Ude, 670000 Russia cInstitute of Geography and Geoecology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, 15170 Mongolia dGumilyov Eurasian National University, Nur-Sultan, 010008 Kazakhstan eSeifullin Kazakh Agricultural University, Nur-Sultan, 010011 Kazakhstan *e-mail:
[email protected] **e-mail:
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[email protected] ****e-mail:
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[email protected] Received May 20, 2019; revised June 15, 2019; accepted June 28, 2019 Abstract—Climate change and anthropogenic activity in the Republic of Buryatia aggravate the processes of desertification and land degradation. The territory of Buryatia was zoned according to the aridity index based on ENVIREM climate data with a high spatial resolution. Long-term changes in the vegetation cover in arid and humid zones are quantitatively assessed based on a combined study of the time series of the normalized- difference vegetation index (NDVI) with the Advanced Very High Radiation Radiometer (AVHRR), meteo- rological series of the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis data set, and field studies.