Vegetative surface of Western Kazakhstan is defined by a great diversity. It is related to variety of the very conditions of plants’ existence, multiplicity of soil-climate areas and sub-areas. On the whole, vegetation of the research area can be referred to two zone types: in the North – to desert-steppe (semidesert) type, and in the South – to desert type.
Absinthial associations mostly dominate in vegetative surface of semidesert. White Artemisia is widely spread and possesses many feeding qualities, especially in combination with bluegrass, summer cypress, and wheat grass [4]. At the same time, Selina, Agriophyllum, blady grass usually grow at the surface of quicksand, and sand Artemisia, Siberian bluegrass, red Artemisia, feather grass, tarsa, calligonum, etc. grow at more fixated surfaces. In kettles among sands, where ground waters are located close to surface, insignificant tangles of trees and bushes can be found, especially Tamarisk. There are usually no trees in low areas between ridge sands; plain areas are covered with Artemisia and mixed herb vegetation, such as izen, shagyr, ebelek, terexen. Just as in sand, spots of swampy and sometimes even dry alkali soils, wastes, and naked takyr can be found in clay deserts. They are the most sterile locations in the desert, often have no vegetation at all, and only small separate areas of them are covered with juicy glasswort (sarzasan, fat glasswort, saltpetrous grass, seepweed, pettrosymonia) [1]. Calligonum associations have the greatest nutritional value for cattle.
Desert communities have a weak density of surface level, here suffrutescent such as Artemisia Lercha, black Artemisia dominate here, and in sands – Artemisia of Chernyayev (sand Artemisia).
Travosta of desert area saline soils is represented by associations of biyugun, grey Artemisia, and white Artemisia. Covered surface in communities of biyurgun varies from 30 % to 60 %.
In Zhalgan region there are vast massives of scattered sands that are at one of initial stages of overgrowing and are being covered with rare bushes of blady grass or more or less dense bushes of chagyr. Efficiency of such pastures equals approximately 3–3,5 center of hay hectare [3].
Artenisia-less deserts are the most widespres, and it is related to a high level of soil alkaline. They are associated with flat areas with loamy brown soils as well as soils of light mechanical composition, as well as sands [2, 3]. Aside from Artemisia here we can find anabasis, ebelek, sheep fescue, desert blady grass, branched sedge, hair-like and Sareptsk feather grass, etc., and during spring rather many of ephemers emerge. This fact defines spring-autumn use of these pastures, and mostly young branches are consumed, they form 40 % of total bush mass. Sand Artemisia deserts usually develop at uneven sands. Psammophillous grass and grain usually participate in them, they can be also combined with bushes (tamarisk, leafless calligonum) and baldy grass bushes in sand dune areas and Artenisia-less, erkerk-Artenisia-less, ephero-Artenisia-less communities at sand and subsand soils at plains, uneven, and small-bump sands [2, 3].
Thus, for all studied regions (Bokeyordinskiy, Zhangalinskiy, Karatobinskiy) kind composition of vegetation is the same, only stages of sand overgrowing with grass and wood-bush vegetation can vary. In lowlands, where depth of ground waters reaches 4 m, tree standings can be found, they are usually formed of oleaster, cottonwood, pine trees, and other breeds, and this fact, of course, plays a significant part in forest industry of the studied regions.
The work is submitted to the International Scientific Conference “Ecology and environmental management”, Israel (tel Aviv), Feb 20–27, 2017, came to the editorial office оn 13.02.2017.