A Topography-Based Model of the Vegetation Cover of the Lanzhinskie Mountains

Abstract

By means of the GAM technique it is possible to create detailed maps of the po tential vegetation for regions that are difficult to access. This is particularly im? por tant for wide mountain areas of Northeast Asia, where such maps have never been created. High?resolution DEMs permit increased prediction accuracy and mo deling of complex vegetation patterns. Most vegetation types in the area are con trolled mainly by the moisture regime and by regimes of sediment transport and accumulation. The relatively small amounts of rainfall in the continental cli? mate are distributed spatially by relief elements. This creates a wide range of soil mois ture regimes: from very dry, with a prolonged period of moisture deficit, to wet, without moisture deficit during the growing season at all. Therefore, mois? ture appears to be a critical resource in this climatic region, and it is a main dif? fe rentiating factor for the vegetation. The map of potential vegetation, obtained sa tisfactorily, reflects altitudinal zonation and inter?zonal patterns of vegetation distribution. The area occupied by some vegetation communities is overestimated, however, due mainly to insufficient DEM resolution