Landscape Mapping of the Krasnoyarsk Depression and Its Mountain Fringe

Aim . Analysis of the spatial organisation of the landscapes of the Krasnoyarsk depression and its mountain framing within the Emelyanovsky, Berezovsky, Mansky, Sukhobuzimsky and Bolshemurtinsky municipal districts of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Methodology . Based on the provisions of the Russian landscape school, detailed landscape mapping of the model territory was carried out at a scale of 1:250,000 and a quantitative assessment of landscape diversity, complexity and fragmentation of the landscape structure was carried out using several metrics. Results . The mapping region covers the area of 31,381 km2. The 54 types of terrains have been identified within its boundaries. The high landscape diversity is due to the location of the territory on the border of three large natural regions – physical-geographical countries. The legend of the map is constructed according to the regional-typological principle, to illustrate the subordination relations between landscape units and regional subdivisions. Thus, the 12 types of terrains belong to the Altai-Sayan, 16 to the Central Siberian, and 26 to the West Siberian landscapes. The landscapes of the Krasnoyarsk depression are a continuation of the West Siberian landscapes. It was previously noted by several authors, for example, on small-scale landscape maps edited by I. S. Gudilin and A. G. Isachenko. However, despite the lesser fragmentation and complexity compared to the mountainous frame, the landscapes of the depression demonstrate increased values of landscape diversity. This is confirmed by higher values of the Margalef and Menkhinik diversity indices. This fact can be associated with the influence of the depression effect to the landscape structure formation. Research implications . The obtained results are important for understanding the spatial organization of landscapes of near-mountain (according to the classification of N. V. Fadeeva) depressions, and can be used to solve various problems of rational nature management and the organization of geoecological research both in the territory of the Krasnoyarsk depression and its mountainous surroundings, and in similar landscape settings.