A group of employees of the “Dendrology Garden” Public Legal Entity (PLE) went on a scientific business trip to the Sheki district, located on the southern slope of the Greater Caucasus Mountains

On 15-18 July, 2025, the working group of the “Dendrology Garden” Public Legal Entity (PLE) under the authority of the head of the Executive Power of  Baku City went on a 4-day scientific business trip to the Sheki district, located on the southern slope of the Greater Caucasus Mountains.

The basic aim of the trip was to study the landscape, destructive processes and desertification of the Sheki-Zagatala region, determine the distribution areas, formations and associations of local flora resources, plants in forest areas, assess biodiversity by population in natural conditions, collect herbarium and seed samples, and conduct dendrochronological analysis of processes occurring in populations of rare species of natural flora.

The expert team of the “Dendrology Garden” PLE visited the Sheki Regional Scientific Center of ANAS located in Sheki district, during the mission, the employees of the Dendrology Garden and the Sheki Regional Scientific Center exchanged views on conducting joint scientific research.

Analyses were conducted on the scientific study of problems such as the study and use of the landscape and local flora resources of the region, increasing soil productivity and protecting them from erosion, and developing forest plants, the impact of climate change on the taxonomic composition of trees and shrubs was investigated, and information was collected.

The staff conducted observations and dendrochronological studies in forest ecosystems, and the flora biodiversity of the study area, including the species composition of trees and shrubs, bioecological characteristics, relief, and distribution territories, were comprehensively studied, notes were taken, and photographs were taken. Herbaria collected in various development phases of trees and shrubs distributed in natural and cultural conditions were systematically analyzed in laboratory conditions.

Samples were taken from old specimens in the area – Carpinus betulus L. with a trunk diameter of 120 cm and 123 cm. During the research, the development dynamics of the species depending on the age and climatic factors were determined using the LINTAB6 equipment.

The dendroflora of the study area was analyzed based on the Engler and APG III-IV systems, herbarium samples were collected. During the research, the species composition and structure of soil and vegetation formations were determined, and plants were examined.

The investigation area is exposed to anthropogenic pressure. The ecological problems of the vegetation and soil cover of the area are related to erosion and pollution of soils under the influence of anthropogenic factors, and recently, the unplanned expansion of settlements and other processes. Natural regeneration is satisfactory in the study area.

During the research, the species composition and structure of soil and vegetation formations were determined. The research was conducted in an appropriate manner - preparatory, field and camera work was carried out. During the visit, the general distribution areas of plants, grouped according to the APG III-IV systems, and their taxonomic composition were analyzed.

Oak, beech, and hornbeam trees occupy a large area in the forests. In addition to a small number of chestnut, linden, walnut, hazel, and birch trees, crab apple, pear, cherry, cranberry, elderberry, hawthorn, and evergreen juniper bushes are also found.

In addition, soil and irrigation water samples were taken from depths of 0–30 cm in order to study the mineralogical composition of the soil cover. The samples taken will be analyzed in laboratory conditions, and based on the results, the chemical composition of the soil and water, the amount of organic matter, and other agrochemical indicators will be determined.

In order to study the harmful organisms spread in the region, determine their bioecological characteristics, degree of infection, and economic importance, as well as prepare recommendations for promising integrated control methods (designation and application) against these problems, and organize phytosanitary monitoring, various species were examined and initial visual diagnostics were carried out in terms of diseases and pests.

During the research, it was found that the primary forest types, as well as the altitudinal distribution of vegetation cover throughout the region, have been disrupted to one degree or another as a result of human activity. In the especially valuable forest massif, gum and juniper forests are being replaced by xerophilous, sometimes semi-desert plant groups as a result of illegal felling of trees and intensive cattle grazing. In the middle mountain-forest belt, high-stemmed productive beech forests have been replaced by deciduous beech forests, sometimes by aspen, hazel, blackberry thickets, and dense bearberry thickets. In the upper forest belt, as a result of long-term intensive cattle breeding, the forest has not remained at its natural boundary anywhere. In the mountainous area, the forest cover is located on slopes of various inclinations is located. Up to 40% of the forest area of the Sheki region occupies slopes with a steepness of more than 30°. However, most of these forests have been exposed to anthropogenic impacts to one degree or another, weakening their protective function.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, both cosmic and anthropogenic impacts on the environment have intensified to such an extent that serious degradation of ecosystems has begun in the Sheki-Zagatala region of Azerbaijan. The emergence of regressive manifestations of landscape complexes in ecosystems in recent decades and the ecogeographical problems that "global warming" and other technogenic processes can create require serious consideration of these issues and the creation of effective methods of combating them. The implementation of measures to maintain the current state of landscape complexes at least in their current state of balance and to improve them as much as possible is an urgent issue, and today it is the most important issue. The fluctuations and cataclysms of landscapes in time and space are associated with the irrational technogenic-mechanical, physical-chemical and biological impact of people on nature. Here, it should be noted in particular the facts of planting agricultural crops that are incompatible with the natural complex and the elimination of landscape-forming basic plants in the area.

Currently, the problem of desertification, both as an ecological and socio-economic problem, is considered an extremely urgent issue among the important environmental problems awaiting solution for Azerbaijan, which is mainly located in a dry subtropical climate. The process of desertification, which is an ecological and socio-economic problem, manifests itself in varying intensity depending on the natural conditions of the area, in particular, relief, climate, natural waters, fauna, flora, etc. Drought, deforestation, salinization of irrigated agricultural areas after a period of time, soil pollution with waste of various origins, the release of private livestock into all natural areas and overgrazing, burning of grain fields after harvesting, and other such reasons have a negative impact on the ecological balance of the area. Changes in weather conditions in the Sheki-Zagatala region, including the repetition of long-term droughts in late spring, summer, and early autumn in recent years, have accelerated partial desertification in the mountain-steppes in the mountain-forest landscape zones.