EURO-ECO 2008 Hanover 18 - 20 November 2008	Environmental and Engineering Aspects for sustainable living
	European Academy of Natural Sciences, Hanover European Scientific Society, Hanover University of Bremen, Bremen

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Vast areas of Astrakhan Delta agricultural lands are occupied by pastures. Despite sharp decrease in a cattle stock the leading on pasturable lands now occurs due to the cattle stock increase in private farms in 2.5-3 times. Uncontrollable grazing, three- four-times pasturable overload had massive destructive effect on soil-vegetative cover and structure of pastures that has led to their degradation. So the trampling of some delta pastures reached 100%, 79% of them – middle and strongly trampled on which the average stock of any dry weight makes not more than 0.5-2.0 ts/hectares.

In the areas with high cattle concentration an excessive grazing is observed resulting in tramped pastures of different kinds. Irrespective of the initial vegetative associations shape the results of tramped pasture are the same: the bared areas occupied by unproductive ephemers as Bromus squarrosus, Eremopyrum orientale and also by weeds as Lactuca serriola, Onopordum acanthium and etc.

Excessive grazing affects the change of the species composition and vital forms, high reduction and herbage sparse, the projective covering of plants, their density, vitality, foliage, bushing out intensity, seed efficiency, plants longevity, their productivity and other ecological features. The herbage doesn’t include essential for feeding herbs and grass, goosefoot, pea and rygophyllaceous families which are substituted by new species of plants grazing stable, but not feed by animals. The vegetative cover of delta pastures consists mostly of drought- and salt-resistant plants as Bromus japonicus, Alhagi pseudalhagi, Ceratocarpus arenarius, Salsola australis, Artemisia lerchiana and etc.

All consequences of uncontrollable grazing on delta pastures lead to the decrease in the total gain of cattle-breeding production from the area unit, its quality and considerable rise in price of pastoral farming.

Ecologically and economically profitable ways of preservation, restoration and increasing vegetative variety and biopotential of natural fodder delta pastures are:

1. land inventarization by means of space shooting for detecting their bonitet, degrees of suitability, expluatation and restoration measures;
2. mode regulation of cattle grazing with strict observation of pasturable loading norms in the area on seasons;
3. the organization of pasture rotations allowing to support high efficiency of pastures for a long period of time;
4. the organization and realization of local and regional monitoring of pastures for finding out negative and positive dynamics of processes;
5. carrying out an ecologic-economic (cost) evaluation of grass pastures in different natural zones of delta taking into account their economic resources and ecological value in ecosystems;
6. registration once in 5 years of rare and vanishing plant species for evaluating the efficiency of nature protection actions.