Rare Vegetation Degradation within Buffer Zones In Gobustan StateNational Park, Azerbaijan
This paper investigates the spatial change of rare vegetation cover of Gobustan, Azerbaijan. The Gobustan State National Park (Conservation Area) is a nationally important desert/semi desert located west and south west of Baku, Azerbaijan. In 2007 Gobustan was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site considered being of "outstanding universal value" for the quality and density of its rock art engravings. The Study Area at Gobustan contains a wealth of historical and archaeological sites and is also known for its rare vegetation. This investigation includes monitoring of existing threats to rare vegetation (Global Climate Change, oil and gas exploration, overgrazing of winter and summer pastures by domestic sheep, goats and cattle, pollution, etc. as well the processing of remote sensing data to produce "measured" vegetation indicators. This study has shown that oil and gas infrastructure, in an ecologically important semi arid region, has a negative effect on species abundance and cover of vegetation. Rare vegetation classification within a buffer zone indicates: Plant cover has decreased in the buffer zone and is higher than the Sensitive Area. Bare ground has increased dramatically in the buffer zone whereas in the Sensitive Area it has decreased slightly.