Agricultural Terraces in the Mid-Mountain Zone of the Greater Caucasus
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52575/2712-7443-2024-48-4-503-514Keywords:
Greater Caucasus, agricultural terraces, area, mid-mountain zone, Republic of Dagestan, terrace farmingAbstract
A study of the area of agricultural terraces within the Caucasus mid-mountain zone was carried out. The southern borders of the region under study were drawn along the Kura and Rioni rivers and conditionally closed in the vicinity of the Suram Pass. A visual analysis of space images was carried out, and polygons with clearly defined terraces were identified using the Yandex-constructor. The areas of the polygons were calculated in the QGIS program. A total of 2,185 polygons of terrace fields were recorded. It has been established that the main area of terracing is in the altitude range from 1,000 to 1,800 m above the sea level, while the extreme boundaries of the terracing zone cover altitudes from 500 to 2,600 m. The total area of terraced fields in the mid-mountain zone of the Greater Caucasus is 289,552 hectares, most of which are in Russia – 272,070 hectares. The largest areas of terraced fields are found in Dagestan, amounting to 246,270 hectares. Given the wide scale of slope terracing, the high level of agriculture, and the deep historical roots of farming in the mountainous zone, it appears correct to say that the Caucasus is the world center of terrace farming.
Acknowledgements: The study was done with a support of the state assignment 122040500036-9.
Downloads
References
Список литературы
Абдулаев К.А., Атаев З.В., Братков В.В. 2011. Современные ландшафты горного Дагестана. Махачкала, ДГПУ, 115 с.
Агларов М.А. 2016. Еще раз о земледельческих террасах Дагестана. Вестник Дагестанского научного центра РАН, 62: 30–53.
Агларов М.А. 2007. Дагестан – один из исходных центров мирового террасного земледелия. Вестник Дагестанского научного центра, 28: 61–67.
Амирханов Х.А. 1983. Начало земледелия в Дагестане. Природа, 2: 58–59.
Борисов А.В., Коробов Д.С. 2013. Древнее и средневековое земледелие в Кисловодской котловине: итоги почвенно-археологических исследований. М., Таус, 272 с.
Идрисов И.А., Гусейнова А.Ш. 2022. Геологическая роль земледельческих террас Восточного Кавказа. Труды института геологии Дагестанского научного центра РАН, 3(90): 39–46. https://doi.org/10.33580/2541-9684-2022-90-3-39-46
Идрисов И.А., Газалиев И.М. 2018. Палеоархивы Восточного Кавказа. В кн.: Устойчивое развитие горных территорий Кавказа. М., ИИЕТ РАН: 40–45.
Лисецкий Ф.Н., Маринина О.А., Буряк Ж.А. 2017. Геоархеологические исследования исторических ландшафтов Крыма. Воронеж, Воронежский государственный университет, 432 с.
Коробов Д.С., Борисов А.В. 2012. О земледелии алан Кисловодской котловины в I тыс. н.э. Российская археология, 3: 50–62.
Коробов Д.С. 2017. Система расселения алан Центрального Предкавказья в I тыс. н.э. (ландшафтная археология Кисловодской котловины). Т. 1. М., СПб., Нестор-История, 383 с.
Пинской В.Н., Идрисов И.А., Каширская Н.Н., Ельцов М.В., Борисов А.В. 2023. Почвы земледельческих террас на глинистых сланцах в среднегорье Восточного Кавказа. Почвоведение, 6: 691–702. https://doi.org/10.31857/S0032180X22601335
Скрипникова М.И. 2007. Рукотворные террасовые агроэкосистемы горных ландшафтов Евразии. Вестник Алтайского государственного аграрного университета, 10(36): 35–45.
Скрипникова М.И., Мартынова Н.А. 2010. Специфика почвообразования на древних террасах горных экосистем Евразии. Вестник ИрГСХА, 41: 80–93.
Barbera G., Cullotta S., Rossi-Doria I., Rühl J., Rossi-Doria B. 2010. I Paesaggi a Terrazze in Sicilia: Metodologie per L’analisi, la Tutela e la Valorizzazione. Collana studi e ricerche dell’Arpa Sicilia, 7: 531p.
Bonardi L. 2016. Paesaggi Terrazzati d'Italia. Universo, 88(1): 56–70.
Borisov A.V., Korobov D.S., Simakova A.N., Zanina O.G., Bukhonov A.V., Demidov V.V. 2012. Ancient Agricultural Terraces in the Kislovodsk Depression: History and Modern State of the Soils. Eurasian Soil Science, 45: 561–577. https://doi.org/10.1134/S1064229312060038
Camara L., de Mesquita M.B. 2018. Terraced Landscapes in Perù: Terraces and Social Water Management. World Terraced Landscapes: History, Environment, Quality of Life, 9: 119–137.
Chapagain T., Raizada M.N. 2017. Agronomic Challenges and Opportunities for Smallholder Terrace Agriculture in Developing Countries. Frontiers in plant science, 8: 331. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2017.00331.
Diaz-Varela R.A., Zarco-Tejada P.J., Angileri V., Loudjani P. 2014. Automatic Identification of Agricultural Terraces Through Object-Oriented Analysis of Very High Resolution DSMs and Multispectral Imagery Obtained from an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. Journal of environmental management, 134: 117–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2014.01.006
Dong S., Xin L., Li S., Xie H., Zhao Y., Wang X., Lu Y. 2023. Extent and Spatial Distribution of Terrace Abandonment in China. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 33(7): 1361–1376. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-023-2133-7
Ferrarese F., Pappalardo S.E., Cosner A., Brugnaro S., Alum K., Dal Pozzo A., De Marchi M. 2019. Mapping Agricultural Terraces in Italy. Methodologies applied in the MAPTER project. In: World Terraced Landscapes: History, Environment, Quality of Life. Springer, Cham: 179–194.
Inbar M., Llerena C.A. 2000. Erosion Processes in High Mountain Agricultural Terraces in Peru. Mountain Research and Development, 20(1): 72–79. https://doi.org/10.1659/0276-4741(2000)020[0072:EPIHMA]2.0.CO;2
Petanidou T., Kizos T., Soulakellis N. 2008. Socioeconomic Dimensions of Changes in the Agricultural Landscape of the Mediterranean Basin: a Case Study of the Abandonment of Cultivation Terraces on Nisyros Island, Greece. Environmental Management, 41: 250–266. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-007-9054-6
Ron Z. 1966. Agricultural Terraces in the Judean Mountains. Israel Exploration Journal, 16(1): 33–49.
Ryabogina N., Borisov A., Idrisov I., Bakushev M. 2019. Holocene Environmental History and Populating of Mountainous Dagestan (Eastern Caucasus, Russia). Quaternary International, 516: 111–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2018.06.020
Spencer J.E., Hale G.A. 1961. The Origin, Nature and Distribution of Agricultural Terracing. Pacific Viewpoint, 2(1): 1–40.
Varotto M, Ferrarese F. 2008. Mapping and Geographical Classification of Terraced Landscapes: Problems and Proposals. Terraced landscapes of the Alps, Venice: 38–45.
Varotto M., Bonardi L., Tarolli P. 2018. World Terraced Landscapes: History, Environment, Quality of Life. Springer, 356 p.
Wei W., Chen D., Wang L., Daryanto S., Chen L., Yu Y., Feng T. 2016. Global Synthesis of the Classifications, Distributions, Benefits and Issues of Terracing. Earth-Science Reviews,
: 388–403. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2016.06.010
Wu F., Zhang Y., She D., Song J. 2003. Preliminary Study on the Environmental Effects of Level Terracing in the Southern Loess Plateau. Soil Water Conserv Res, 10: 128–130.
References
Abdulayev K.A., Atayev Z.V., Bratkov V.V. 2011. Sovremennyye landshafty gornogo Dagestana [Modern Landscapes of Mountainous Dagestan]. Makhachkala, Pabl. DGPU, 115 p.
Aglarov M.A. 2016. Eshche raz o zemledelcheskikh terrasakh Dagestana [Once Again about the Agricultural Terraces of Dagestan]. Vestnik Dagestanskogo nauchnogo tsentra RAN, 62: 30–53.
Aglarov М.А. 2007. Daghestan – One of Initial Centers of World Agricultural Terracing. Herald of the Daghestan Scientific Center, 28: 61–67 (in Russian).
Amirkhanov Kh.A. 1983. Nachalo zemledeliya v Dagestane [The Beginning of Agriculture in Dagestan]. Priroda, 2: 58–59.
Borisov A.V., Korobov D.S. 2013. Prehistoric and Medieval Agriculture in the Kislovodsk Basin: Some Results of Pedological and Archaeological Studies. Moscow, Pabl. Taus, 272 p. (in Russian).
Idrisov I.A., Huseynova A.Sh. 2022. Geological Role of Agricultural Terraces of the Eastern Caucasus. Trudy Instituta Geologii Dagestanskogo Nauchnogo Tsentra RAN, 3(90): 39–46 (in Russian). https://doi.org/10.33580/2541-9684-2022-90-3-39-46
Idrisov I.A., Gazaliyev I.M. 2018. Paleoarkhivy Vostochnogo Kavkaza [Paleoarchives of the Eastern Caucasus]. V kn.: Ustoychivoye razvitiye gornykh territoriy Kavkaza [Sustainable Development of the Caucasus Mountain Areas]. Moscow, Pabl. IIET RAN: 40–45.
Lisetsky F.N., Marinina O.A., Buryak Zh.A. 2017. Geoarchaeological Researches of Historical Landscapes of Crimea. Voronezh, Pabl. Voronezh State University, 432 p. (in Russian).
Korobov D.S., Borisov A.V. 2012. O zemledelii alan Kislovodskoy kotloviny v I tys. n.e. [On the Agriculture of the Alans of the Kislovodsk Basin in the 1st Millennium AD]. Rossiyskaya arkheologiya, 3: 50–62.
Korobov D.S. 2017. Sistema rasseleniya alan Tsentralnogo Predkavkazia v I tys. n.e. (landshaftnaya arkheologiya Kislovodskoy kotloviny). T. 1. [The Settlement System of the Alans of the Central Ciscaucasia in the 1st Millennium AD (Landscape Archeology of the Kislovodsk Basin). V. 1]. Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Pabl. Nestor-Istoriya, 383 p.
Pinskoy V.N., Idrisov I.A., Kashirskaya N.N., Yeltsov M.V., Borisov A.V. 2023. Soils of Agricultural Terraces on Clay Shales in the Mid-Mountain Zone of the Eastern Caucasus. Eurasian Soil Science, 6: 691–702 (in Russian). https://doi.org/10.31857/S0032180X22601335
Skripnikova M.I. 2007. Anthropogenic Terraced Agroecosystems of the Mountain Landscapes of Eurasia. Bulletin of Altai State Agricultural University, 10 (36): 35–45 (in Russian).
Skripnikova M.I., Martynova N.A. 2010. Spetsifika pochvoobrazovaniya na drevnikh terrasakh gornykh ekosistem Evrazii [Specificity of Soil Formation on Ancient Terraces of Mountain Ecosystems of Eurasia]. Vestnik IrGSKhA, 41: 80–93.
Barbera G., Cullotta S., Rossi-Doria I., Rühl J., Rossi-Doria B. 2010. I Paesaggi a Terrazze in Sicilia: Metodologie per L’analisi, la Tutela e la Valorizzazione. Collana studi e ricerche dell’Arpa Sicilia, 7: 531p.
Bonardi L. 2016. Paesaggi Terrazzati d'Italia. Universo, 88(1): 56–70.
Borisov A.V., Korobov D.S., Simakova A.N., Zanina O.G., Bukhonov A.V., Demidov V.V. 2012. Ancient Agricultural Terraces in the Kislovodsk Depression: History and Modern State of the Soils. Eurasian Soil Science, 45: 561–577. https://doi.org/10.1134/S1064229312060038
Camara L., de Mesquita M.B. 2018. Terraced Landscapes in Perù: Terraces and Social Water Management. World Terraced Landscapes: History, Environment, Quality of Life, 9: 119–137.
Chapagain T., Raizada M.N. 2017. Agronomic Challenges and Opportunities for Smallholder Terrace Agriculture in Developing Countries. Frontiers in plant science, 8: 331. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2017.00331.
Diaz-Varela R.A., Zarco-Tejada P.J., Angileri V., Loudjani P. 2014. Automatic Identification of Agricultural Terraces Through Object-Oriented Analysis of Very High Resolution DSMs and Multispectral Imagery Obtained from an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. Journal of environmental management, 134: 117–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2014.01.006
Dong S., Xin L., Li S., Xie H., Zhao Y., Wang X., Lu Y. 2023. Extent and Spatial Distribution of Terrace Abandonment in China. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 33(7): 1361–1376. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-023-2133-7
Ferrarese F., Pappalardo S.E., Cosner A., Brugnaro S., Alum K., Dal Pozzo A., De Marchi M. 2019. Mapping Agricultural Terraces in Italy. Methodologies applied in the MAPTER project. In: World Terraced Landscapes: History, Environment, Quality of Life. Springer, Cham: 179–194.
Inbar M., Llerena C.A. 2000. Erosion Processes in High Mountain Agricultural Terraces in Peru. Mountain Research and Development, 20(1): 72–79. https://doi.org/10.1659/0276-4741(2000)020[0072:EPIHMA]2.0.CO;2
Petanidou T., Kizos T., Soulakellis N. 2008. Socioeconomic Dimensions of Changes in the Agricultural Landscape of the Mediterranean Basin: a Case Study of the Abandonment of Cultivation Terraces on Nisyros Island, Greece. Environmental Management, 41: 250–266. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-007-9054-6
Ron Z. 1966. Agricultural Terraces in the Judean Mountains. Israel Exploration Journal, 16(1): 33–49.
Ryabogina N., Borisov A., Idrisov I., Bakushev M. 2019. Holocene Environmental History and Populating of Mountainous Dagestan (Eastern Caucasus, Russia). Quaternary International, 516: 111–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2018.06.020
Spencer J.E., Hale G.A. 1961. The Origin, Nature and Distribution of Agricultural Terracing. Pacific Viewpoint, 2(1): 1–40.
Varotto M, Ferrarese F. 2008. Mapping and Geographical Classification of Terraced Landscapes: Problems and Proposals. Terraced landscapes of the Alps, Venice: 38–45.
Varotto M., Bonardi L., Tarolli P. 2018. World Terraced Landscapes: History, Environment, Quality of Life. Springer, 356 p.
Wei W., Chen D., Wang L., Daryanto S., Chen L., Yu Y., Feng T. 2016. Global Synthesis of the Classifications, Distributions, Benefits and Issues of Terracing. Earth-Science Reviews,
: 388–403. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2016.06.010
Wu F., Zhang Y., She D., Song J. 2003. Preliminary Study on the Environmental Effects of Level Terracing in the Southern Loess Plateau. Soil Water Conserv Res, 10: 128–130.
References
Abdulayev K.A., Atayev Z.V., Bratkov V.V. 2011. Sovremennyye landshafty gornogo Dagestana [Modern Landscapes of Mountainous Dagestan]. Makhachkala, Pabl. DGPU, 115 p.
Aglarov M.A. 2016. Eshche raz o zemledelcheskikh terrasakh Dagestana [Once Again about the Agricultural Terraces of Dagestan]. Vestnik Dagestanskogo nauchnogo tsentra RAN, 62: 30–53.
Aglarov М.А. 2007. Daghestan – One of Initial Centers of World Agricultural Terracing. Herald of the Daghestan Scientific Center, 28: 61–67 (in Russian).
Amirkhanov Kh.A. 1983. Nachalo zemledeliya v Dagestane [The Beginning of Agriculture in Dagestan]. Priroda, 2: 58–59.
Borisov A.V., Korobov D.S. 2013. Prehistoric and Medieval Agriculture in the Kislovodsk Basin: Some Results of Pedological and Archaeological Studies. Moscow, Pabl. Taus, 272 p. (in Russian).
Idrisov I.A., Huseynova A.Sh. 2022. Geological Role of Agricultural Terraces of the Eastern Caucasus. Trudy Instituta Geologii Dagestanskogo Nauchnogo Tsentra RAN, 3(90): 39–46 (in Russian). https://doi.org/10.33580/2541-9684-2022-90-3-39-46
Idrisov I.A., Gazaliyev I.M. 2018. Paleoarkhivy Vostochnogo Kavkaza [Paleoarchives of the Eastern Caucasus]. V kn.: Ustoychivoye razvitiye gornykh territoriy Kavkaza [Sustainable Development of the Caucasus Mountain Areas]. Moscow, Pabl. IIET RAN: 40–45.
Lisetsky F.N., Marinina O.A., Buryak Zh.A. 2017. Geoarchaeological Researches of Historical Landscapes of Crimea. Voronezh, Pabl. Voronezh State University, 432 p. (in Russian).
Korobov D.S., Borisov A.V. 2012. O zemledelii alan Kislovodskoy kotloviny v I tys. n.e. [On the Agriculture of the Alans of the Kislovodsk Basin in the 1st Millennium AD]. Rossiyskaya arkheologiya, 3: 50–62.
Korobov D.S. 2017. Sistema rasseleniya alan Tsentralnogo Predkavkazia v I tys. n.e. (landshaftnaya arkheologiya Kislovodskoy kotloviny). T. 1. [The Settlement System of the Alans of the Central Ciscaucasia in the 1st Millennium AD (Landscape Archeology of the Kislovodsk Basin). V. 1]. Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Pabl. Nestor-Istoriya, 383 p.
Pinskoy V.N., Idrisov I.A., Kashirskaya N.N., Yeltsov M.V., Borisov A.V. 2023. Soils of Agricultural Terraces on Clay Shales in the Mid-Mountain Zone of the Eastern Caucasus. Eurasian Soil Science, 6: 691–702 (in Russian). https://doi.org/10.31857/S0032180X22601335
Skripnikova M.I. 2007. Anthropogenic Terraced Agroecosystems of the Mountain Landscapes of Eurasia. Bulletin of Altai State Agricultural University, 10 (36): 35–45 (in Russian).
Skripnikova M.I., Martynova N.A. 2010. Spetsifika pochvoobrazovaniya na drevnikh terrasakh gornykh ekosistem Evrazii [Specificity of Soil Formation on Ancient Terraces of Mountain Ecosystems of Eurasia]. Vestnik IrGSKhA, 41: 80–93.
Barbera G., Cullotta S., Rossi-Doria I., Rühl J., Rossi-Doria B. 2010. I Paesaggi a Terrazze in Sicilia: Metodologie per L’analisi, la Tutela e la Valorizzazione. Collana studi e ricerche dell’Arpa Sicilia, 7: 531p.
Bonardi L. 2016. Paesaggi Terrazzati d'Italia. Universo, 88(1): 56–70.
Borisov A.V., Korobov D.S., Simakova A.N., Zanina O.G., Bukhonov A.V., Demidov V.V. 2012. Ancient Agricultural Terraces in the Kislovodsk Depression: History and Modern State of the Soils. Eurasian Soil Science, 45: 561–577. https://doi.org/10.1134/S1064229312060038
Camara L., de Mesquita M.B. 2018. Terraced Landscapes in Perù: Terraces and Social Water Management. World Terraced Landscapes: History, Environment, Quality of Life, 9: 119–137.
Chapagain T., Raizada M.N. 2017. Agronomic Challenges and Opportunities for Smallholder Terrace Agriculture in Developing Countries. Frontiers in plant science, 8: 331. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2017.00331.
Diaz-Varela R.A., Zarco-Tejada P.J., Angileri V., Loudjani P. 2014. Automatic Identification of Agricultural Terraces Through Object-Oriented Analysis of Very High Resolution DSMs and Multispectral Imagery Obtained from an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. Journal of environmental management, 134: 117–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2014.01.006
Dong S., Xin L., Li S., Xie H., Zhao Y., Wang X., Lu Y. 2023. Extent and Spatial Distribution of Terrace Abandonment in China. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 33(7): 1361–1376. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-023-2133-7
Ferrarese F., Pappalardo S.E., Cosner A., Brugnaro S., Alum K., Dal Pozzo A., De Marchi M. 2019. Mapping Agricultural Terraces in Italy. Methodologies applied in the MAPTER project. In: World Terraced Landscapes: History, Environment, Quality of Life. Springer, Cham: 179–194.
Inbar M., Llerena C.A. 2000. Erosion Processes in High Mountain Agricultural Terraces in Peru. Mountain Research and Development, 20(1): 72–79. https://doi.org/10.1659/0276-4741(2000)020[0072:EPIHMA]2.0.CO;2
Petanidou T., Kizos T., Soulakellis N. 2008. Socioeconomic Dimensions of Changes in the Agricultural Landscape of the Mediterranean Basin: a Case Study of the Abandonment of Cultivation Terraces on Nisyros Island, Greece. Environmental Management, 41: 250–266. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-007-9054-6
Ron Z. 1966. Agricultural Terraces in the Judean Mountains. Israel Exploration Journal, 16(1): 33–49.
Ryabogina N., Borisov A., Idrisov I., Bakushev M. 2019. Holocene Environmental History and Populating of Mountainous Dagestan (Eastern Caucasus, Russia). Quaternary International, 516: 111–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2018.06.020
Spencer J.E., Hale G.A. 1961. The Origin, Nature and Distribution of Agricultural Terracing. Pacific Viewpoint, 2(1): 1–40.
Varotto M, Ferrarese F. 2008. Mapping and Geographical Classification of Terraced Landscapes: Problems and Proposals. Terraced landscapes of the Alps, Venice: 38–45.
Varotto M., Bonardi L., Tarolli P. 2018. World Terraced Landscapes: History, Environment, Quality of Life. Springer, 356 p.
Wei W., Chen D., Wang L., Daryanto S., Chen L., Yu Y., Feng T. 2016. Global Synthesis of the Classifications, Distributions, Benefits and Issues of Terracing. Earth-Science Reviews,
: 388–403. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2016.06.010
Wu F., Zhang Y., She D., Song J. 2003. Preliminary Study on the Environmental Effects of Level Terracing in the Southern Loess Plateau. Soil Water Conserv Res, 10: 128–130.
Abstract views: 40
Share
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Copyright (c) 2024 Regional Geosystems
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
