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ARS Home » Plains Area » Las Cruces, New Mexico » Range Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #160059
Title: PRELIMINARY ECOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE NORTH CASPIAN SEA

Author
item Tartowski, Sandy
item BUTLER, THOMAS - CORNELL UNIVERSITY
item BASHKIN, VLADIMIR - MOSCOW STATE UNIVERSITY
item YERGALIYEV, TLEPKAZY - ATYRAU INST OF OIL & GAS
item LYCHAGIN, MICHAIL - MOSCOW STATE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Estuarine Research Federation Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/5/2003
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Interpretive summary not required.

Technical Abstract: The North Basin of the Caspian Sea is an extremely large and shallow basin which functions primarily as an estuary of the Volga River. The Volga River provides approximately 80% of the total riverine water input to the entire Caspian Sea and is by far the largest source of nutrients (N, P, Si, etc.) and pollutants (hydrocarbons, pesticides etc.). The Ural River contributes less than 5% of the riverine input to the Caspian Sea but influences both production and pollution, particularly on the eastern side of the basin. The highly productive phytoplankton, zooplankton and zoobenthic communities of the North Caspian Basin support the growth and reproduction of most of the commercial fish populations and the endemic Caspian Seal. Preliminary hydrologic, carbon, organic and inorganic nutrient, and pollutant budgets indicate that the Volga River continues to be the main source of both nutrients and pollutants to the North Caspian and that the north basin is cleaner now than in the 1980s and early 1990s.