Abstract
The desiccation of the Aral Sea has exposed the Aralkum, a new desert in which vegetation develops through primary succession under salinization, aeolian processes and a warming, increasingly continental climate. We analysed a 38-year record from a permanent plot in the eastern dried seabed of Uzbekistan, combining 14 observation years between 1981 and 2001 with a resurvey in 2024 and a transect of observation points running from the former shoreline towards younger surfaces. Between 1981 and 2001, total projective cover rose from 24% to 44%, the Shannon index from 0.715 to 1.568 and Pielou's evenness from 0.311 to 0.806, while Jaccard similarity to the initial community fell to 0.417. By 2024 the species composition had been almost completely replaced (Jaccard 0.129 relative to 1981), and saxaul and mixed shrub communities with up to 55% cover had formed. A sharp cover decline in 1998–1999 and a rapid recovery in 2001 show that young desert communities are highly sensitive to interannual climatic variability.
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