The role of vegetation in conservation of small rivers in the Middle Volga

© 2015, Mediterranean Center of Social and Educational Research. All rights reserved. The numerous cases of the upper headwaters drying are observed in the plains of the Middle Volga region. The reasons of the streamflow change pertain to the reduction of forest vegetation and the change of its species composition. The studies have shown that over the past 120 years the quantity of the first-order watercourses has reduced by 1.5 times in the areas of coniferous and mixed forests, whilst in the forest-steppe zone the quantity of the first-order watercourses has decreased by nearly 2.5 times.