Difference of climatic factors, complex relief, peculiarities of soil-forming and soil-bearing rocks, soils, vegetation cover determined the diversity of floodplain geochemical landscapes of the Western Caucasus. A large area of floodplains in the Western Caucasus is occupied by biogenic landscapes. Economic activities of man during the development of floodplains largely transformed the original natural landscapes. Some of them have been partially changed. For example, deforestation led to the change of its species composition. Other natural floodplain landscapes disappeared altogether, and new man-made landscapes (mainly agricultural and residential) appeared in their place. Comprehensive detailed studies of floodplain landscapes of the Western Caucasus have allowed us to assess the ecological and geochemical condition of forest ecosystems and the dynamics of its change during technogenic transformation.
