Vegetation dynamics was assessed using the data of repeated observations (1979–1981, 2011) along transects established in the mid-delta area of the Volga River. In 2011, we noted changes in the vegetative cover that indicate new features in the economic use of foraging sites, an increase in moisture content, and a reduction in soil salinity.

The floristic composition of plant communities dominated by Carex acuta in the northern Volga-Akhtuba floodplain has been analyzed over the period from 1928 to 2009. It has been shown that, in 2008 to 2009, some hygrophytes disappeared from these phytocenoses; simultaneously, their composition was enriched with mesophytes and adventive species. Ramenskii’s ecological scales have indicated a decrease in water supply to habitats of the communities studied.

Analysis of repeated observations (1955, 1971, 1982, 2010) on the transect crossing the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain near Hosheutovo village in the Astrakhan region was implemented. Local xerophytization of vegetation was found in the vicinity of farms and dams in 2010.

Results of processing releves by Rameskiy indicator values and DCA-ordination indicated processes xerophytization and pasture degradation of vegetation in the northern part of the Volga-Akhtuba flood-plain.

Phytosociological database of Lower Volga Valley was generated in Institute of Ecology of the Volga River Basin of Russian Academy of Sciences. By the middle of 2009, the database included a total of 9,659 releves, recorded on the territory of the Volga-Akhtuba flood-plain and Volga river delta. The characteristic of the database has been made.