Open AccessSynphytosozological assessment of pasture ecosystems vegetation in south-east Ukraine
Author(s) -
Владимир Михайлович Остапко,
О. М. Шевчук,
Svetlana Anatolievna Prikhodko
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
samarskij naučnyj vestnik
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2782-3016
pISSN - 2309-4370
DOI - 10.17816/snv20164107
Subject(s) - steppe , vegetation (pathology) , geography , biome , ecosystem , biodiversity , pasture , grassland , rangeland , ravine , ecology , agroforestry , physical geography , forestry , environmental science , biology , archaeology , medicine , pathology
As part of the pasture vegetation of steppe ecosystems of the south-east of Ukraine we found 62 rarity formations (79% of the total number), with 338 (52%) rarity associations of dominant classification. Green Book of Ukraine includes 18 formations with 79 associations (respectively, 54% and 67% of these syntaxa of regional vegetation), and the rest of the formations and associations are rare for this region. Rare vegetation formations and their associations are listed and distributed by types of grassland steppe ecosystems. The highest syntaxonomic variety is characteristic for gully and ravine steppe ecosystems formed on eroded chernozems underlain by loess (750 associations of 81 formations), the least syntaxonomic diversity is found in above-floodplain terraced steppes on the sands (140 associations of 24 formations). The greatest number of regionally rare associations is cenotically confined to the chalk outcrops (49 associations of 16 formations). A large number of associations are stenotopic. These results suggest a high synphytosozological value of pasture ecosystems vegetation in the south-east of Ukraine, which is very important for the conservation of the steppe biome biodiversity. It should be taken into account when grounding establishment of the local reserves for biota protection, their protection regimes and performing pasture load calculations for specific areas.