Structure features of <i>Artemisia salsoloides</i> Willd. (Asteraceae) coenotic populations in the Samara Region

Artemisia salsoloides Willd. (Asteraceae) is included in the Red Books of Russia and various regions, including the Samara Region. It is characterized by a narrow confinement to the ecological and phytocenotic conditions of habitats. We studied the structure of the populations of the species. Traditional stationary methods for cenotic populations study were used. The spatial structure was estimated using modern mathematical methods, calculation of K (r) Ripley functions and Ripley cross-functions was performed. The phytogenic fields of species that grow together with A. salsoloides are characterized. The research area includes the Samara Predvolzhye and Samara Zavolzhye region. In the averaged age spectrum, the predominant group is the mature generative group, which is slightly inferior in number to the old generative fraction. The features of the spatial distribution of A. salsoloides in the population of Sernovodsky Shihan (Sergievsky District of the Samara Region) are studied. Here Artemisia is dominant in the community Artemisia salsoloides Willd. + Hedysarum grandiflorum Pall. Stipa korshinskyi Roshev. The density of A. salsoloides in the studied coenopopulation is 1,7 individuals per 1 m. Pregenerative individuals are randomly distributed. The generative individuals repel each other for a distance of 0,2 m, followed by random placement. There is a tendency to form aggregations of 0,6 m. The estimation of the mutual placement of A. salsoloides and Stipa korshinskyi, as well as Oxytropis floribunda, indicates a slight repulsion of individuals at a distance of 0,2 m, with Hedysarum grandiflorum a significant repulsion at a distance of 0,4 m with the subsequent random placement of all representatives. The specimens of A. salsoloides and Ephedra distachya, as well as Scabiosa isetensis, have a random placement.