About Some Features of the Ability of Flowering Specials Crocus reticulatus in Various Elements of the Mesorelief of Beams in the Southern of the Middle Russian Hill

The article presents the results of a three-year study of two populations of Crocus reticulatus, in the conditions of the beams of the Veidelevsky district of the Belgorod region. We studied the abundance of flowering individuals (potentially reproductive abundance) of C. reticulatus in two model populations and their distribution in different elements of the beam mesorelief along the gradient: the upper part of the slope – the base of the slope – the bottom of the beam. Comprehensive stationary monitoring studies were carried out in 2018-2020. in key areas in accordance with the program and methodology of biogeocenotic studies by the method of randomized repetition with the allocation of organized factors: Factor A – «habitat» and Factor B – «gradient of the slope». The results of the variance analysis of the one-factor complex in some years showed that the influence of the «gradient of the slope» factor on the productive trait «the abundance of flowering individuals» in key plot N 1 ranged from 98.4 % in 2020 to 99.6 % in 2018, in the key plot N 2 - from 98.5 % in 2019 to 99.5 % in 2020. On average, over 3 years of research in key area No. 1, an abundance of 336.2 ind./100 m2 was observed at Cv = 179.6 % in the gradient of the slope. An abundance of 237.4 ind./100 m2 at Cv = 101.1 % along the gradient of the slope was noted at key area N 2. The maximum number of flowering individuals was noted in the narrow ecotone part of the transition of the slope to the bottom of the beam (transects I): in plot N 1 – 1,890 ind./100 m2, and in plot No 2 – 856.7 ind./100 m2. An analysis of the share of the influence of organized factors by the method of variance analysis of two-factor complexes on average for 2018-2019 showed that the factor B, “gradient of the slope”, h2x = 79.5 %, exerted the greatest influence on the resultant trait “abundance of flowering individuals”. The factor “habitat of the population” and the interaction of factors had a significantly smaller effect on the number of individuals – 1.2 and 17.0 %, respectively. It is concluded that the study of the potentially reproductive abundance of C. reticulatus in natural conditions can contribute to the process of creating narrow-local artificial populations with a number of specific features, including those useful from an economic point of view for introduction into culture and breeding.