The article provides characteristics of the steppe vegetation of the class Festuco-Brometea within Yelanetskyi Step Nature Reserve. A history of geobotanical studies of this territory is briefly outlined. In total, vegetation of the class belongs to two orders, three alliances, six associations, and one variant. Communities of the alliance Festucion valesiacae in the reserve are represented by sod-cereal steppes and include one association and one variant. Communities of this alliance are formed in the areas that are exposed to anthropogenic factors; most often they are located on abandoned lands or areas under moderate grazing on the planes. Communities of the alliance Stipion lessingianae grow on black soils (chernozem) but with some inclusion of limestone. This alliance includes three associations which occupy ravine slopes of various steepness and exposure. The alliance Potentillo arenarie-Linion czerniaevii is represented by the communities on the limestone outcrops. It was established that the last two alliances demonstrate higher floristic diversity, which can be explained by differentiation of syntaxa within the area. The communities of these alliances include species from the European Red List and the IUCN Red List. Species listed in the Red Data Book of Ukraine are present in all syntaxa. A number of threats for the steppe communities on the study area have been identified.

Keywords: classification, Festuco-Brometea, nature reserve, steppe, syntaxonomy

Full text: PDF (Ukr) 0.97M

1. Braun-Blanquet J. 1964. Pflanzensoziologie. Grundzuge der Vegetationskunde, vol. 3. Aufl. Wien-New York: Springer-Verlag, 865 pp. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-8110-2
2. Vynokurov D.S. 2014a. Ukrainian Botanical Journal, 71(2): 148–160. https://doi.org/10.15407/ukrbotj71.02.148
3. Vynokurov D.S. 2014b. Ukrainian Botanical Journal, 71(5): 537–548. https://doi.org/10.15407/ukrbotj71.05.537
4. Vynokurov D.S. 2016. Vegetation of the Ingul River valley: syntaxonomy, dynamics, conservation: Cand. Sci. Diss. Abstract. Kyiv, M.G. Kholodny Institute of Botany NAS of Ukrane, 21 pp.
5. Grunty Mykolaivskoi oblasti. 1969. Ed. S.P. Vinnytskyi. Odesa: Mayak, 59 pp.
6. Derkach O.M. 2005. In: Teoriya i praktyka zapovidnoi spravy v Ukraini. Zbirnyk naukovykh prats. Kyiv, pp. 161–168.
7. Derkach O.M. 2011. In: Materialy druhykh naukovykh chytan pam'yati Serhiya Tarashchuka (Mykolaiv, 6–11 April, 2011). Mykolaiv: Vydavnytstvo Chornomorskoho Universytetu, pp. 52–55.
8. Didukh Ya.P., Shelyag-Sosonko Yu.R. 2003. Ukrainian Botanical Journal, 60(1): 6–17.
9. Didukh Ya.P., Korotchenko I.A. 2003. Visnyk Lvivskoho natsionalnoho universytetu. Series Biology, 34: 82–91.
10. Didukh Ya.P., Vashenyak Yu.A. 2012. Ukrainian Botanical Journal, 69(6): 789–817.
11. Didukh Ya.P., Chusova O.O. 2014. Ukrainian Botanical Journal, 71(3): 275–285. https://doi.org/10.15407/ukrbotj71.03.275
12. Fiziko-geograficheskoe rayonirovanie Ukrainskoy SSR. 1968. Eds V.P. Popova, A.M. Marinicha, A.I. Lanko. Kiev: Kiev University, 683 pp.
13. Hennekens S.M., Schaminée J.H.J. 2001. TURBOVEG, a comprehensive date base management system for vegetation data. Journal of Vegetation Science, 12: 589–591. https://doi.org/10.2307/3237010
14. Hill M.O. 1979. TWINSPAN – a FORTRAN program for arranging multivariate data in an ordered two-way table by classification of the individuals and the attributes. New York: Ithaca, 48 pp.
15. Kolomiychuk V.P., Moysiyenko I.I., Derkach O.M., Boyko T.O. 2012. In: Phytodiversity of nature reserves and national nature parks of Ukraine. Part 1. Nature reserves. Eds V.A. Onyshchenko, T.L. Andrienko. Kyiv: Phytosociocentre, pp. 124–138.
16. Kolomiychuk V., Vynokurov D. 2016. Syntaxonomy of the Festuco-Brometea class vegetation of the Azov Sea coastal zone. Hacquetia, 15(2): 79–104. https://doi.org/10.1515/hacq-2016-0018
17. Korotchenko I.A., Didukh Ya.P. 1997. Ukrainian Phytosociological Collection. Series A, 1(6): 20–39.
18. Korotchenko I.A., Mala Yu.I., Fitsaylo T.V. 2009a. Naukovyi visnyk Chernivetskoho natsionalnoho universytetu. Series biolohyya, biolohichni systemy, 1(1): 73–84.
19. Korotchenko I.A., Mala Yu.I., Fitsaylo T.V. 2009b. Naukovi zapysky NaUKMA. Biolohiya ta ekolohiya, 93: 54–69.
20. Kostyliov O.V. 1987. Ukrainian Botanical Journal, 44(2): 77–81.
21. Krasova O.O., Smetana M.H. 1999. Ukrainian Phytosociological Collection. Series A, 1–2(12–13): 21–30.
22. Kutyna I., Drewniak E., Mlynowiak E. 2011. Xerothermic grasslands within the area of the eastern margin of the Oder River valley in the vicinity of the town of Gorzyca. Annales Universitatis Marie Curie-Sklodowska. Sectio C, 64(1): 55–84. https://doi.org/10.2478/v10067-011-0020-6
23. Mirkin B.M., Rozenberg G.S., Naumova L.G. 1989. Slovar ponyatiy i terminov sovremennoy fitotsenologii. Moscow: Nauka, 223 pp.
24. Mosyakin S.L., Fedoronchuk M.M. 1999. Vascular plants of Ukraine. A nomenclatural checklist. Kiev, 345 pp. + xxiii.
25. Moysiyenko I.I., Solomakha V.A., Drabynyuk H.V., Solomakha T.D. 2005. Chornomorski Botanical Journal, 1(2): 83–91. https://doi.org/10.14255/2308-9628/05.12/10
26. Mucina L., Bültmann H., Dierßen K., Theurillat J.P., Raus T., Čarni A., Šumberová K. 2016. Vegetation of Europe: hierarchical floristic classification system of vascular plant, bryophyte, lichen, and algal communities. Applied Vegetation Science, 19(1): 1–783. https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12257
27. Roleček J., Tichý L., Zelený D., Chytrý M. 2009. Modified TWINSPAN classification in which the hierarchy respects cluster heterogeneity. Journal of Vegetation Science, 20: 596–602. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1654-1103.2009.01062.x
28. Tichý L. 2002. JUICE, software for vegetation classification. Journal of Vegetation Science, 13: 451–453. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1654-1103.2002.tb02069.x
29. Tkachenko V.S. 2009. Chornomorski Botanical Journal, 5(3): 319–332. https://doi.org/10.14255/2308-9628/09.53/2
30. Tkachenko V.S., Sirotenko P.O. 1999. Ukrainian Botanical Journal, 56(6): 623–629.
31. Tkachenko V.S., Ostrivna Yu.I. 2006. Ukrainian Botanical Journal, 63(5): 681–693.