Gornov A., Ruchinskaya E., Evstigneev O., Gavrilyuk E.
RJEE Vol. 9 (3). 2024 | DOI: 10.21685/2500-0578-2024-3-4
Abstract | PDF (Rus) | Additional files
Receipt date 30.03.24 | Publication date 26.09.2024
STEPPE MEADOWS REESTABLISHING ON ABANDONED ARABLE LANDS IN BROADLEAVED FOREST ZONE (BRYANSK REGION)
A.V. Gornov1, E.V. Ruchinskaya2, O.I. Evstigneev3, E.A. Gavrilyuk4
1, 2, 3, 4 Center for Forest Ecology and Productivity of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
1, 3 State Biosphere Nature Reserve “Bryansky Les”, Nerussa Station, Bryansk Region, Russia
1 aleksey-gornov@yandex.ru, 2 ruchinskaya@cepl.rssi.ru
Abstract. Steppe meadows are unique grass ecosystems that exist in the broad-leaved forest belt. They are distinguished by a rich floristic composition and make a significant contribution to the biological diversity of the territories. The surviving communities are a source of diversity of steppe plants among cultivated lands. When abandoned, arable land becomes a fallow land. In the presence of diaspore sources, meadow and steppe plants are introduced to the fallow land. The goal of the work is to identify the features of the restoration of steppe meadows on abandoned arable land, taking into account the location of diaspore sources. The material was collected in the southeast of the Bryansk region on the territory of the Melovitsky slopes nature monument. Here, rare polydominant steppe meadows with a rich floristic composition have been preserved on the slopes. The steppe meadows are adjacent to a fallow land that arose in 2005, after the territory was declared a nature monument. Geobotanical, ecological and statistical methods were used in the work. A total of 44 geobotanical descriptions were made on steppe meadows and fallow lands on 100 sq.m sites. Species richness, number of species, and distribution of vascular plant species by ecocoenotic groups were used to assess the species diversity of communities. Statistical analysis of differences in the species composition of communities was performed using the random forest method. The studies have shown that the polydominant structure of meadows with high species diversity is formed faster on the fallow land, which is directly adjacent to the rich steppe meadows preserved on the slopes. Thus, over fifteen years, more than 60% of the plant species recorded on the steppe slopes appeared on this part of the studied fallow. About half of the meadow-steppe species have penetrated the fallow land, 20–50 m from the slope, and only a third at a distance of 50–100 m. Anemochores predominate on the distant part (50–100 m) of the fallow land.
Keywords: steppe meadow, fallow land, progressive succession, source of diaspores, floristic diversity, ecological-cenotic group, broad-leaved forest zone, Natural monument Melovitsky slopes
Financing: the research was carried out as part of the most important innovative project of national importance «Development of a system for ground-based and remote monitoring of carbon pools and greenhouse gas fluxes in the territory of the Russian Federation, ensuring the creation of recording data systems on the fluxes of climate-active substances and the carbon budget in forests and other terrestrial ecological systems» (№ 123030300031-6) and the work of the Bryansk Forest Nature Reserve (1022090100010-8-1.6.20).
For citation: Gornov A.V., Ruchinskaya E.V., Evstigneev O.I., Gavrilyuk E.A. Steppe meadows reestablishing on abandoned arable lands in broadleaved forest zone (Bryansk region) . Russian Journal of Ecosystem Ecology. 2024;9(3). (In Russ.). Available from: https://doi.org/10.21685/2500-0578-2024-3-4