| Abstrakt: |
The study provides insight into the species diversity, productivity, proportional participation, and seasonal variability of species in natural and artificially created phytocenoses on sandy grounds in the south of the European Russia. Particular attention is given to the role of the effects of moisture condition on the formation of the species diversity in various communities. The Tsymlyansk and massif was monitored with ecological geobotanical surveys. The herbaceous plant–shrub layer comprises 183 plant species from 41 families. The Simpson index suggests that the dominance of species from family Poaceae is the most pronounced in the area of excessive moisture (II). Species from the families Asteraceae, Fabaceae, and Poaceae are dominant in the area of sufficient and variable moisture (III), moderate moisture (IV), and the sites of insufficient complex moisture and the area of a severe lack of complex moisture under sandy hummocks and moderate in kolkas (birch and alder groves) and diffused sands (V). According to the Jaccard index, the similarity of the species composition is closest in terms of the species diversity between the areas of (Va) insufficient complex moisture and (Vb) a severe lack of complex moisture under sandy hummocks and moderate in kolkas (birch and alder groves) and diffused sands (90%); (IV) moderate moisture and (Vb) a severe lack of complex moisture under sandy hummocks and moderate in kolkas (birch and alder groves) and diffused sands (89%); (III) sufficient and variable moisture and (IV) moderate moisture (87%); (II) excessive moisture and (IV) moderate moisture (87%). In the area of moderate moisture (IV), most of the mass was comprised of the grasses Agropyron cristatum L., A. elongatum (Host) P. Beauv., Festuca valesiaca Gaudin, F. beckeri (Hack.) Trautv., and Poa pratensis L., while Artemisia campestris L. and Galium verum L were predominant among the forbs. On average, the grasses in the community accounted for 66.5%, and the forbs accounted for 33.5%. Similarly, in the area of sufficient and variable moisture (III), the phytomass was largely formed by species from the family Poaceae, such as, Elytrigia repens (L.) Nevski and Agropyron elongatum (Host) P. Beauv. Agropyron cristatum L. The phytomass was considerably influenced by Artemisia campestris L., Artemisia vulgaris L., and Artemisia arenaria DC. Shifting sands should be stabilized and pastures should be restored with the selected polycomponent grass mixtures in order to halt degradation processes, to improve the economic state, and to increase fertility of pasture ecosystem across large territories. The experiment on the study of the productivity of artificially created phytocenoses for the purposes of restoration and an increase in the productivity of natural pasture ecosystems was conducted on vegetation plots of Hydrological Complex of the Federal Science Center of Agroecology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. A grass mixture with participation of Agropyron cristatum L., Artemisia arenaria D.C., and Medicaga sativa L. and a yield capacity of 228.6–246.7 g/m2 appears to be the most promising for sandy substrates, as well as a grass mixture with participation of Agropyron cristatum L., Agropyrom elangatum Host.P.B., and Bromus inermis Leyss., which has a yield capacity of 184.4 g/m2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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