The dry grasslands (Festuco-Brometea) of the North Caucasus: first data on numerical classification and biodiversity patterns

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Authors	VYNOKUROV Denys LYSENKO Tatiana DUTOVA Zoya SHYLNIKOV Dmitriy DOROSHINA Galina URBANAVICHENE Irina URBANAVICHUS Gennadii TSEPKOVA Nelly
Year of publication	2021
Type	Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source	Tuexenia
MU Faculty or unit	Faculty of Science
Citation
Web	https://doi.org/10.14471/2021.41.004
Doi	http://dx.doi.org/10.14471/2021.41.004
Keywords	Brachypodielalia pinnati; Festucetalia valesiacae; Festuco-Brometea; meso-xeric grass-lands; rocky grasslands; Stipo pulcherrimae-Festucetalia pallentis; steppe; syntaxonomy; vegetation
Description	The North Caucasus is still one of the least studied regions in Europe regarding syntaxonomy. We investigated dry grasslands in the central part of the North Caucasus, namely in the Stavropol Kray region of Russia. We sampled 47 vegetation plots (releves) of 10 m(2) size (3.16 x 3.16 m) at elevations from 470 to 1150 m a.s.l. To determine the scale-dependent species richness patterns, we recorded five nested-plot series of 0.0001 to 100 m(2) in different dry grassland types (one in xero-mesic, one in xeric, two in rocky grasslands on limestones, one in rocky grasslands on chalk outcrops). To obtain a more comprehensive understanding of higher-level syntaxa, we collected other available data from published sources from the Stavropol Kray and the Northern Caucasus. In total, we collected 392 additional releves from the Republic of Karachay-Cherkessia, Stavropol Kray, Krasnodar Kray. Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, Republic of North Ossetia-Alania and Dagestan Republic regions. We analyzed the dataset using Modified TWINSPAN with different settings until we received ecologically meaningful units. This yielded in five main cluster that correspond to the major steppe vegetation types: 1) desert steppes; 2) true steppes; 3) mountain steppes of Dagestan and the intennontane basins of the Central Caucasus; 4) rocky grasslands; 5) semi-dry and dry grasslands on deep soils. Considering that these vegetation types are quite unique and different from those described in previous literature, we describe here a new order of Caucasian and Crimean xerophilous rocky grasslands on calcareous outcrops (Asphodelino tauricae-Euphorbietalia petrophilae), three new alliances (Arternisio chamaemeli-foliae-Bromopsion variegatae, Helianthemo buschii-Cephalarion coriaceae, Onosmo caucasicae-Asphodelinion tauricae) and nine new associations.
Related projects:	Centrum pro evropské vegetační syntézy (CEVS)