Issues of conservation of steppe phytocoenosis of the arid territory of Stavropol

Relevance. Conservation of steppe vegetation and its biological diversity is one of the unresolved problems in southern Russia.

The purpose of this work is to study and evaluate the current state of vegetation of steppe phytocoenosis of eastern Stavropol, including preserved zonal grass stands for further active reproduction of their bioresource potential.

Methods. The object of the study is the steppe plant communities of the eastern Stavropol region. The year of the study is 2024. The study of steppe herbages was carried out at 55 accounting sites (each measuring 10 x 10 m) according to the O. Trude system with a mark of abundance of species and projective coverage. The aboveground phytomass was taken into account by 0.5 ml by the sloping method in a fourfold repetition.

Results. The steppe communities of the arid territory of the Stavropol Territory have been studied. It was found that the vegetation of degraded steppe phytocoenosis is monotonous in floral composition (on average — 12 species / 100 m²), low-growing (25–30 cm on average), alternating in places with foci of desertification and open sands. The type of economic use of the herbage is pasture. The projective coverage of the soil surface by plants varies from 10 to 80%. The degree of degradation of vegetation cover is shown — from weakly and moderately degraded to strongly and very strongly degraded. Fragments of zonal steppes have been identified. They are floristically rich, contain valuable plant species — up to 26 pieces / 100 m². In these areas, as they mature, seeds of wild herbs are harvested for laying the testis. Based on the agrosteppe method, the seed material will be sown in the spring in the prepared soil. The created grass stand can later serve as a source of seed material for the restoration of subsequent areas of degraded steppe grass stand.

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