Syntaxonomic Adaptability Of Lower Layer Plants Of The Forest Communities In The North-eastern Ukraine
Abstract
I. Kovalenko, A. Klimenko, R. Yaroshchuk
In the North-Eastern part of Ukraine the forest communities occupy considerable area and have great ecological and economic value. In natural forests herbs and subshrubs maintain the canopy cover through the recovery mechanism when the undergrowth of woody plants by height constitutes a part of the herbaceous and subshrub layer. Cenoflora within the lower layers of mixed coniferous-broad leaved forests of the southern part of the Eurasian forest zone is a fairly complete structural unit, especially in the central parts of the moisture and soil fertility gradients. Syntaxonomic adaptability of the lower layer plants of the forest communities in the North-East of Ukraine is established, and their ecological and biological diversity is determined as a result of the researches conducted. A group of species of forest herbs and subshrubs by the ecological status takes an intermediate position because of their habitat versatility. The species of this group are characterized by the vegetative propagation along with the effective seed reproduction. The habitat versatility and combination of the two types of reproduction are the main reasons for a wide representation of the species of this group in different syntaxons. A high floristic biodiversity of the forest communities of the North-Eastern part of Ukraine and their flora heterogeneity are determined based on the comparative floristic analysis. The floristic difference between the two major classes of vegetation in this region is shown, and it is found that Querco-Fagetea class is characterized by a high nutrient status and good warming-up under slightly reduced soil moisture, whereas the main feature of Vaccinio-Piceetea class is low soil fertility.
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