L4: South Sarmatian meadow steppes (Stipa pennata, Stipa tirsa, Festuca pseudovina, Filipendula vulgaris, Trifolium montanum, Galium verum) alternating with salt vegetation on solonetz soils (Artemisia santonicum, Camphorosma annua) and pedunculate oak forests (Quercus robur)

Title

South Sarmatian meadow steppes (Stipa pennata, Stipa tirsa, Festuca pseudovina, Filipendula vulgaris, Trifolium montanum, Galium verum) alternating with salt vegetation on solonetz soils (Artemisia santonicum, Camphorosma annua) and pedunculate oak forests (Quercus robur)

Geographical distribution

Scientific names of main plant communities and their most common synonyms (with author citation)

Herbeto-Stipeta pennatae; Herbeto-Stipeta tirsae; Herbeto-Festuceta pseudovinae (Lavrenko 1940); Artemisieta santonicae.

Structural feature of the main community(ies) (layers, life-forms, etc.)

For this mapping unit a high proportion of halophilous variants of the meadow steppes as well as halophytic vegetation on solonetz and solonchak soils is characteristic. They form a complex with plakor steppes. The forest proportion in the river depressions is considerably lower than that in the higher-lying forest steppe areas (e.g. the Volynian-Podolian and central Russian meadow steppes). The meadow steppes of the northern area are distinguished clearly from the southern lying steppes. Towards the south the coenotic role of the genuine steppe species (Festuca rupicola, Festuca valesiaca, Koeleria macrantha, Stipa capillata, Stipa lessingiana, Salvia nutans, Oxytropis pilosa, Phlomis pungens etc.) increases.In the northern variant of the Oka-Don steppes (Lotarevskaja steppe) herbs dominate (Filipendula vulgaris, Trifolium montanum, Galium verum, Draba sibirica etc.). Stipa pennata and S. tirsa are only scattered here. In the south (Chrenovskaja steppe) the meadow steppes have a more xerophilic character. There, Festuca valesiaca, Stipa pennata, Bromus riparius and more rarely Stipa tirsa and Helictotrichon pubescens dominate, as do herbs of typical steppes (Adonis wolgensis, Artemisia armeniaca etc.).

Dominant and most frequent species in different layers

Diagnostically important species

Stipa pennata, Stipa tirsa, Festuca pseudovina, Carex humilis, Filipendula vulgaris, Trifolium montanum, Galium verum; Festuca rupicola, Festuca valesiaca, Koeleria macrantha; Artemisia santonicum, Camphorosma annua

Ecological variants

No details

Geographical variants (geogr. differential species)

In the northern part of the range meadow plants are typical, and towards the south the coenotic role of steppe species (Festuca rupicola, Festuca valesiaca, Koeleria macrantha, Stipa pennata, Stipa tirsa, Stipa capillata) and steppe herbs (Adonis wolgensis) increases.

Natural accompanying vegetation (most important units in complex with the name giving mapping unit, scientific names)

Small area occurrences of north Ukrainian-south Sarmatian and south-east Sarmatian small-leaved lime-pedunculate oak forests as well as of alluvial forests and alder carrs; Beckmannia eruciformis and Glyceria fluitans at the base of moist, slightly salinified land subsidences; in flat waterlogged hollows hummocky sedge swamps (Carex omskiana) and halophilous meadows with Carex melanostachya, Sanguisorba officinalis as well as Salix cinerea scrub and Populus tremula stands. On solonetz type soils halophilous meadow steppes dominate (Artemisia santonicum, Camphorosma annua, Limonium tomentellum, Silaum silaus etc.), that cross-over into solonetz communities (Puccinellia distans, Atriplex littoralis, Plantago salsa, Aster tripolium etc.) and in the south to solonchak communities (Camphorosma annua, Salicornia europaea, Suaeda prostrata, Artemisia santonicum, Limonium caspium, Limonium tomentellum, Atriplex verrucifera etc.); small area occurrences of meadow steppes (Stipa capillata, Scutellaria chitrovoi, Potentilla pimpinelloides, Dendranthema zawadskii) on limestone in the area of the upper Don; Ukrainian-central-Russian sedge fens (Carex diandra, Carex lasiocarpa, Carex omskiana, Phragmithes australis, Calliergonella cuspidata).

Adjoining climax and permanent vegetation (with numbers of mapping units)

pine forests (D57), oak-hornbeam forests (F41), lime-pedunculate oak forests (F70, F71), forest steppes (L3), salt vegetation (P34), alluvial forests (U14).

Land use, substitute communities

Site conditions of the mapping unit

Importance for nature protection

Localities of representative stands (loci typici) with state of protection

Most important references (author, year)

Afanas’ev 1968; Alechin 1918; Alechin 1921; Bilyk 1963; Bilyk 1973a; Bilyk 1973b; Bilyk 1977; Kamyšev 1948; Kamyšev 1952; Kleopov 1934; Lavrenko 1940; Lavrenko 1980; Lavrov, Semenov & Tregubov 1989; Semenova-Tjan-Šanskaja 1971

Compiled by

Z. Neuhäuslová and N. Doniţă based on documents of Z.V. Karamyševa