O4: Caspian hemipsammophytic grass-wormwood deserts on partly clayey sand soils with Artemisia lerchiana, Poa bulbosa, partly with Stipa sareptana and/or Stipa lessingiana

Title

Caspian hemipsammophytic grass-wormwood deserts on partly clayey sand soils with Artemisia lerchiana, Poa bulbosa, partly with Stipa sareptana and/or Stipa lessingianaa = alternating with O1; b = alternating with O2; c = alternating with O6; d = alternating with tall reed vegetation and salt meadows (Phragmites australis, Typha latifolia, Elymus repens, Aeluropus littoralis etc.) adjacent to lakes with fresh and brackish waters

Geographical distribution

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

Poa bulbosa-Artemisia lerchiana, Stipa sareptana-Poa bulbosa-Artemisia lerchiana, Stipa lessingiana-Poa bulbosa-Artemisia lerchiana communities.

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

Very species deficient vegetation type (10-15 species) with a loose (25-35 %) degree of cover (seldom 40-45 %). Artemisia lerchiana is accompanied by the codominant Poa bulbosa, and often by codominant grasses (Stipa sareptana, Stipa lessingiana). In the early spring ephemerals, ephemeroids and hemiephemeroids occur frequently. Summer and autumn annuals are rare.

Dominant and most frequent species in different layers

Diagnostically important species

Artemisia lerchiana, Poa bulbosa, Stipa sareptana, Stipa lessingiana

Ecological variants

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Geographical variants (geogr. differential species)

Stipa sareptana and Stipa caspia in the south of the intrafluvial region between the Volga and the Ural.

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

Small area occurrences of Artemisia taurica stands in Artemisia deserts on salty soils of the kalmuk steppes, of north-Turanian halophytic dwarf semishrub vegetation (Halocnemum strobilaceum, Kalidium foliatum, Atriplex cana, Artemisia santonicum) on solonetz soils and vegetation-free salt pans; Artemisia lerchiana-Poa bulbosa communities with different Stipa species.

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

desert steppes (M19, M18, M20, M21), northern dwarf semishrub deserts (O1, O2, O3, O5, O6), salt vegetation (P35), freshwater-tall reed swamps (R1), alluvial forests and scrubs (U42).

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)

Ivanov 1953b; Kljukin et al. 1968; Kunaev (Red.) 1982; Ladygina, Račkovskaja & Safronova (Red.) 1995a; Ladygina, Račkovskaja & Safronova (Red.) 1995b; Lavrenko 1962; Pjatin (Ed.) 1997; Prozorovskij 1940; Prozorovskij & Maleev 1947; Račkovskaja, Safronova & Chramcov 1990; Rodin & Rubcov 1956; Safronova 1975; Safronova 1980b; Sangadziev et al. 1974

Compiled by

Z. Neuhäuslová based on documents by I. Safronova