PSAMOPHILIC PLANT COMMUNITIES OF THE SAND MASSIVES OF THE TERSK-KUMSKAYA LOWLAND AT THE TERRITORY OF THE KOCHUBEY BIOSPHERE STATION

Abstract

The article presents data from studies of psammophytic flora on the territory of the Kochubey biosphere station of the Tersko - kumskaya lowland. The geographical and ecological features of plant species of psammophyte communities have been studied. Having some ideas about the features of psammophytes, we still do not have specific information about their distribution due to poor knowledge in the region under study. Unregulated grazing and the continental climate have a strong impact on the natural vegetation cover, causing deflation and degradation. The most adapted to the conditions of semi-deserts are varieties of xerophytes that can tolerate soil and air drought. Their floristic composition and ecological cenotic characteristics were determined. The phytocoenotic diversity of the psammophytic flora on the sandy massif of the Kochubey biosphere station is determined by the ecological, anatomical, and physiological features of the psammophyte communities. The adaptability of rod plant species to high insolation, to drought on a semi-movable sandy substrate was studied. The metabolism of psammophytes is constantly in danger of being buried under a layer of sand or left with bare roots and dry out from wind and drought. Monitoring observations show that the stability of the distribution of invasive species on the sandy massif is lower than native plants, which seems to be the result of an adaptive potential to local environmental conditions. The ecological regularities of changes in vegetation on the sands, which are defined as transformations of an exodynamic nature associated with changes in the hydrological regime, wind erosion, and anthropogenic impact, have been studied.