Century-long Dynamics of Meadow Steppes in the Privolzhskaya Uplands

Abstract

Information on the structure and dynamics of the zonal Central Russian meadow steppes is presented in terms of the example of the Privolzhskaya forest-steppe state nature reserve (Penza region, Russia). The cenotic diversity of the herbaceous vegetation of the reserve is represented by 91 associations, of which 48 refer to steppes and 43 to steppe meadows. It has been revealed that the vegetation of the studied placer sites under the influence of an absolutely reserved regime undergoes mesophyticization and silvatization, which are more intensively manifested in the forest-steppe landscapes of the secondary moraine plains (areas of the Poperechenskaya steppe and Ostrovtsovskaya forest-steppe reserve) than in the eroded denudational plains of forest-steppe landscapes (areas of the Kuncherovskaya steppe and Ostrovtsovskaya forest-steppe reserves). The study of the dynamics of zonal meadow steppes in the Volga Uplands testifies to the inevitability of their transformation in modern climatic conditions into meadow, shrubby and even forest communities.