Полынники в растительном покрове степной зоны на Прикаспийской низменности

Abstract

Сommunities of dwarf semishrub wormwood play significant role in the vegetation of the steppe zone on the Caspian lowland. They are formed not on placors, but in special types of habitats: on stony soils and rocks, saline soils (solonetz and solonchaks), sands. Such communities are petrophytic, halophytic and psammophytic ecological variants of zonal type. Wormwood communities are very typical for the vegetation cover of the steppe zone on the Caspian lowland. Petrophytic types are rare due to the peculiarities of natural conditions of area. The habitats required for their formation exist only in the salt dome structures (mountain Big Bogdo and mountain Ulagan). Sand massifs are rare, which are habitats of psammophytic variants. At the same time, saline soils are widely distributed. Halophytic variants of steppes are confined to them. The complex structure of the vegetation cover arises from them. The ecological conditions of the environment determine the size and area of grasses and dwarf semishrub communities. For the Caspian lowland communities of 4 dwarf semishrub wormwood formations are characteristic: Artemisieta lerchianae, Artemisieta tauricae, Artemisieta santonicae, Artemisieta pauciflorae.