Meadow and saline wormwoods of Buryatia: phytocoenotic and chemotaxonomic features, essential oil composition and biopharmaceutical prospects
B.-Ts. B. Namzalov1, S. V. Zhigzhitzhapova2, A. A. Korobkov3, M. B.-Ts. Namzalov1
1Banzarov Buryat State University, Ulan-Ude, Russia
2Baikal Institute of Nature Management of Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ulan-Ude, Russia
3Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia
Keywords: species and phytocenoses, meadow and saline wormwoods, habitat and boundary populations, essential oils, secondary metabolites, medicinal plants, Buryatia
Abstract
The paper considers meadow and saline wormwoods, which constitute an original element in the vegetation of intrazonal landscapes of river valleys and intermountain depressions of Buryatia. They are represented by both typically saline Central Asian (with Artemisia schrenkiana, A. nitrosa) and meadow both East Asian (with A. selengensis), and Holarctic (with A. vulgaris, A. mongolica). According to phytocenotic confinement, it is necessary to note the contrast of ecological conditions in the floodplain-terrace complexes of the Dzhida River and saline depressions in the Ivolga valley, reflected in the composition and structure of plant communities. Thus, meadow, meadow-shrub communities on the Dzhida terraces are distinguished by a high projective cover (up to 80 % and more), often have a thicket character with an abundance of A. selengensis. The floristic composition of the communities is characterized by North Asian and South Siberian elements (Achnatherum sibiricum, Potentilla tanacetifolia), and in the group of specific species, East Asian ones - A. selengensis, Ribes diacantha. Phytocenoses of the saline vegetation of the Ivolginskaya valley have a low projective cover of grass - at the initial stage of vegetation 30 %, by mid-summer, in the phase of the beginning of flowering, the participation of wormwood reaches 60 % or more. In terms of floristic composition, the communities are poor and monotonous (up to 14-17 species on test sites). They are composed by the desert-steppe Central Asian elements - Achnatherum splendens, Plantago salsa, Artemisia nitrosa, as well as Eurasian saline-steppe species - Limonium gmelinii, Saussurea amara and others. The studied wormwoods of Buryatia have in common the absence of α-thujone and zingeberene in the essential oils, unlike the same species from other regions. The fact of division of wormwood essential oils by belonging to the subgenera Artemisia (A. vulgaris, A. selengensis) and Seriphidium (A. schrenkiana, A. nitrosa) was revealed. Due to their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, wormwood essential oils can be used to treat cardiovascular diseases, digestive disorders, Alzheimer’s disease, and acute respiratory diseases.
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