Home – Home – Jornals – Flora and Vegetation of Asian Russia 2021 number 3

The aim of the article is to characterize the communities dominated by Cyperus fuscus spread in the steppe zone of Western Siberia and Eastern Kazakhstan. The material was collected on the floodplains of the Aley River (surroundings of Rubtsovsk, Altai Territory, Russia) and the Irtysh one (Semipalatinsk, Republic of Kazakhstan). The communities studied are described as Crypsio schoenoidis-Cyperetum fusci ass. nov. (Eleocharition soloniensis Philippi 1968, Nanocyperetalia Klika 1935, Isoëto-Nanojuncetea Br. Bl. et Tx. in Br. Bl. et al. 1952). Nomenclature type of the association (holotypus) is relevé 1 (Table 1): Altai Territory, Rubtsovsky district, surroundings of the city of Rubtsovsk and the village of Polovinkino (51°2345 N, 81°1250 E), right low water bank of the Aley River, 06.08.1996, G.S. Taran. Diagnostic species: Cyperus fuscus (dominant), Crypsis schoenoides, Spergularia echinosperma. Ass. Crypsio schoenoidis-Cyperetum fusci includes two variants. Var. typica (Table 1, relevés 1-5) is spread on the Aley floodplain. The communities occupy silty areas underlain by crushed shale (rel. 1-3) or sands (rel. 4-5). Var. Persicaria scabra (Table 1, rel. 6-10) was recorded at a distance of 133 km west of the village of Polovinkino. The relevés were made on Polkovnichy Island (Semipalatinsk) in a deep depression (50°2345.3 N, 80°1504.3 E) on the plots covered from the surface by a thin (0.5-1 cm) layer of silt. Below there was a layer of coarse sand 4-22 cm thick, underlain by pebbles. Ground water was opened at a depth of 22-30 cm. The plots were exposed from water 57 days before the date of completion of the relevés. Cyperus fuscus communities of the steppe zone can be considered as a derivative of the northern Cypero-Limoselletum riccietosum frostii Taran 2019. A similar picture is observed in Central Europe: the Cypero-Limoselletum (Oberd. 1957) Korneck 1960 and Eleocharito-Caricetum bohemicae Klika 1935, which are widespread in the forest zone, are replaced by the Cypero-Juncetum bufonii Soó et Csűrös (1936) 1944 in the steppe Pannonian region. Replacing forest-steppe associations Cypero-Limoselletum and Eleocharito-Caricetum bohemicae in the steppe zone of Western Siberia and Eastern Kazakhstan, ass. Crypsio schoenoidis-Cyperetum fusci acts as the East Kazakhstan - West Siberian vicariant of the European Cypero-Juncetum bufonii. When comparing the Crypsio schoenoidis-Cyperetum fusci with European analogues, it was found that Cyperetum micheliani sensu Šumberová 2011 sharply differs from Cyperetum micheliani Horvatić 1931 and therefore it is preferable to interpret it as Cypero-Juncetum bufonii; Eleocharito acicularis-Limoselletum aquaticae sensu Kovalenko 2014 should be attributed to the Cypero fusci-Limoselletum aquaticae (Oberd. 1957) Korneck 1960.