ACOMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF THE CONDITION OF THE LEGUMES ON THE NATURAL AND SEEDED FODDER AREAS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ALTAI

Abstract

The flora of the Altai Mountains is characterized by a rich variety of representatives of the Fabaceae family, which are found in a wide range of habitats and under various anthropogenic loads. The genera Astragalus L. and Oxytropis DC. are the most numerous in terms of species diversity. Many representatives of the genera Vicia L., Trifolium L., Hedysarum L., Latirus L., Melilotus Mill., Medicago L., Pisum L. are good forage plants. The vegetation in the steppe grasslands of the Altai Mountains indicates the presence of predominantly intensive grazing farm animals, in which there is the formation of transient communities by reducing the participation of the prey species and the role of not eaten, eaten bad, harmful and poisonous plants. At the same time, the share of the legume component in the living ground phytomass in meadow steppes is quite high (25–50 %), in real steppes it is about 5–28%, and in desolate steppes – 11–17 %, which is largely due to the species diversity of legumes and their adaptability to natural, climatic and anthropogenic factors. Species Onobrychis arenaria, Medicago falcata are found in the meadow steppe, and Astragalus austrosibiricus, A. tibetanus, A. brevifoliu, and Oxytropis argentata are found in the steppe pastures, which develop a good green mass and have relatively high morphometric indicators. Astragalus testiculatus, A. laguroides, A. dilutes, Oxytropis pumila, Hedysarum gmelinii, Gueldenstaedtia monophylla, and harmful pasture plants – Thermopsis mongolica, Caragana pygmaea – are adapted to drier stony habitats. Of the wild relatives of cultivated plants from familia Fabaceae in the flora of the Altai Mountains there are more than 10 species. According to the results of environmental testing of 13 varieties of annual legumes (Vicia L., Pisum L., Glycine L.), it was found that they are characterized by higher rates of green mass yield (by 12–16%) than traditional varieties of these crops in the mid-mountain zone of the Altai Republic.