Analysis of the plant cover of the Upper Alpine belt of the northern part of the Central and Eastern Caucasus

Abstract

The natural conditions of highlands of the northern part of the Central and Eastern Caucasus are described. Three high-rise belts – alpine, subniveal, niveal – were identified within the studied territory. Features of vegetation cover of these belts are emphasized: fragmented vegetation in the form of separate rock-talus groups and microgroups; sparseness and simplification of its structure, participation of mosses and lichens and huge amounts of types of underlying high-rise belts. According to the high-rise distribution in the subniveal belt, the following groups of species were identified: 1) found at 3100 m above sea level, involved in creating fragmentary carpet-like alpine meadows at the bottom of the belt; 2) found mainly at 3000-3300 m above sea level; 3) living mainly in the range from 3000 to 3600-3700 m above sea level. There is a prevalence of petrophytes, high percentage of endemicity in the subniveal belt (Pseudobetckea, Pseudovesicaria, Didymophysa, Trigonocarium, Eunomia, Vavilovia, etc.). The paper lists the most characteristic families of monocotyledones (Poaceae, Cyperaceae, Juncaceae and Liliaceae), the most characteristic families of dycotyledonae (Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Fabaceae, Saxifragaceae, Rosaceae, Scrophulariaceae, Campanulaceae) and species growing on different substrates – taluses of clay shale, moving taluses, rocks, rocky and crushed slopes, moraines, alpine lawns, common and rare species (Galium rugosum, Jurinea filicifolia, Jurinella moschus, Vavilovia formosa), as well as Veronica bogosensis, Cerastium multiflorum Delphinium caucasicum endemic for the eastern part of the studied area – Erysimum subnivale, Ranunculus tebulossicus, Pyrettrum aromatucum, Pseudobetckea caucasicqa, Sedum stevenianum, etc.