Comparative assessment of the change in the species composition of vegetation on the territory of the western field of RSAU-MTAA

Abstract

The article presents the analysis of changes in the floral composition of the western field of the Ecological Station of the Russian State Agrarian University – Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy for 4 years. The research object is located in the center of the megalopolis, it is subject to high anthropogenic load, as it is surrounded on both sides by a road network, and at the same time it is part of the facies of the Forest Experimental Dacha. The site is characterized by close occurrence of groundwater, high density of upper soil horizons, heterogeneous soil structure and mesorelief, resulting of in flooding. As a result of a significant number of anthropogenic and abiotic factors, it is necessary to analyze the vegetation composition and the species richness of the area in order to assess the dynamics of variability of these conditions and to predict the potential stability of the biological diversity of the area. The changes in the species composition were analyzed by describing the vegetation and evaluating quantitative indicators: frequency of occurrence, abundance of species, degree of their dominance according to the O. Drude scale, as well as the Shannon index and indicators of species richness and saturation.The studies carried out showed a pronounced variability in vegetation cover from 2018 to 2022. During the study period, there was a change in plant families and an increase in species diversity: richness and saturation indices. In 2022, there was an increase in the number of species and an increase in the uniformity of their numbers compared to 2018.