Floristic transformation of the steppe area in the lower reaches of the Osyotr River due to anthropogenic impact

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to survey the steppe site located on the right bank of the Osyotr River, near the village of Argunovo, in the urban district of Zaraysk, Moscow Region. It was required to analyze the key floristic changes that have occurred in its composition to date. For comparison, the floristic description of this site, detailed by R.I. Dyakova in the 1950s. The work takes into account the fact of man-made interference in the 1960s, as a result of limestone mining there in violation of the vegetation cover. In the autumn, 2020 the authors of this article studied a steppe site in the neighborhoods of the village of Argunovo in Zaraisk urban district of Moscow region and collected a herbarium donated to funds [MHA]. This steppe community was first discovered and described in detail by R.I. Dyakova in the 1950s. In the 20th century, due to the extraction of limestone in the lower reaches of the Osyotr River, this biotope was disturbed. It was established that over the past 70 years, the area occupied by the association with Stipa pennata L. and Geranium sanguineum L. significantly decreased and some steppe species disappeared. A factor in the transformation of the steppe cenosis was also cessation of grazing, which led to the appearance of a number of meadow-steppe species. The studied area near the village of Argunovo can be considered as a unique meadow-steppe reserve. It is located at the northern border of the forest-steppe zone and includes the elements of the Oka steppe flora that has preserved to this day. The populations of rare and protected species have been preserved: Stipa pennata, Aster amellus L., Campanula bononiensis L., Gentiana cruciata L., Rosa villosa L. and Pyrus communis L., included in the Red Data Book of Moscow Region. The studied area is potentially susceptible to the invasion of alien species (Heracleum sosnowskyi Manden, Acer negundo L.) and needs monitoring and protection at the level of the community, population and each species.