Grass ecosystems in agrolandscapes of the Yeletsky District of the Central Russian Province forest-steppe zone of the Central Chernozem Region of Russia

Abstract

In order to study the spatial distribution of biological and ecological patterns of grass ecosystems, we conducted an agrolandscape-ecological zoning of the territory of the Central Chernozem Region of Russia (CCR) on the basis of the author’s methodology. According to the zoning data, it is established that 75% of the territory of the CCR belongs to the forest-steppe zone. The Central Russian province of the forest-steppe zone covers 67% of the territory of the CCR. Yeletsky district occupies the eastern spurs of the Central Russian upland. The area of the district is 1929.7 thousand hectares. Most of the district (90%) is located in the Lipetsk region, 10% – in the Kursk region. In the past, the watersheds of the district were occupied by meadow steppes and partly oak forests. Currently, more than 80% of the district’s territory is occupied by agricultural land (arable land, pastures, hayfields). The structure of land is dominated by arable land-67% of the total area of the district, pastures occupy 11%, hayfields – 3%, forests – 7%, shrubs – 2%, under water and swamps – 1%, other land – 8%. The grass ecosystems of the meadow steppes preserved along the gullies and slopes are mainly used as natural grasslands (NG) and make up 79% of all NG of the Yelets District. The most common are the downed tipchak pastures on the slopes of different steepness. The yield of these pastures is 8–12 centners per hectare of dry eaten mass.