HISTORY OF BOTANICAL RESEARCH IN THE TILIGUL ESTUARY REGION

Abstract

Introduction. Two regional landscape parks and 5 reserves have been established on the shores of the Tiligulsky Lagoon. The proposal is to organize a single national natural park in this area. This lagoon is part of the Emerald Network of Europe. However, the flora of the area is currently insufficiently studied, and there is no comprehensive understanding of the most valuable fraction of the flora, the halophytes. To gain a more complete understanding of the state of the territory’s flora and its environmental value, it is necessary to review the results of previous botanical research. Objective. The purpose of this work is a retrospective analysis of research on the plant world of the Tiligulsky Lagoon, its shores and adjacent areas. Methodology. The classical method of analyzing literary sourses was used. Main results. In total, data on the flora and vegetation of the Tiligulsky Lagoon region were found in 122 literary sources, which include both specialized works with information on plant species and locations and more general studies covering larger territories, including the Tiligulsky Lagoon area. The history of research on the territory is divided into 4 stages. In the ancient stage, no specific botanical work was conducted in the region, and the works of this period are of a general nature, describing extensive territories that include the Tiligulsky Lagoon area. More specific research began in the 18 th century during the Russian imperial period. The first references to specific plant species in the studied territory belong to A. K. Meyer and date back to 1794. Works by P. S. Shesterikov and Y. K. Pachosky are particularly noteworthy in this period for the number of publications and plant species they mention. During the Soviet period, scientists such as V. G. Tanfiliev, G. Y. Potapenko, I. I. Pogrebnyak, L. I. Kritska, V. S. Tkachenko, O. V. Kostilyov, Y. R. Shelyag- Sosonko, and O. V. Kostilyov extensively studied the vegetation of the slopes of the Tiligulsky Lagoon. In the Ukrainian stage, the most significant contributions to the study of the area’s plant world were made by B. Y. Voiytiuk (who studied the halophytic vegetation of the region), L. I. Kritska and V. V. Novosad, O. Y. Bondarenko (with the largest number of listed species – 408), and O. M. Popova, who focused on halophytes of the territory and listed the most extensive variety. Overall, according to literary data, more than 400 species of vascular plants can be identified for the lagoon, its shores, and the adjacent area. The list of halophytes at the national and local levels, established based on literary data, includes 57 species, including 31 species from the Red Book of Ukraine (according to the 2021 list).