Abstract
The aim of work was to investigate the diversification, structure, physiognomy and floristic richness of riverside terophytes from Bidentetea tripartitae class in selected coastal river valleys. The investigates area encompassed the lower and middle section of the river valleys of Rega, Parsęta, Wieprza, Słupia, Łupawa in the Western Pomerania (Poland). 68 phytosociological records were made according to the system of Braun-Blanquet. A database was created with the help of the software Turboveg for Windows.The hierarchy classification with the MVSP package was used in order to arrange and group the collected phytosociological data and to single out the types of plant communities. In order to evaluate similarity of samples with respect to species composition the Bray Curtis was calculated and the Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean (UPGMA) was applied. Three plant communities belonging to one alliance Bidention tripartitae were identified: Bidenti-Polygonetum hydropiperis (Miljan 1933) Lohmeyer in R.Tx. 1950 nom invers., Bidentetum cernui Kobendza 1948, community with Polygonum minus, and one plant community belonging to the alliance Chenopodion glauci: Chenopodietum rubri Timar 1947.Given the natural origin of most of the patches, their structure, and the relatively small share of synanthropic species, including alien species, it should be emphasized that they constitute a spontaneous stage of succession of riparian vegetation. The presence of therophyte communities in the valleys of the coastal rivers, as well as their structure and physiognomy, testify to the preservation of their natural character.
Highlights
River valleys are often distinguished by abundance of flora and vegetation and are centers of biodiversity on the background of the surrounding landscape (Ward et al 2002)
In the research conducted on the banks of the coastal rivers of West Pomerania, 68 patches of summer therophytes of the class Bidentetea were identified
Based on the numerical classification (Figure 2), four communities belonging to two alliances were distinguished: Bidentetea Tx. et al ex von Rochow 1951 Bidentetalia Br.-Bl. et Tx. ex Klika et Hadač 1944 Bidention tripartitae Nordhagen ex Klika et Hadač 1944 Bidenti-Polygonetum hydropiperis (Miljan 1933) Lohmeyer in R.Tx. 1950 nom invers. (Group D) Bidentetum cernui Kobendza 1948 (Group C) The community with Polygonum minus (Group A) Chenopodion rubri
Summary
River valleys are often distinguished by abundance of flora and vegetation and are centers of biodiversity on the background of the surrounding landscape (Ward et al 2002). The habitats of riverside therophytes are protected as part of the European ecological Natura 2000 network (code 3270) (Borysiak 2004) These are STĘPIEŃ & ROSADZIŃSKI pioneer communities of natural or anthropogenic character which occurs in wet and nutrient-rich habitats such as river banks, muddy alluvial sediments, desiccating oxbows, wet ditches and other man-made habitats (Šumberová & Lososová 2011). The habitats they occupy develop in river valleys during long periods of low water as a result of natural erosion and accumulation processes and are naturally characterized by rapid changes (Borysiak & Stachnowicz 2000). For the full understanding and protection communities of riverside therophytes is necessary to examine the influence of habitat conditions on their state and species composition
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