RELIC COMMUNITIES OF EMPETRUM NIGRUM L. (EMPETRACEA) IN THE BORZHAVSKY MASSIF (UKRAINIAN CARPATHIANS): CURRENT STATE AND CONSERVATION PROSPECTS

Abstract

Among the shrub communities of the highlands of the Ukrainian Carpathians, there are rare ones that are on the verge of extinction in the modern conditions of anthropopression and climate change. These are the primary creeping shrub communities of the class Loiseleurio procumbentis – Vaccinietea Eggler ex Schubert 1960. They are considered as relicts and require monitoring and special attention in order to preserve them. Such vegetation centers include communities of the association Empetro-Vaccinietum gaultherioides Br.-Br. In Br.-Br. et Jenny 1926 corr. Grabherr 1993, which were discovered in the Borzhava massif in the last few years. The article provides information on the modern distribution of this communities in the Ukrainian Carpathians in general, and on the Borzhav massif in particular, its species composition and structure, as well as the prospects for its preservation. It was found that since the middle of the last century, the area of the communities Empetro-Vaccinietum gaultherioides association has halved at least, and some species of vascular plants characteristic only for the highlands are no longer recorded here.
 Climate changes manifested in the aridization of the air and disruption of the temporal and territorial distribution of the precipitation in the highlands, as well as the increased anthropogenic load due to uncontrolled tourism in the Borzhav massif, create threatening conditions for the development of Empetrum nigrum, which is on the verge of extinction here. The creation of the «Polonina Borzhava» Regional Landscape Park, which has been proposed by the authors for several years in a row, is urgent.