In this paper, we complete the syntaxonomical scheme for halophytic vegetation and adjoining plant communities of the lowland, montane and alpine zones in the Pamir-Alai and western Tian Shan in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan with some remarks on its environmental predictors. A total of 217 relevés were sampled in 2014–2019 using the seven-degree cover-abundance scale of the Braun-Blanquet approach. Modified TWlNSPAN was used to classify plant communities based on species composition. The cover-abundance scale was transformed using the four-step interval scale with cut-off levels at 0%, 5% and 25%. Diagnostic species were identified using the phi coefficient as a fidelity measure. Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS) was used to explore the relationships between the distin-guished groups. A total of five halophytic or subhalophytic grasslands, five halophytic thermophilous scrub communities, three hypersaline alluvial temporary flooded swards, and one riparian scrub com-munity were distinguished in the study area, grouped in four orders. Four plant communities have been established as new associations: Knorringietum sibiricae, Puccinellietum pamiricae, Carici physodis-Zygophylletum gontscharovii and Zygophylletum ferganensis. The Taraxacion murgabici is described as new alliance of high-altitude halophytic vegetation in arid environments. The hypersaline alluvial temporary flooded swards were included in a new order – the Psylliostachyetalia spicato-leptostachyae. The main factors differentiating the species composition of the researched vegetation seem to be: the share and number of annual vs. perennial species, coverage of shrub layer, number and share of Irano-Turanian plants, mean annual temperature, and altitudinal position. This is the first time we have initi-ated research on halophytic vegetation in Middle Asia. However, further geobotanical studies in this part of the world are needed, because the syntaxonomical position of some of the distinguished com-munities still remains vague.

Um den Einfluss der Aufgabe der sommerlichen Schafbeweidung in alpinen Gebieten (Schafsömmerung) und die Einwanderung von Gämsen (Rupicapra rupicapra) auf die floristische und zoologische Vielfalt zu untersuchen, wurden im Gebiet Graue Hörner (Kanton St. Gallen, Schweiz) drei Gebiete einer Chronosequenz (Raum-für-Zeit-Ersatz) verglichen: 1. eine jährlich kurz, aber intensiv genutzte Schafweide (ca. 81 bzw. 195 Schafe ha-1) (SB0), 2. eine seit fünf Jahren aufgegebene Schafweide, die heute von ca. 1 Gämse ha-1 genutzt wird (SB5), 3. eine seit 19 Jahren aufgegebene Schafweide, die von ca. 5 Gämsen und 1 Steinbock ha-1 genutzt wird (SB19). In den zwei am häufigsten vertretenen Vegetationstypen Poion alpinae und Nardion wurde die Vegetation auf zwei Flächengrössen (10 m2 und 200 m2) erhoben und die floristische Diversität und Ähnlichkeiten zwischen den Gebieten verglichen. Auf insgesamt dreizehn Flächen wurden zudem die Tagfalter und Heuschrecken aufgenommen. Im Gebiet SB0 war das Nardion am häufigsten, in den Gebieten SB5 und SB19 das Poion alpinae. Die Unterschiede der mittleren Artenzahl in den drei Gebieten auf 10 bzw. 200 m2 waren weder beim Poion alpinae noch beim Nardion signifikant. Die Poion alpinae-Aufnahmen auf 200 m² wiesen im Gebiet SB19 mit einem Mittel von 46,8 jedoch 6 Arten mehr auf als im Gebiet SB0. Die Gebiete SB0 und SB19 waren sowohl bei den Poion alpinae- als auch den Nardion-Aufnahmen floristisch am unähnlichsten. Im beweideten Gebiet SB0 konnten insgesamt mehr Tagfalter- und Heuschreckenarten erfasst werden als in den nicht mehr mit Schafen beweideten Gebieten, wobei der Unterschied nur bei den Heuschrecken signifikant war. Dass in den Gebieten, die seit fünf bzw. 19 Jahren nicht mehr mit Schafen beweidet werden, die Artenzahl bei den Gefässpflanzen nicht signifikant anders war als in dem mit Schafen beweideten Gebiet, zeigt, dass die floristische Diversität von alpinen Rasen innerhalb von rund 20 Jahren auf die Ablösung von Schafen durch Gämsen nur wenig reagiert hat. Es lässt sich kein stark negativer Effekt der Schafbeweidung nachweisen, obwohl ein Trend besteht, dass die Diversität ohne Schafbeweidung grossflächig (200 m2) höher ist. Die Unterschiede in der floristischen Zusammensetzung und den Mengenanteilen der Arten deuten darauf hin, dass die Schafbeweidung einen anderen Einfluss auf die Vegetation hat als die extensivere Beweidung durch wildlebende Herbivoren. Auch der hohe Anteil des Nardion im Gebiet SB0 kann wahrscheinlich auf die Schafbeweidung zurückgeführt werden.

Semi-dry semi-natural grasslands such as those of the alliance Mesobromion (Festuco-Brometea) are one of the most-diverse habitat types in Europe with regard to many taxonomic groups, but these remnants of traditional extensive agriculture are currently threatened throughout the continent. It is important to know how and where such valuable vegetation types could be best maintained (or re-established) under current environmental conditions. To address this question, we selected 27 dry grassland sites in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland, half of which had been classified as of “good” and half as of “poor” quality one decade ago. We sampled vegetation, soil and topographical data in three 1-m² plots in each of these sites. We then compared the current environmental conditions and plant species composition of the two original quality levels. Furthermore, we related four metrics of current conservation value (vascular plant species richness, evenness, forb/graminoid ratio and an ad hoc developed conservation score) to measured environmental predictors and mean ecological indicator values. We found that the “good” and “poor” sites differed in only few environmental predictors, such as good sites having higher pH, lower soil nitrogen and steeper slopes, while they had higher numbers and covers of typical semi-dry grassland species and a higher conservation value. The metrics of con-servation value behaved inconsistently when relating them to various environmental predictors. Inter-estingly, species richness decreased with slope inclination, but was also marginally negatively related to soil phosphorus. Conservation score, in contrast, increased with inclination, but also with increasing litter cover and soil nitrogen. While evenness largely showed similar response as conservation score, those of the forb-graminoid ratio were reversed for several environmental predictors. Overall, our results indicate that the conservation value of semi-dry grasslands cannot simply be attributed to one or two main factors. As different metrics of conservation value behaved differently, taking just one as a proxy would not be sufficient. Despite some variation, generally lower nutrient status, higher pH and steeper slopes seem to favour the maintenance of dry grasslands of higher quality. Some of our counter-intuitive results such as the higher litter cover in the plots of higher conservation value may indicate that current conservation management of these grasslands is too extensive to maintain their quality, par-ticularly given the high atmospheric nitrogen input in the region. We thus propose an experiment to test whether earlier and/or more frequent mowing helps in maintaining the quality of semi-dry grasslands.

To understand recent biogeographic patterns of Central European rocky steppes, we inspected phytosociological data from rocky steppes dominated by Carex humilis along an elevation gradient (from 140 to 1,350 m) and in four biogeographic regions (NW Pannonian Basin, Western Carpathians, Transdanubian Mountains and Transylvanian Basin). Due to the physiognomic uniformity, Carex humilis-dominated communities are ideal objects to reveal broad-scale vegetation patterns, which are not obvious from local and regional studies. We investigated the roles of geographic distance and environmental (climatic, topographic and geological) variables in shaping variability of the studied vegetation. We further looked for differences in structure and floristic composition regarding (1) gam-ma diversity, beta diversity and species richness; (2) life form spectrum; (3) species distribution patterns; and (4) representation of archaeophytes and habitat specialists. The large compositional variation in both lower- and higher-elevation rocky steppes was better explained by geographic distance than by the environment. Among the environmental variables, geological bedrock type and climate variables were most important. Gamma and beta diversity were higher for stands at lower elevation than those at higher elevation, with a peak in the colline belt at elevations between 300 and 500 m. Species richness did not differ with elevation or biogeographic region. The hemicryptophytes dominated in life-form spectra along the whole elevation gradient with the highest proportions at middle elevations. Low elevation plots had higher proportion of therophytes and higher elevation plots had more chamaephytes and geophytes. Large-range species prevailed at low elevations and middle range species at high elevations. Also the narrow-range species increased with elevation and among the regions were best represented in the W-Carpathians. Species with a European distribution prevailed in most plots and their proportion increased with elevation. The proportion of steppe species decreased with elevation and was highest in the Transylvanian plots. The W-Carpathian plots had the highest proportions of alpine species, which were present along the whole elevation gradient with a significantly increasing trend towards the high elevation. The archaeophytes were represented only at low and middle elevations with a decreasing trend, and had highest proportions in the Transylvanian plots. Mean niche breadth had unimodal distribution along the elevation gradient with the highest values at 600 m a.s.l. Proportions of both specialist and generalist species increased with elevation. Despite the mentioned differences, rocky steppes from various elevation belts and biogeographic regions shared a set of species with similar ecology and distribution. We conclude that a detailed analysis of biogeographic patterns based on phytosociological data can provide a valuable insight into the structure of a particular vegetation type.

Nuphar pumila is a glacial relict, which is nowadays rare throughout Europe and red-listed in most European regions. In Switzerland only three autochthonous populations and one population of the hybrid with N. lutea (N. ×spenneriana) have survived to date, one of them in the canton of Zurich. To protect this species regionally, the canton of Zurich has commissioned the ex situ propagation of speci-mens, which then had been introduced to 37 water bodies in protected areas, including one known former site. Since only about 10% of these introductions had been successful, there was a wish to identify causes of this lack of success. To this end, we compared the vegetation and physical-chemical parameters of the four natural sites in Switzerland with the successful and unsuccessful introduction sites. Additionally, for a subset of sites, we assessed diatom genus composition as a proxy of water quality. Moreover, we derived vegetation plots of N. pumila and N. lutea from across Europe from the European Vegetation Archive (EVA) to compare their site conditions, using mean ecological indicator values and bioclimatic variables of the localities. We found that inside Switzerland the main differences were between the natural sites and all introduction sites, while successful and unsuccessful introduction sites hardly differed in the determined parameters. Natural sites had cooler water with lower magnesi-um content, and according to mean ecological indicator values, also lower nutrient status. The diatom data, though limited in amount, point into the same direction. The EVA data demonstrate that stands of N. pumila are mainly more oligotrophic, but also cooler and more acidic than those of N. lutea. We could not find any factor that explains the success vs. lack of success of plantations of N. pumila in multiple sites in the canton of Zurich, but our results rather indicate that due to the relatively warm climate, the high atmogenic nitrogen input and the predominantly base-rich bedrock, the sites in the canton are generally not particularly well suited for N. pumila. We consider it therefore more promising to protect and possibly (re-)introduce N. pumila in other cantons with higher elevation, base-poor bedrock and lower atmogenic nitrogen input.