The flora of the botanical preserve “Honcharivskyi” (Luhansk Region, Ukraine)

Abstract

The current state of the flora of the botanical preserve “Honcharivskyi” (Svatove District, Luhansk Region) is analysed. The preserve includes three areas on the right-bank slopes of the Kobylka and the Krasna rivers with outcrops of chalk bedrocks. The study was conducted in summer and autumn 2019. Four expeditionary trips were organized to the areas near the villages of Oborotnivka and Nauholne. Floristic descriptions made by the line-transect method saved as research material. Identification of floristic composition was carried out by the plant species inventory along the transects. As a result, an annotated list of 85 species of vascular plants of 74 genera, 29 families, 3 classes and 2 divisions was compiled. In terms of systematic composition, the spectrum of main families is headed by Asteraceae (22 species, 25.9 % of the flora), Poaceae (9 species, 10.6 %), and Lamiaceae 7 (species, 8.2 %). These families include a significant number of ruderal, steppe and calcephilous species. Hemicryptophytes, represented by herbaceous plants of steppe meadows, prevail in the flora biomorphic structure (51 species, 60 %). Chamaephytes (in our case study the subshrubs, growing on steppe slopes, chalk and limestone outcrops, viz., Genista tinctoria L., Hyssopus cretaceus Dubjan., Teucrium polium L. etc.) are least presented (6 species, 7.1 %). A cenomorph analysis revealed predominance of the ruderal species (35; 41.2 %) due to grazing, trampling and economic activity in the study area. The flora ecological analysis was based on five main factors, which reflect climate and soil properties. In terms of soil acidity, the neutrophilic species formed a dominating group (53 species, 63 %), in terms of carbonate compounds – the acarbonatophilic (34 species, 40 %), in terms of soil salinity – the eutrophytic (36 species, 43 %), in terms of climate thermal regime – the sub-mesothermic (59 species, 70 %), and in terms of climate continentality – the hemicontinental ones (43 species, 52 %). Most recorded species prefer slightly acidic and/or neutral, rich in salts and carbonates, meadow like and common chernozems of steppe meadows and steppes. Twelve species of 11 genera and 7 families are of conservation concern. Of these, 10 species are listed in Red Data Book of Ukraine, five species are in the European Red List of Vascular Plants (Hyssopus cretaceus Dubjan., Artemisia hololeuca M. Bieb. ex Besser, Centaurea donetzica Klok., Cephalaria litvinivii Bobr., Hedysarum cretaceum Fisch.), and two species are in the Red List of plants of Lugansk Region (Thymus calcareus Klokov & Des.-Shost. and Potentilla erecta (L.) Raeusch.).