Kuksova M.A.

VEGETATIVE RESOURCES OF OPEN SPACES. PRODUCTION PROCESS AND REGENERATIVE VEGETATIONAL FLUCTUATION MANAGEMENT QUESTIONS

Section –Biological sciences

Subsection – Ecology

Kuksova M.A.

PhD of Biology, Associate Professor at the Biology and Ecology Department, Stavropol State Pedagogical Institute

VEGETATIVE RESOURCES OF OPEN SPACES. PRODUCTION PROCESS AND REGENERATIVE VEGETATIONAL FLUCTUATION MANAGEMENT QUESTIONS

On a boundary II and III millenia of our era an actual problem became the restoration of natural grassy vegetation of the Euroasian steppes, North American prairies, South American subtropical pampas, Hungarian puszta, the African and South American savannas and of some others xerophilous formations. Particular stages of history of person dependence from nature differed in intensity and depth of intervention in ecological systems, biogeocenosis, the basic which functional kernel are vegetative communities. Remaining always consumer, such intervention was accompanied by transformation of natural vegetation in secondary modification groupings in huge territories. Mass development of virgin and laylands in the middle of the XX-th century, development of irrigated agriculture and overgrazing have led to strengthening of the negative phenomena, by malicious weeds thickets initiation. Last decades intensity of an ecological situation has been accelerated in connection with active natural resources development and their subsequent transportation.

So, after many decades on a place of the present natural vegetation there was a secondary virgin soil - a deposit conceding on quality of specific structure and addition of radical vegetation. The essence of a problem of restoration of a biological variety of the broken vegetation consists in extreme slowness of this process, proceeding spontaneously, without participation of the person in a current 70-100 years.

Principal causes of slow course secondary regenerative vegetational fluctuation in the nature are:

• Тhe Negative features of the substratum differing from zone soils by absence of the restored fertile layer on non-reclamate sites, inaccessibility of elements of a food, and, as consequence, influence of the factor of a competition from the party weeding groupings in which environment the insignificant number of virgin kinds survives.

• Broken ecosystem openness high degree or invasive attacks of weed annuals.

• Uncertainty of structure of a genofund of pioneer, quasi natural, mature vegetative communities. They develop on the basis of accident. Owing to what the forecast of structure, structure, and production process of future cenosis is impossible.

• Determinancy of intermediate stages of secondary regenerative vegetational fluctuation, each of which cannot be excluded without intervention of the person and demands for the change of decade

In this situation serious world community institutes concern the in the field of preservation of a biological variety of flora and struggle against desertification is quite clear. The science is not only ascertained degradation processes, but also did attempt to develop a way of acceleration of regenerative process to vegetation. Curtis's works are among them in the USA in the thirties the XX-th centuries. Prairie fragments at Viskonsinsky university by change of blocks of virgin turf have been recreated. The most ancient method of change of turf used in botanical gardens of many regions of Russia. In particular, wide experience on re-introduction plants and fragments steppe phytocenosis has the Stavropol botanical garden. Works on formation of an exposition of meadow steppes by a turf method have been begun in 1961, have passed test by time and almost 40 years serve as the sample of works of a similar sort in our country [1, с.158].

Examples of creation of an exposition of steppes in the Stavropol botanical garden:

• A reconstruction of forb meadow cereal steppe by means of turf change

Seral process had 3 expressed stages in which communities dominated Festuca valesiaca, F.rupicola, Stipa pennata (1 year), Elytrigia repens, Festuca valesiaca, F.rupicola, Poa angustifolia (10 year) and Medicago romanica, Salvia tesquicola. At an exit on development "plateau" фитоценоза stabilisation of the structure typical for meadow steppes of Stavropol Territory has started to occur.

• A reconstruction of wormwood cereal steppe by means of turf change.

After turf disembarkation in formed community there were following changes. On 1st year dominated Agropyron desertorum, Elytrigia repens, Festuca valesiaca, F.rupicola. On 8th year rк greensward to cereals it is added Achillea nobilis. And 15 years later among dominants appear Trifolium pretense, Lotus caucasicus, and Arrhenatherum elatius.

• Restoration of meadow motley grass cereal steppe with the help turfs.

The norm of use of turf in this case made 1 m² on restoration 30 m². At the first stages domination of weeds (Ambrosia artemisiifolia, Phleum phleoides) was marked. The share of plants of natural steppes on experimental platforms in the first years made about 60 %. Further vegetational fluctuation went in a direction of formation of community of meadow steppe.

• Site restoration feather-grass, fescue steppes the area 300 m² a method of continuous crops of seeds Festuca valesiaca, F.rupicola during autumn time, undersow and 11 more steppe kinds.

Having sat down seeds feather grass and other plants it was spent for the second and third years - to a young cereal herbage. The community rather xerophytic shape has gradually turned in xeromesophytic a variant of meadow steppe. Protection of a site promoted formation of a vegetative cover –will becomeby 14 years a specific variety here has made 82 kinds on 100 m². Festuca valesiaca has kept the prepotent abilities. After 20 years, Eringia intermedia and Achillea nobilis were added as dominants.

The method of turf didn’t go further scientific, experiences, because of its essential labour input, expensiveness of works, lack of ecological compatibility. The science checked up and proves in practice the vegetation restoration acceleration possibility by very fast rates. The lost natural vegetation at haymakings and pastures, and as a whole in the broken territories is possible to restore by the method of agro steppes developed by D.S.Dzybovym in 1974 [1, p. 215].

The agro steppes method features. Agro steppe method is a new direction in the nature protection strategy, based on efforts of the person on preservation of rare and vanishing species and populations of plants of wild-growing flora and vegetation. The given direction falls outside the limits remained zone ecosystem in the course of ecological restoration on unfit low productive or "waste" lands. The direction differs from passively functioning reserves by the active form of reproduction of flora as a part of difficult phytocenosis and development in short terms of territories requiring restoration. Agro steppes method field-of-use:

• Reproduction of biological variety

• Protection of rare plants

• Combined feeding agrocenosis

• Protection of rare plants

• Quasi natural hyings and pastures

• Control of desertification Soil protected step zones

• Soil protected step zones

The grassy formations restoration process management purpose:

1. Ecological restoration of the broken "waste" lands by zone vegetation fragments return on its former place. The decision of problems of feeds production - reception ecologically pure and cheapest of all known kinds of a forage (pasturable) or hay.

2. Reliable protection of soil against wind and water erosion

3. The general improvement of an agro landscape in which sites of the restored natural vegetation should play a role of a stabilising frame.

4. Preservation and reproduction of a specific variety of natural vegetation, including valuable fodder, technical, rare and vanishing species of plants.

5. Revival of many representatives of fauna accompanying steppe.

Agro steppes method scientific bases:

• Restored territories ecological niches axes optimisation by following receptions: ploughing of soil with a layer turn on depth from 16 to 20 sm, disking, cultivation, harrowing. The ecological niches axes optimisation end result - utter annihilation вегетирующих and blossoming individuals ruderal and field’s weeds, potential competitors for vital resources in recreated young steppe.

• Reception of "portrait" model of initial vegetative communities. The given method of accelerates formation of multispecific analogue zone phytocenosis in ten times.

Productive process management

Materials of long-term researches on restoration pratal steppe cenosis that took place in the Stavropol botanical garden testify that the general tendency of dynamics of development recreated cenosis in the age period from 2 to 9 years is the increase of indicators of a projective, true covering and biological efficiency of young community [1, p. 152 ]. Deviations of the given signs in this or that party, as consequence of annual fluctuations take place. Dynamics of bio efficiency of agro steppe in an age range from two till ten years, in comparison with its standard in a zone of meadow steppe, testifies: Productivity of the restored community stably exceeded similar data of the standard; The average agro steppe biomass index for all years of the account 1,6 times higher, than in natural ecosystem, that is obviously connected with presence of potential resource base of accumulation of vegetative weight price population.

The earth, subject to the first restoration. In all regions there is a big variety of types of land which are subject to restoration of durable grassy vegetation (steppe or meadow) [2, p. 21-22 ; 3, p. 162 4, p. 63.]:

• Old arable, low productive;

• For the second time salted as a result of an unlimited irrigation;

• Droves and brought down pastures which have lost zone vegetation;

• Unhealthy littered, including quarantine kinds of plants (school court yard, waste grounds and etc.);

• Open-cast mines, a fate of boreholes, storehouse of dead rock, ashes, a dump, other congestions of production wastes after earthing of their surfaces;

• Surface a fate the arable lands which are taken away under soil-protective steppe strips (analogues of forest belts);

• Slopes and right-of-ways along main automobile and railways, petro- and gas pipelines, cable lines and other communications;

• Strenuously broken ravine and braced a network and landslide exposure processes soil;

• Stadiums, camp sites, tracks, constant summer camp, a place of constant rest and other recreational zones;

• Under forest belts - for struggle against field weeds and attraction of insects pollinators;

• Seliteb territories - of a farm, manor;

• The thrown villages, field camps.

These and other types of the broken territories mostly are "waste", useless and even harmful to associates. The method of agrosteppes, thereupon, is intended for restoration on them to steppe vegetation.

Literature:

1. Dzibov D.S. Aagrosteppe: D.S.Dzybov's monography/. - Stavropol: ARGUS, 2010. – 256p.

2. Kuksova M.A. Ecological and physiological characteristics Festuca valesiaca Gaudin. of the dominant of the steppe communities// Thesis of Candidate of biological Sciences, Stavropol, 1999. – 25p.

3. Kuksova M. A. The first stages secondary regenerative vegitational fluctuation at deep infringements of a soil cover in Republic Kalmykia //Problems of preservation and rational use of biodiversity Prikaspiya and adjacent regions: Materials of the international scientific conference. Release 2. - Elista: Publishing house KGU, 2005. – 196 p.

4. Kuksova M. A. Processes of restoration of vegetation on technogenic disturbance territories// Role of especially protected natural territories in preservation of a biological variety: Materials of the international scientifically-practical conference, Rostov on Don: Publishing house Growth. 2006. - 424p.