RESULTS OF LONG-TERM MONITORING IN MEADOW COMMUNITIES OF THE KATUNSKIY NATURE RESERVE (ALTAI REPUBLIC, RUSSIA)
Igor A. Artemov1,2
1Central Siberian Botanical Garden, SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia
2Katunskiy State Nature Biosphere Reserve, Ust’Koksa, Russia
Keywords: meadow plant communities, restoration, large-leaved plant species, meadow plant species, Katunskiy Reserve
Abstract
Ecological monitoring is a regular long-term observation of various environmental parameters. It is one of the tasks of Russian state nature reserves, fixed in legislation. The southern part of the Katunskiy Reserve until its establishment in 1991 was subjected to cattle grazing. The purpose of this research was to estimate the restoration of meadow plant communities in the Reserve after its establishment. Observations of the floristic composition and species cover in the meadow communities of the Katunskiy Reserve were carried out on three Permanent Test Plots (PTP) measuring 10 10 m. Relevés with lists of species and species cover in percentage were made in each PTP in 1999, 2003, 2008, 2017/2018 and 2022. In order to estimate the statistical significance of the species cover changes, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test for paired samples (wilcox.test function in R) was used. Changes of the species composition and, for some species, fluctuations, decrease or increase of the cover were registered in PTPs during the observation period. For two PTPs, the estimation of these changes by Wilcoxon test gave statistical significance above the threshold limit (p-value > 0.05), what does not allow us to admit statistically significant changes. At the third PTP, statistically significant changes in species cover were registered in 2018 and 2022, compared to 1999 (p-value < 0.05). Apparently, this is a result of the restoration of the meadow community, which has been most disturbed by grazing before the reserve establishment. At this PTP, large-leaved species, which were not registered at the first year of observation, were found in subsequent years: Cirsium helenioides, Angelica sylvestris, Rumex aquaticus; as well as other common meadow species: Ranunculus grandifolius, Trollius asiaticus, Polemonium caeruleum, Viola disjuncta. Some species, common for disturbed habitats disappeared from the PTP: Trifolium repens, Carum carvi, Cirsium setosum, what also should be considered as a fact confirming the restoration of the vegetation cover.
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