Classification of dry grasslands of the Berda River Valley (Ukraine).

The river Berda is located in southern Ukraine, within the steppe zone. This territory stands as a biologically diverse hotspot amidst the agricultural landscapes, where the entirety of the river's watershed has been subjected to plowing, while within the confines of the valley, remnants of natural vegetation have persisted. We collected 60 vegetation plots of dry grassland vegetation from the Berda River Valley and some of its tributaries recording all vascular plant species together with some structural and environmental parameters. In order to classify the relevés, we performed a Distance-Ranked Sorting Assembling (DRSA) analysis. It resulted in five clusters, different in terms of their floristic composition, physiognomy and environmental parameters. They also corresponded to the commonly used vegetation typology in Ukraine: granite rocky steppe (cluster 1), forb-bunchgrass steppe (clusters 2 and 4), bunchgrass steppe (cluster 3) and shrub-steppe (cluster 5). We suggest to interpret them within two classes: granite rocky steppes belonging to the class Sedo-Scleranthetea, and all other clusters to the Festuco-Brometea vegetation class. All five clusters, obtained as a result of the analysis, we interpret as association-level syntaxonomical units, as they show strong ecological and physiognomic differentiation. Granite rocky steppes of the Berda River Valley belong to the association Ephedro distachyae-Stipetum graniticolae, and to the alliance Poo bulbosae-Stipion graniticolae. The other associations we assigned to the alliance Stipo lessingianae-Salvion nutantis, which comprises the zonal steppe vegetation of the steppe zone in Eastern Europe. We included forb-bunchgrass steppes on the slopes of the valley into the association Stipo lessingianae-Salvietum nutantis and forb-bunchgrass steppes dominated by Stipa capillata on the flat areas into the Eryngium campestre-Stipa capillata community. Bunchgrass steppes, which mostly occur in the southern part of the river valley, were classified within the association Ephedro distachyae-Stipetum capillatae. Shrub-steppe communities were assigned to the association Vinco herbaceae-Caraganetum fruticis. In total, we propose a classification scheme of the steppe vegetation of the Berda River Valley which consists of five associations, belonging to two alliances, two orders and two classes. Considering the large-scale war taking place in the study area since 2022, this survey might be used as a documentation of the original state of steppe communities and as a baseline for their restoration after the military activities finish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]