The dynamics of the central russian meadow steppes and the problem of their preservation

Abstract

The structure and dynamics of vegetation of the zonal central Russian meadow steppes have been studied with the example of the Privolzhskaya Forest–Steppe State Nature Reserve. Under the influence of a completely protected mode, the vegetation of the studied meadow steppes on the watershed surfaces was subjected to varying degrees and mesophytization and sylvatization. It was noted that these processes occur more intensively in the meadow steppe landscapes of secondary moraine plains (Poperechenskaya steppe and Ostrovtsovskaya forest–steppe) than in the meadow steppes of erosion-denudation plains (Kuncherovskaya forest–steppe).