Vegetation and biotopes of the regional botanical natural monument «Kashtak Pine Forest» (Sosnovskiy District of Chelyabinsk Oblast)

The vegetation and biotopes of the regional botanical natural monument «Kashtak Pine Forest» have been characterized in this paper. By multivariate statistics and a dominant approach 13 pine and birch-pine plant associations have been identified. But in most cases the associations are detected by dominance or co-dominance of Fragaria vesca L. in the herbage in spite of high biodiversity. The difference of associations is identified by shrub species dominance mainly. The biotopes of the regional botanical natural monument «Kashtak Pine Forest» are not characterized by principal abiotic factors of high variation while the differences are determined by coenotic factors. The classification of Kashtak Pine Forest biotopes is identified by soil acidity and soil nitrogen regimes in the first place. For «Kashtak Pine Forest» three ordination axes have been detected: 1) boreal pine forests of Boreal zone, 2) temperate pine and birch-pine forests of Temperate Forest and Forest-Steppe zones and 3) axe of soil moistening and cryoregime. Three coenotic series have also been detected: hydrosere of Fragaria vesca associations and two trophoseries of boreal pine forests of Boreal zone. These series form an integrated biotopical sere and succession of South-Urals pine forests from temperate forest-steppe pine forests to boreal pine forests of Boreal zone.