Biology and ecology of the rare species Astragalus galactites Pall. in the South-Western Transbaikal

Astragalus galactites Pall. (milky-white astragalus) is a species listed in the Red Book of the Republic of Buryatia, has a category and status of 4 (DD), a species with an uncertain status, a representative of the Fabaceae family. A. galactites belongs to the mountain-steppe zone and has a point distribution. It belongs to the early spring flowering stem-rooted herbaceous polycarpacae, with polycyclic monopodially growing shoots. It’s a hemicryptophyte. A. galactites occupies a narrow ecological niche: steppe, sandy, rocky steppe slopes and saline coast of lakes. It prefers open spaces with good illumination, winds and fluctuations in temperature, to which it has perfectly adapted, and which are a selective filter for other species. It is confined to dry low grass-semi-shrub mountain petrophytic steppes, well adapted to the lack of moisture – sclerophite. Most of all it is found in saline habitats. It’s an optional halophyte. In the vegetation cover, the milky-white astragalus acts as an assektator. By the type of ecological-phytocenotic strategy, A. galactites belongs to ecotopic patients. As a rare species it needs protection. We propose to create protected areas, which is part of the biocenoses of the coenopopulation of the rare species, as an optimal measure for floristic diversity conservation.