Review of plant communities of the class Polygono arenastri–Poëtea annuae in the Russian Federation

Abstract

The article provides an overview of plant communities of the Polygono arenastri–Poëtea annuae class in the Russian Federation. The class includes annual anthropogenic vegetation of trampled habitats of localities and their environs. The vegetation of the Polygono arenastri–Poëtea annuae class is cosmopolitan and widespread in Eurasia, North and South America, and Africa. On the territory of the Russian Federation, the class is distinguished by a rather large syntaxonomic diversity. Based on the cluster analysis of 643 complete geobotanical releves from different geographically distant parts of the Russian Federation, 6 associations (Polygonetum arenastri, Sclerochloo durae–Polygonetum arenastri, Poo annuae–Coronopodetum squamati, Poëtum annuae, Matricario discoideae–Polygonetum arenastri, Rumici acetosellae–Spergularietum rubrae), 10 subassociations and 8 variants belonging to the 1st order and 2 unions of the class were identified. Of these, 3 associations (Sclerochloo durae–Polygonetum arenastri, Poo annuae–Coronopodetum squamati and Rumici acetosellae–Spergularietum rubrae) were given from literary sources (prodrome of syntaxa) without analyzing specific releves. Diagnostic species of higher units for the Russian Federation were also redesigned. The central association of the class is Polygonetum arenastri. Its area covers the entire territory of the country. The DCA ordination of communities revealed that the main factors influencing the differentiation of communities are the degree of humidification, which is largely related to the climatic characteristics of the regions, including the degree of local humidification in specific habitats, as well as the richness of soils. The invasion of alien plant species, which become dominant and sodominant in the individual syntaxa, also plays an important role. Similar species: Cuscuta campestris and Hordeum jubatum.