Abstract
The aim of the research was to establish the productivity of pasture ecosystems on the sandy lands of the Don basin. The objects of research are herbaceous plant communities on the sands of the Ilovlinsky massif of the Volgograd region. The analysis of the species diversity of the vegetation cover, its variability in space was carried out by an inventory of 5 test plots measuring 10 x 10 m. Generally accepted methods of statistical analysis, graphical interpretation and scientific generalization were used to process, analyze and present the results. In all the surveyed sites, there is a low proportion of Fabaceae family species (0-8 %), a large proportion of the mixed grass group (58-75 %) and the weed species of plants (26-50 %) species. The feed mass consumed on average in the plots is 11-45 g / m2. A direct relationship was revealed between the influence of the percentage of Poaceae and Cyperaceae (Carex) species in the phytocenosis on medium-grown sands on the increase in the yield of sandy pastures (g / m2) in the late autumn period (r = 0.99). The condition of the soil and vegetation cover on forage lands is a consequence of overgrazing.