Analysis of the floristic composition of steppe communities of the Caucasian Mineral Waters Region

A comprehensive analysis of the species composition of the steppe communities of the laccolith mountains of the Caucasus Mineral Waters region (CMW), as well as of Jinal and Borgustan ridges in the vicinity of Kislovodsk was carried out. The research area is located in the Fore-Caucasus, in the south of the Stavropol Territory, and is characterized by a high diversity of steppe-type vegetation communities. The list of the flora of the CMW steppes is based on 294 relevés of steppe vegetation, and comprises 633 vascular plant species belonging to 278 genera and 66 families, which is 28.7% of the flora of the Upper Kuma floristic region. The composition and proportions of the family and generic spectra of the studied communities characterize their floristic composition as predominantly boreal, with several features characteristic of Mediterranean floras. In the composition of the steppe communities of the study area, the leading role belongs to a group of species of boreal range types with the dominance of the Caucasian geographic element. According to the ecological-cenogenetic spectrum, the species composition of the communities of the studied steppes can be characterized as meadow-steppe, with equally represented steppe and meadow components of flora. The main dominants of the steppe communities of the CMW are cespitose grasses, with a large share of rhizomatous polycarpic herbs and tap-rooted polycarpics and monocarpics in the floristic composition. In the studied communities, six endemics of the North Caucasus and three endemics of the Fore-Caucasus were recorded. The results of the complex analysis emphasize the heterogeneity and mountain-steppe nature of the floristic composition of the studied vegetation, caused by its geographical location, a combination of a complex set of conditions (relief, parent rocks, soils, etc.), florogenesis and the history of anthropogenic impact.