Photo diary of the Expeditions to the old cemeteries of southern Ukraine (2023-2024)

We organized expeditions to the old cemeteries located within the Right-Bank of the Dnipro Grass Steppe District in the Northern Black Sea Region in 2023-2024.The study of old cemeteries frequently could concentrate on historical heritage, whereas the study of biodiversity is a new phenomenon in our country.Local residents have traditionally been perplexed by our interest in studying old cemeteries, as they are unaware of the historical, artistic, or biodiversity conservation significance of these sites.It is not uncommon for people to be surprised by the number of plant species that can be found in cemeteries.When we posed the hypothetical question of the number of species that might be found in a cemetery, the response was that between 50 and 60 species could be expected.Upon sharing the actual number of plant species present, they were astonished.For example, the species richness of the old cemetery in the village of Skobelovo is 171, including 11 protected species.In any case, we have never encountered any negative atti-tudes towards us.This may be taken to indicate that these sites are respected when we explain that we study old cemeteries as refugia for steppe flora in Ukraine.This investigation has been supported by the IAVS Special grant to support the research of Ukrainian members "Plant diversity and species-area relationships modelling of steppe enclaves within of Northern Prychornomoria Region (Northern Black Sea Region) of Southern Ukraine".