Editorial to the 17 th EDGG Special Feature in Tuexenia

Members of the Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG) and its predecessor organizations have been publishing grassland Special Features in Tuexenia since 2005. This year's Special Feature includes five articles highlighting different aspects of grassland research: Riedel et al. (2024) compared cover- and biomass-based methods for recording the abundance of plant species in permanent plots, with regard to the comparability of re-surveys in grasslands. Schindler et al. (2024) investigated the effects of sprinkler irrigation on the diversity, species composition and site conditions of grasslands in inner- alpine dry valleys such as the Valais (Switzerland). Marcenó et al. (2024) present a syntaxonomic revi- sion of the dry grassland alliances Plantaginion cupanii, Cerastio-Astragalion nebrodensis and Armerion nebrodensis of northern Sicily, describing the two new associations Androsaco breistrofferi- Potentilletum calabrae and Helianthemo tomentosi-Festucetum crassifoliae. Willner et al. (2024) pre- sent a syntaxonomic revision of the dry grassland orders Festucetalia valesiacae, Stipo-Festucetalia pallentis and Brachypodietalia of the Eastern Alps. Borovyk et al. (2024) provide an overview of records of plant species richness in Ukrainian steppes. The study emphasizes the importance of steppes as global biodiversity hotspots and draws attention to their conservation in the context of land-use changes and the consequences of the war in Ukraine.