Ecological Assessment of the Meadow Phytocoenoses in the Southern Part of Sakhalin

Abstract

Sakhalin meadow communities are an important component of the vegetation of the Far East. The use of indicator values is a promising way to understand the ecology of meadow vegetation. This study includes 113 meadow communities relevés in the southern part of Sakhalin. A resemblance matrix of relevés has been calculated using the quantitative Bray–Curtis index for cluster analysis with the subsequent classification of meadow communities. For the first time, an ecological assessment of meadow vegetation in the southern part of Sakhalin Island has been carried out using the scales of I.A. Tsatsenkin and D.N. Tsyganov. The following meadow communities have been identified: natural and artificial inland Phalaroides arundinacea communities, artificial inland forb-grass communities, natural coastal forb–grass communities, natural floodplain–coastal tall grass communities, natural coastal Leymus mollis communities, natural inland Pteridium aquilinum communities, and natural inland Artemisia communities. Meadow communities of the southern Sakhalin are classified as moderately humid with the dominance of eumesophytes and xeromesophytes. Soils, even on the sea coasts, are nonsaline; quite rich in nutrients; and, at the same time, poor or sufficiently supplied with nitrogen. According to the calculations, soils under the meadows are acidic and slightly acidic. The climate is subboreal, with a surplus of precipitation. Agricultural activities (managing meadows as pastures and hayfields) have almost no effect on the composition of the phytocoenoses; however, low indicators on the scale of pasture digression may reflect violations in haymaking terms. The specific feature of the Sakhalin meadow communities is that groups of meadows differing in location and species composition display very similar habitat conditions.