Assessment of the conservation value of dry grassland habitats in the Inhulets River basin (Central Ukraine) based on vegetation and spider research

Abstract

Dry grassland ecosystems are highly fragmented in Ukraine and increasingly threatened from intensification of farming practices. Evaluation of the habitat conservation importance based on multitaxon studies allows for optimizing selection of priority sites. Botanical research of xerothermic habitats in the Kryvorizkyi Iron Ore Basin has been conducted since 2012, while spiders were investigated for the first time in 2017. In the four study sites, we recorded 265 vascular plant species (23 under protection) and 95 spider species (19 are rare). Both vegetation and spider communities of the site Zelena Gully are well preserved and rich in rare and threatened species (18 plant and 11 spider species), which confirms its value as a priority site of the Emerald Network. Chervona Gully and the Slate Rocks should be included in the network. Frequent fires and intensive grazing in Khrystoforova Gully affect the spider diversity, decreasing the number of specialist and rare species, while early flowering plants benefit from this disturbance. Nevertheless, its vegetation is poorer than in Zelena and Chervona gullies. Inclusion in the Emerald Network is critically important to the investigated sites, since expansion of mining activities is constantly threatening natural habitats in industrial regions.

Ecological, Agronomic and Anthropogenic Characterization of the Habitat 62C0* Ponto-Sarmatian Steppes in the North of Dobrogea (Romania)

“…Natural habitat of Community interest 62C0 * Ponto-Sarmatian steppes is very important at European level due to its high biodiversity (Anastasiu et al, 2008;2021;Ghendov et al, 2020;Polchaninova et al, 2021). The priority habitat type 62C0* Ponto-Sarmatic steppes is present in the South-Eastern part of Romania in the Steppic Region, but it is also present on the steep Southern exposed hill slopes of the Transylvanian Tableland (Oprea and Sârbu, 2009;Schneider-Binder, 2015).…”

Conservation policies and management in the Ukrainian Emerald Network have maintained reforestation rate despite the war

“…Developing adaptive agrienvironmental systems 15 and conservation practices 16 has helped to increase the ability of the Emerald Network signatories to maintain healthy agro-ecosystems while continuing to restore natural vegetation 17 and protect species population growth rates 18 . Many other examples of conservation success due to the Emerald Network exist, for example, the stabilization of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red-List species population dynamics in different countries such as Armenia 19 and Ukraine 20 .…”