Halophytic Vegetation in the Pannonian Basin: Origin, Syntaxonomy, Threat, and Conservation

Ventenata dubia (Leers) Coss. (Poaceae) in Slovakia: Distribution, habitat affinities and threats

“…However, a similar result was reported for V. dubia in Hungary, where the species was reported from several localities in the Hortobágy region (SE Hungary) (Lukács et al 2017;Deák et al 2019). The Hortobágy region is the largest area containing inland saline vegetation in Central Europe (Molnár & Borhidi 2003;Eliáš et al 2021). The grass cannot be considered a true halophyte, but it does appear to be a salt-tolerant plant which occurs mainly in non-saline soils.…”

Central European forest–steppe: An ecosystem shaped by climate, topography and disturbances

“…favour the development of salt steppe, which is particularly well developed in the eastern part of the Great Hungarian Plain and partly on its western edge (Eliáš Jr et al, 2020). The high salinity contributes to suppressing succession and is considered an important driver of the landscape openness in the Carpathian Basin (Sümegi et al, 2012).…”

“…In the driest parts of Central Europe, high summer evapotranspiration causes the capillary rise of alkaline ions into the upper soil layers, leading to the formation of saline soils. Some types of such soils (‘solonetz’) favour the development of salt steppe, which is particularly well developed in the eastern part of the Great Hungarian Plain and partly on its western edge (Eliáš Jr et al, 2020). The high salinity contributes to suppressing succession and is considered an important driver of the landscape openness in the Carpathian Basin (Sümegi et al, 2012).…”

“…However, the driest Central European regions host an exceptional diversity of species that require open landscape, including continental species that reach their westernmost distribution limit in this area (Horsák et al, 2015; Kaplan, 2012; Niklfeld, 1964). Such species are mostly restricted to steppe patches (Figure 1), usually in hilly landscapes (Illyés, 2007), on sandy (Erdős et al, 2014) or saline soils (Eliáš Jr et al, 2020; Sümegi et al, 2012) or on rock outcrops (Niklfeld, 1964). Central European steppe significantly contributes to regional biodiversity (Fekete et al, 2010; Habel et al, 2013; Le Roux et al, 2018; Sádlo et al, 2007).…”