Apophyte and adventives woody species in granite quarry devastated land at Kryvyi Rih district

Abstract

In these latter days, the cessation of the negative human impact on the environment and the return of transformed areas to the sphere of practical use has become an urgent task. The Kryvyi Rih district (Central Ukraine) a natural landscapes anthropogenic transformation a significant level and a technogenic ecotopes subsequent formation are characterized. In these areas, the soil and vegetation are completely destroyed, and the hydrological regime is also. Such technological areas, including the open cast mines, tailings, waste piles, potholes, and industrial sites are called the devastated lands. The woody species spontaneous generation on devastated land establishing a pattern and their main synanthropic characteristics detection are major premises for phyto-amelioration of the environment in throughout the world industrial areas and in Ukraine.

Aim of the article were (i) in terms of the ecosystem approach the trees and shrubs species composition in spontaneous plant covers from granite quarry devastated land at Kryvyi Rih district to analyzed; (ii) the apophyte and adventive fractions structure of their species to consider.

The materials were the results of the authors' own field research carried out in the period 2017-2018. The research area is located in central-south of Ukraine and included three granite quarries devastated lands in Kryvyi Rih district: Kolomoisky Granite Quarry, Zhovtnevy Granite Quarry and Karachunivsky Granite Quarry. This research area has a considerable length: the northern – 48°3'29"N  33°31'36"E (Kolomoisky Granite Quarry), the central – 47°59'17"N  33°27'46"E (Zhovtnevy Granite Quarry) and the southern – 47°53'57"N  33°16'49"E (Karachunivsky Granite Quarry). For our study, we have used our own collected data from these devastated lands. The collected woody and shrubs specimens were identified and named based on the classification and terminology applied to various Flora, but in first according to S. K. Cherepanov (1995). The distribution of plant species was analyzed by ecological spectra according to V. V. Protopopova et all (2014).

Generalization of the results of own research showed that taxonomic composition of trees and shrubs that spontaneously populated the devastated lands of the Kryvyi Rih Granite Quarry contains 34 species from 25 genera, 15 families and Magnoliophyta Division. The largest number of tree and shrub species of spontaneous vegetation from Granite Quarry technogenesis ecotopes belonged to the families Rosaceae (8 species from 8 genera), Oleaceae (8 species from 3 genera), Salicaceae (5 species from 1 genera), Aсеrасеае (5 species from 1 genus) and Ulmaceae (3 species from 1 genus). Other families had a less abundant taxonomic composition, and 39% of them were mono-species.

In this paper, the biogeographically analysis of the flora was carried out taking into account the differences between autochthonous (native) and allochthonous (alien) plant species. Only the species of trees and shrubs common in the Dnepropetrovsk oblast were considered autochthonous for the Kryvyi Rih region. The calculations carried out by us have been proved, allochthonous plants (55, 88 %) prevailing compared to autochthonous species of trees and shrubs (44.12 %) on Kryvyi Rih Granite Quarries.

According to the concepts of phytoecology, all plant species of the technogenesis ecotopes are synanthropic and capable of gaining an advantage from the consequences of anthropogenic changes in the natural environment. In our study, the species of trees and shrubs spontaneously spread on the devastated lands of Kryvorizhzhya were characterized as apophytic (native) and anthropophytic (adventive) fractions of the synanthropic flora.

It is customary to consider that apophytes are the autochthonous plant species whose populations were wholly or partially adapted to the anthropogenic ecotopes. By the naturalization degree of the apophytes, the evapophytes (prefer the anthropogenic ecotopes), hemiapophytes (common both in natural and anthropogenic ecotopes) and eventapophytes (mainly distributed in natural ecotopes and rarely grow in anthropogenic ecotopes) were identified.

In our work, hemiapophytes significantly prevailed among the apophytic species of trees and shrubs spontaneously growing on the devastated lands at Kryvyi Rih Granite Quarries, from 64 % to 94 % of the total number. The second position was taken by the eventapophytes, from 6 % to 31 % of the total number. Only 54% of the amount was an evapophyte.

The anthropophytic (adventive) species of trees and shrubs on the devastated lands at Kryvyi Rih Granite Quarries were characterized and differentiated in terms of indicators of the invasion time, the way of their penetration and the degree of naturalization in the new habitat. The results showed a significant prevalence of neophytes (from 69 % to 80 % of the total number). The group of the euneophytes contained from 5 % to 13 % of the total plant species numbers. As for the method of penetration, the ergasophytes prevailed among the anthropophytic tree and shrub species, amounting from 73 % to 88 % of the total number. Xenophytes consisted from 17 % to 27 % of the amount. The akolyutophytes had the smallest number – only 0-2,5 % of the amount. The analysis of the naturalization degree showed that the agriophytes constituted the majority among the anthropophytic species of trees and shrubs from 41 % to 73 % of total amount. The ergasiophytes numbered from 38 % to 56 % of the amount. The colonophytes were represented only 2.38-2.50% of the total number).

It was established that on the devastated lands at Kryvyi Rih Granite Quarries 34 trees and shrubs species form 25 genus, 15 families and Magnoliophyta Division grow naturally. It is revealed that hemiapophytes are the basis of the apophytic fraction among these species. In the apophytic fraction of woody species prevail: the neophytes (by a time of migration), the ergaziophytes (by a way of migration), the epiphytes and ergaziophytes (by a degree of naturalization).

Among the species that naturally grow on these devastating lands, there are invasively active and dangerous trees and shrubs for the region’s natural ecosystems: Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.), Boxelder (Acer negundo L.), Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia L.) and Tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima (Mill.)).