Shrub and dwarf shrub communities of Sangilen Plateau

Abstract

The paper presents a detailed ecological and caenotic characteristic of dwarf shrub and shrub communities growing in the highmountain belt of the Sangilen Plateau. The communities investigated were referred to the class of Loiseleurio-Vaccinietea Eggler 1952. The dwarf birch thickets with prevalence of Betula rotundifolia and the high incidence of Caragana jubata, Juniperus pseudosabina, J. sibirica, Pentaphylloides fruticosa, Salix glauca, Spiraea alpina were referred to the union of Carici tristis–Betulion rotundifoliae Zibzeev et al. 2018 of the order of Betuletalia rotundifoliae Mirkin at al. ex Chytrý Pešout et Anenkhonov 1993. Communities with dominant calciphilous shrubs and dwarf shrubs, such as Rhododendron adamsii, Caragana jubata, Salix berberifolia, S. reticulata, were referred to the union of Saxifrago oppositifoliae–Rhododendrion adamsii Zibzeev et al. 2018 of the order of Rhododendro-Vaccinietalia Br.-Bl. ex Daniels 1994.