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The origin of meadows: a result of anthropogenic activity or a natural type of vegetation? The origin of meadows is one of the questions in botany on which scientists have not yet reached a common decision. It is likely for this reason that there is still no answer to the question of whether meadows are a zonal type of vegetation. There are two opinions regarding the origin of meadows:

Meadows have only a secondary origin, do not form stable phytocenoses, and are not competitive, existing solely due to human activities such as mowing and grazing. If mowing and grazing cease, meadows will inevitably be overgrown first by shrubs, and then by forest (without exception, whether they are floodplain or dryland meadows). Meadows are not a zonal type of vegetation, as their existence is artificially maintained. Not all meadows are of secondary origin; for example, floodplain (intrazonal) or alpine (zonal) meadows have a primary origin. Mainland dryland (in elevated areas) and lowland (in lowlands and lower parts of slopes [3], where moisture is provided not only by atmospheric but also by soil water) meadows have a secondary origin. Natural meadows are a zonal and intrazonal type of vegetation.

O. P. Shennikov defined meadows clearly as a biogeocenosis type in which vegetation is represented by associations of perennial herbaceous mesophytes. The Brockhaus–Efron dictionary also distinguishes natural meadows from artificial ones and notes that natural meadows can preserve their state for centuries. [IMG_1] Fig. 1. Definition of meadow in the Brockhaus–Efron dictionary (1896).

Climatic Edaphic Successional (successions not caused by human intervention) Pyrogenic Zoogenic

At the same time, it can be argued that successional, zoogenic, and pyrogenic meadows are not primary, as forests once grew in their place, which were the primary type of vegetation for a given territory. Therefore, not everything is straightforward here either. However, an argument of some botanists in favor of the primary origin of meadows is the soil. If the soils in meadows are, for example, gray forest soils, then these are secondary meadows; if the soils are chernozem or chernozem-meadow, then the meadows are primary. It is precisely by the soil profile that one can determine whether they are true meadows, or degraded steppes, or steppe-like meadows. The origin of floodplain meadows is also a rather complex and unresolved issue to this day, as they are widespread in all zones (in Ukraine, mostly in Polissia and Forest-Steppe). There is an opinion that the absence of forests in floodplains can be explained by ice drift, which destroys young tree growth, or by prolonged spring waterlogging. The absence of forests is also explained by the high soil salinity in river floodplains. It has been established that salinity changes from south to north: in the south, salinity is higher, and alluvial processes are small, so partial steppe vegetation is characteristic of such floodplains; in the north, salinity decreases, and steppe species completely disappear. In Ukraine, steppe meadows in river floodplains are very rare, many are found in the floodplain of the Siverskyi Donets River [2]. The flora of the alpine meadows of the Ukrainian Carpathians is relatively young, as it depends on the period of mountain formation. The prerequisite for the formation of alpine meadows is a change in the conditions of vegetation cover development, which was accompanied by an increase in already existing altitudes. Species for which the new living conditions were detrimental dropped out of the flora first. As a result, the flora of the highlands is significantly poorer, largely due to autochthonous florogenesis. Alpine meadows are rich in endemic species. The higher the altitude, the more endemics. High-mountain flora differs significantly from the floras of other high mountains if it developed and develops independently of them. If it is a single high-mountain range, or several not completely isolated from each other, then the genetic relationships between endemics will be clearly visible [4]. In 2005, an expedition of Kyiv botanists in the alpine zone of the Carpathians identified true alpine meadows [1]. Thus, the question of the origin of meadows, as well as their zonality, remains unresolved to this day. In my opinion, meadows are not only secondary but also primary, as they are competitive and can exist without human assistance. Alpine meadows are a primary and zonal type of vegetation, as they are not supported by mowing and grazing in any way, and also due to edaphic-climatic conditions, they cannot gradually be overgrown by forest. Floodplain meadows can be entirely attributed to primary ones, because not all floodplain meadows are maintained by mowing and grazing, and despite this, they exist independently, even if the reason for this is excessive salinity or stagnation of spring waters. Some floodplain meadows can be attributed to intrazonal ones, as the flora of floodplains, in some cases, is transitional between two zones. List of references:

Malynovskyi D. A. History of Botanical Research and Bibliography of the Flora and Vegetation of the Ukrainian Carpathians (until 1970). Lviv: DPM NANU, 2005. 202 pp. Ostapko V., Shevchuk O. Flora and Vegetation of Meadow Pastures of Southeastern Ukraine. Lviv: Visnyk Lviv. Un-tu., Issue 36, 2004, pp. 57-62. Rabotnov T. A. Dryland Meadow as a Biogeocenosis. M.: Nauka, 1978. 84 pp. Tolmachev A.I. Introduction to Plant Geography. L.: Izd. LGU, 1974. 244 pp. Shennikov A.P. Meadow Science. L.: Izd. LGU, 1941. 509 pp.

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