Vegetation of saline habitats of Serbia with an assessment of the sustainable use and conservation

Iako su zaslanjena staništa pre svega vezana za aridne i semi-aridne oblasti, danas se zapaţaju sve veše površine zemljišta koje su pod uticajem soli, kako iz razloga sve vešeg uticaja klimatskih promena, tako i drugih antropogenih aktivnosti koje doprinose procesu sekundarne salinizacije. Kontinentalne slatine, kao tip intrazonalnih, veoma retkih i vrednih ekosistema, predstavljaju pravi izazov u prouţavanju sa ekološkog, biološkog, floristiţkog, fitocenološkog i primenljivog aspekta. Cilj ovog istraţivanja je utvrŤivanje sintaksonomske karakterizacije halofitskih biljnih zajednica, kao i floristiţke i vegetacijske raznovrsnosti slanih staništa sa ekološkom analizom primenom ekoloških indeksa flore, analizom ţivotnih formi i flornih elemenata. Posebnu vrednost prouţavanju slatina daje formiranje jedinstvene baze svih fitocenoloških snimaka, prostornih podataka iz razliţitih izvora o posebno znaţajnim halofitskim vrstama i halofitskim zajednicama, kao što su one retke, ugroţene i endemiţne, kao i na soli najotpornije „euhalofitske“ bilјke i bilјne zajednice. Metodama numeriţke klaster analize omogušeno je da se izvrši procena statusa i revizija sintaksona tipiţnih halofitskih klasa Therosalicornietea i Festuco-Puccinellietea, kao i klase Molinio-Arrhenatheretea na slabije zaslanjenim zemljištima. Set podataka koji je analiziran sadrţi ukupno 1638 fitocenoloških snimaka klasa Therosalicornietea, Festuco-Puccinellietea i Molinio-Arrhenatheretea. TakoŤe, znaţajan prilog prouţavanju halofitske vegetacije je i uvrššivanje halofitskih zajednica sa slatina na jugu Srbije u sistem klasifikacije. Analizom celokupne baze fitocenoloških snimaka dobijeno je 12 klastera, ekološki logiţno podeljenih na klase Therosalicornietea, Festuco-Puccinellietea i Molinio-Arrhenatheretea. Zatim su analizirane posebno klase Therosalicornietea i Festuco-Puccinellietea, gde je dobijeno 35 klastera do nivoa zajednica. Klaster analiza je pokazala da su više sintaksonomske kategorije nisu promenile u odnosu na tradicionalnu klasifikaciju, dok postoje odreŤene izmene na niţim sintaksonomskim kategorijama...Saline habitats are primarily related to arid and semi-arid areas, but today it is noted an increasing percentage of salt affected soils in the world, caused by impact of climate change on the one hand and anthropogenic activities contributing to the secondary salinization process on the other hand. Inland saline soils, as a type of intrazonal and very rare ecosystems, represent a real challenge in research from an ecological, biological, floristic, phytocoenological and applicative aspects. The aim of this research is to determine the syntaxonomic characterization of halophytic plant communities, as well as floral and vegetational diversity of saline habitats with ecological analysis using indicator values, analysis of life forms and floral elements. The special value of studying salines gives unique database of all phytocoenological releves, spatial data from various sources on particularly important halophytic species and halophytic communities, such as rare, endangered and endemic, as well as the most resistant plants on salt "euhalophyte" and plant communities. The methods of the numerical cluster analysis enabled the assessment of the status and revisions of syntaxons of typical halophytic classes of Therosalicornietea and Festuco-Puccinellietea, as well as the Molinio-Arrhenatherete class on slighty salinized soils. The analyzed data set contains 1638 phytocenological releves of the classes Therosalicornietea, Festuco-Puccinellietea and Molinio-Arrhenatheretea. Also, a significant contribution to the study of halophytic vegetation is also the classification of halophytic communities from southern Serbia. By analyzing the whole phytocoenological database it is made 12 clusters, logically divided into the classes Therosalicornietea, Festuco-Puccinellietea and Molinio-Arrhenatheretea. Then, the classes of Therosalicornietea and Festuco-Puccinellietea were analyzed separetly, where 35 clusters were obtained up to the level of communities. Cluster analysis has shown that higher syntaxonomic categories have not changed much compared to traditional classification..