What we know about salty ecosystems of the Europe and their distribution, origin and history?

Salt marsh and meadow vegetation belong to very specific type of azonal ecosystem. There develop is made possible because of high concentrations of salts in the substrate. On the coast the development results from the contact of shore area with seawater. The existence of inland salt meadow is depending on specific climatic, geological and pedological conditions. Plants (halophytes) developed specific types of adaptation to resist high level of salinity and other extreme conditions of their habitat. During evolution occurred this type of adaptation in several phylogenetic lineages independently. Structure and physiognomy of salt marsh and meadow vegetation depend on the degree of salinity of the substrate and we can distinguish several zones on this gradient. Climatic conditions during the pleniglacial were very favourable for the development of halophyte vegetation. The oldest salt marshes, which played role of the refuge, are located on the coast, but also in the inland of Central Asia. This kind of vegetation reaches also south part of Central and Eastern Europe. After glaciation and the arrival of the forest, big part of this vegetation disappeared. Some inland areas have been maintained thanks to a man, which has used them since Neolithic times as pastures. With the abolition of grazing,..