The current state of the steppes of the Nikolsky district of the Penza region

The flora and vegetation of 5 tracts of the Nikolsky district of the Penza region have been studied, of which 2 are natural monuments: "Subbotinsky slopes" and "Lysaya Gora" and 3 are unprotected territories.: "Novoarapovsky steppes", "Akhmatovsky steppes" and "Korzhevsky Sholom". In the flora of the Nikolsky district of the Penza region, 76 species are classified as rare plants in need of protection, of which 6 species are included in the Red Book of the Russian Federation (Red ..., 2024 a): Cephalanthera rubra (L.) Rich., Cypripedium calceolus L., Fritillaria ruthenica Wikstr., Iris aphylla L., Neottianthe cucullata (L.) Schltr. [ Ponerorchis cucullata (L.) X.H. Jin, Schuit. et W.T. Jin], Stipa zalesskyi Wilensky ex Gross. and 76 species are included in the Red Book of the Penza Region (Red ..., 2024b). According to the results of research conducted in 2022, 25 plant associations were identified in the vegetation of the Nikolsky district of the Penza Region, of which 16 belong to steppes and 9 to meadows. Steppe vegetation consists approximately equally of petrophytic (36.0%) and meadow steppes (35.0%), but their phytocenoses occupy very different positions in the relief. Petrophytic steppes (36.0%) are distributed on different parts of steep slopes of river valleys or even outcrops, with mixed grass (26.5%) occupying mainly the lower parts of steep slopes, turf and slag (6.5%) developing on the middle parts of steep slopes of river valleys, and shrubby (3.0%) on the uppermost parts of steep slopes of river valleys. Meadow steppes (35.0%) develop along the more gentle slopes of river valleys, but under the conditions of the erosion process they can occupy other parts of the relief. Of the meadow vegetation (29.0%), settled meadows (23.0%) occupy the middle and lower parts of the gentle slopes of river valleys, while real meadows (6.0%) occupy only the lower parts. We recommend organizing 3 natural monuments: near the village of Novoarapovka under the name "Novoarapovsk Cretaceous steppes", near the village of Akhmatovka - "Akhmatovskaya steppes" and near the village of Korzhevka - "Korzhevsky sholom".