MONITORING OF PLANT COMMUNITIES FOR THE PRESENCE OF SPECIES LISTED IN THE GREEN BOOK OF UKRAINE AND THE PRESENCE OF PLANT SPECIES LISTED IN THE RED BOOK OF UKRAINE NEAR THE SHEVCHENKIVSKE SANDSTONE DEPOSIT IN THE KALUSH DISTRICT OF IVANO-FRANKIVSK REGION

Abstract

The article presents the results of monitoring studies of the species diversity of flora and plant communities at the production sites of the sandstone quarry and within the 300-meter sanitary protection zone of the Shevchenkivske deposit in the Kalush district of Ivano-Frankivsk region. These studies were part of the project of environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the production activity of the quarry for the extraction of building stone, which is used in various sectors of the national economy, but mainly for road construction and belongs to the State Enterprise “Ivano-Frankivsk Automobile Roads “ of the Open Joint-Stock Company “State Joint-Stock Company “Automobile Roads of Ukraine”. During the studies, it was established that there is almost no vegetation on the production site itself and the site for the shipment and sorting of stone and storage of equipment. Only hardy and invasive plants, atypical for the Carpathians, have survived as remnants. Along the roads and entrances to the quarry, only woody-shrub groups have remained natural, while herbaceous ones have been greatly altered with a predominance of adventitious and aggressive species. The existence of individual species and their groups has been affected by the production activity of the Shevchenko sandstone deposit. Within the sanitary protection zone (including the future quarry expansion zone) the species diversity is greater and is represented by typical species that have survived. However, among them, there are no rare species and those that require protection, including those listed in the Red Book of Ukraine and protected by the Bern Convention. Plant groups listed in the Green Book of Ukraine are also absent within the project area allocated for sandstone mining. There are no such groups within the future sanitary and protective (300m) zone of the deposit. The nearest localities of rare and endangered species identified are located at a considerable distance from the Shevchenkivske sandstone deposit site, protected by mountain ranges and passes, therefore the future production activities of the enterprise will not affect their existence.