DISTRIBUTION OF RARE SPECIES OF VASCULAR PLANTS IN THE SULA RIVER BASIN WITHIN THE BORDERS OF SUMY REGION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32782/naturaljournal.17.2026.28Keywords:
rare species, Bern Convention, European Red List, Red Book of Ukraine, reserve, association, Left-Bank Forest-Steppe, UkraineAbstract
The article analyzes the state of populations of rare species of vascular plants distributed in the Sula River basin within the Sumy region. The relevance of the research is due to the need to inventory the species composition of plant species that require special protection, which is a prerequisite for their preservation. In the course of research conducted during 1999–2025, it was established that natural vegetation groups as a result of anthropogenic impact on significant areas of the territory were completely destroyed, and on those that remained, there was an impoverishment of species and population diversity of plants. During the research conducted in the Sula River basin within the Sumy region, populations of 22 species of rare plants were identified. Among them, 18 species are listed in the Red Book of Ukraine – Adonis vernalis L., Allium ursinum L., Anacamptis palustris (Jacq.) R.M. Bateman, Pridgeon et M.W. Chase, Astragalus dasyanthus Pall., Bulbocodium versicolor (Ker-Gawl.) Spreng., Dactylorhiza incarnata (L.) Soó, Dactylorhiza majalis (Rchb.) PFHunt & Summerh., Epipactis helleborine (L.) Crantz, Fritillaria meleagroides Patrin ex Schult. & Schult.f., Galanthus nivalis L., Gladiolus imbricatus L., Gladiolus tenuis Baker, Iris pineticola Klokov, Listera ovata (L.) R.Vg., Neottia nidus-avis (L.) Rich., Pulsatilla pratensis (L.) Mill., Salvinia natans (L.) All., Stipa capillata L. Four species are listed in Resolution № 6 of the Bern Convention and two are listed in the European Red List of animals and plants that are under threat of decline on a global scale. These plants can be classified as particularly valuable for conservation, requiring protection and balanced use of both these species themselves and the complex of biocenosis in the territory of their distribution. The analysis showed that 8 plant species are represented by only one population, and 6 species grow outside the territory of the nature reserve fund. To preserve rare representatives of the flora found in the Sula River basin in Sumy region, it is advisable to increase the area of existing and create new objects of the nature reserve fund.
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