Keywords
transformer plants
hybrid phytocoenoses
syntaxonomy
Braun-Blanquet approach
urban forests
How to Cite
Abstract
The research aims to perform a comparative phytocoenotic analysis of the growth conditions of ornamental woody and shrub introducents within four semi-natural communities of Chernihiv’s green infrastructure (the Yalivshchyna, Sviate, Podusivka Forest, and Boldyn Hills tracts). The study evaluates the impact of environmental drivers, canopy closure, and understory structure on the naturalization success of alien plants, against the backdrop of the city’s total introduced dendroflora, comprising 123 species, 2 subspecies, and 79 varieties across 33 families. Based on comprehensive architectural and adaptive criteria, the spontaneous exotic complex of 49 species recorded within the analyzed semi-natural communities was differentiated into three distinct functional-ornamental categories: shade-casting structural trees, visual and seasonal accent shrubs, and textural background, barrier, and screen plants. The work relies on field surveys conducted between 2023 and 2025, involving 58 geobotanical relevés on sampling plots of 225–625 m2.
For the first time, a comprehensive analysis of Chernihiv’s forest tracts was conducted at the syntaxonomic level, identifying the pathways of their anthropogenic and climatic transformation. A direct correlation was established between decreased canopy closure (down to 20–40 %, e.g., in the Yalivshchyna tract) and the intensity of naturalization of light-demanding invasive species (Prunus serotina, Acer negundo, and Amelanchier spicata). The role of nitrogen-fixing transformer species, primarily Robinia pseudoacacia, was proven to drive the replacement of native alliances (Dicrano-Pinion) with nitrophilous communities of the class Robinietea (alliance Chelidonio-Robinion). It was substantiated that current climate warming trends, characterized by climate aridization and milder winters, act as key drivers for both drought-tolerant and previously winter-susceptible introducents to bypass historical ecological barriers, accelerating their understory expansion and altering natural successional pathways. On the slopes of the Boldyn Hills tract, the structural encroachment of Caragana arborescens and Parthenocissus quinquefolia threatens rare, relict Festuco-Brometea communities, which have been reduced to an isolated patch of approximately 10 m2.
The results demonstrate a profound syntaxonomic convergence between native forest (Vaccinio-Piceetea and Quercetea pubescentis) and shrub (Rhamno-Prunetea) classes and anthropogenically induced vegetation (Robinietea and Galio-Urticetea). Ornamental introducents form stable hybrid cultural phytocoenoses that gradually diminish the natural authenticity of forest massifs, culminating in the development of the ‘urban forest’ syndrome. While relict forest cores with complex vertical structures exhibit higher ecological resilience, sparse forest-park zones and highly fragmented steppe micro-refugia require urgent differentiated management strategies and targeted population regulation of invasive transformer species.
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