Phytocenological Structure, Population Abundance And Conservation Priorities Of Phlomoides Anisochila And Phlomoides Sogdiana In The Nuratau Mountains
Keywords:
Phlomoides anisochila, Phlomoides sogdiana, phytocenologyAbstract
This study compares the phytocenological position, local abundance and conservation significance of the rare endemic species Phlomoides anisochila (Pazij & Vved.) Salmaki and Phlomoides sogdiana (Pazij & Vved.) Salmaki in the Nuratau Mountains of Uzbekistan. Field investigations were conducted in 2019–2023 using route surveys, geobotanical descriptions, herbarium collection and abundance estimation according to the Drude scale. Ten local populations were examined: four of P. anisochila and six of P. sogdiana. Both species occur mainly at 1000–1800 m a.s.l. on dry, gravelly and stony slopes. P. anisochila was recorded chiefly in mixed-herb–wormwood and wormwood–almond communities and usually showed sp or sol abundance. P. sogdiana occurred in a broader range of mixed-herb, wormwood and thorny-almond communities and reached cop1 in some stands. The studied P. sogdiana associations contained 11–31 species and 18–43% total vegetation cover. Conservation assessment shows that P. anisochila has an extremely restricted distribution and small fragmented populations, while P. sogdiana is more widespread but is also declining under grazing, tourism, drought and habitat transformation. The results demonstrate that community position and local abundance should be integrated with spatial criteria when planning conservation of endemic Phlomoides species.
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