Scientific publications

The results of the application of taxonomic distinctness and diversity indices for quantitative analysis of the dynamics of taxa in meadow communities using long-term monitoring data spanning 40 years from Zalidovskie meadows in the Kaluga Region are presented. It is shown that the magnitudes of the taxonomic distinctness and diversity indices changed following similar trends, i. e. having three intervals with values increasing in the second period while species richness decreased and falling in the third period while species richness increased. Additional analysis within the selected intervals and in their combinations using the Jaccard similarity index showed that after a critical change in the community structure during the second interval, the flora composition did not return to its original condition it used to have in the first period. These changes can be considered as characteristic of the succession in this site. We prove that indices of taxonomic distinctness and diversity can be used to analyze long-term dynamics of taxa of different ranks in meadow communities. They reveal the overall direction of change in the sward communities composition depending on the number of species and their positions in the taxonomic classification. The values of both indices increased when the number of related species decreased and vice versa.