Syntaxonomy of the Class Zosteretea Pignatti 1953 of the Eastern Part of the Black and Azov Seas

Abstract

Geobotanical descriptions of Zostera communities are carried out in the eastern part of the Russian shelf of the Black and Azov seas. Based on the descriptions, the syntaxonomy of the class Zosteretea Pignatti 1953 is considered, taking into account the diversity of macrophytic algae. In total, six communities dominated by Zostera and Nanozostera are identified in the study area; all of them are described for the first time. The results obtained indicate that taking the occurrence of macrophytic algae into account in the floristic classification of communities dominated by Zostera and Nanozostera makes it possible to reliably identify several communities with specific composition, ecology, and location. It has been shown that the oligosaprobic marine sublittoral vegetation of sandy and silty–sandy sediments of the northeastern part of the Black and Azov seas is represented by widespread flowering plants of boreal origin and associated short-cycle species of cosmopolitan and subcosmopolitan macrophytic algae.