Flora of the ancient settlements within Lower Dnipro – natural heritage with cultural background

This dataset is the long-term outcome of PhD study conducted by Polina Dayneko throughout Kherson State University (KSU), as well the international Ukrainian-Polish field expedition (2017) led by professor Ivan Moysiyenko (KSU). In total, 18 ancient settlements within Lower Dnipro (Kherson and Mykolaiv region) were studied. The study of each site was conducted at least 3 times according to the season: spring, summer and autumn during 2015-2020 period.
The sites of ancient settlements (also known as earthworks) are characterized by a rather high level of floristic richness of vascular plants despite their relatively small size. The total list of vascular plants of 18 ancient settlements of the Lower Dnipro includes 525 species of vascular plants belonging to 281 genera, 74 families, 3 classes and 2 divisions. The total number occurrences is 3,210.
The floristic richness in some settlements varies from 124 to 290 species (the average number is 178 species). Moreover, within studied ancient settlements, we recorded a significant number of native (396 species, 75.6%), steppe (240 species, 45.8%) and non-synanthropic plants (224 species, 42.7%), which indicated a good state of preservation of the steppe on these objects. Studies have also shown the high sozological value of the studied settlements. Thus, a rare element of the settlements of the Lower Dnipro is represented by 33 species (6.3% of the total number of species) is included in the Bern Convention (1 species), Red Book of Ukraine (10 species), Red Lists of Kherson (21 species) and Mykolaiv (5 species) regions. This structure of the flora indicates that the ancient settlements perform well the function of preserving the natural steppe diversity and can potentially be considered as nature conservation sites.

本数据集为波利娜·达伊内科在赫尔松国立大学（KSU）进行的博士研究长期成果，以及由伊万·莫伊西延科教授（KSU）领导的2017年国际乌克兰-波兰田野考察的产物。研究覆盖了下第聂伯河流域（赫尔松和尼古拉耶夫地区）的18个古代聚落，每个聚落至少进行了三次季节性考察：春、夏、秋三个季节，考察时间跨度为2015至2020年。古代聚落遗址（亦称土墩）尽管规模相对较小，但其维管植物的植物群落丰富度却相当高。下第聂伯河流域18个古代聚落的维管植物种类总数达到525种，隶属于281个属、74个科、3个目和2个门，总计出现频次为3,210次。某些聚落的植物群落丰富度介于124至290种之间（平均为178种）。此外，在所研究的古代聚落中，记录了大量的原生植物（396种，占比75.6%）、草原植物（240种，占比45.8%）和非伴生植物（224种，占比42.7%），这表明这些遗址上草原的保存状态良好。研究还表明，这些聚落具有较高的社会生物学价值。因此，下第聂伯河流域聚落中的稀有元素，即占总物种数6.3%的33个物种，被列入《伯尔尼公约》（1种）、《乌克兰红皮书》（10种）、《赫尔松地区红名录》（21种）和《尼古拉耶夫地区红名录》（5种）。这种植物群落结构表明，古代聚落有效地履行了保护自然草原多样性的功能，并有可能被视为自然保护地。