Records of vascular plants from the ramparts of the Bilsk settlement (Poltava Region, Ukraine)

Occurrence
Latest version published by Kherson State University on Oct 9, 2025 Kherson State University
Publication date:
9 October 2025
Published by:
Kherson State University
License:
CC-BY 4.0

Download the latest version of this resource data as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A) or the resource metadata as EML or RTF:

Data as a DwC-A file download 641 records in English (23 KB) - Update frequency: unknown
Metadata as an EML file download in English (14 KB)
Metadata as an RTF file download in English (14 KB)

Description

In 2025, we conducted a study of the biodiversity of the flora of the earthen ramparts of the Bilsk settlement in the Poltava Region. The Bilsk settlement of the Scythian era was the political, economic, cultural, and religious center of the early Iron Age tribes living in the Vorskla River basin. It covers an area of over 5,000 hectares, and the length of the ramparts is almost 38 km, unrivaled among archaeological sites of this period in terms of scale and preservation (Shramko, 2016). The aim of this study was to conduct an inventory of the autumn flora of the earth ramparts of the Bilsk settlement. In total, we recorded seven floristic lists using the Vegapp application (Schmidtlein & Chitin Software 2024), which formed the basis of this dataset during the trip in 2025. This dataset contains 641 occurrences of 251 vascular plant species in 7 localities during the expedition. The nomenclature of the dataset is as follows: «Ukrainian Plant Trait Database: UkrTrait v. 1.0» - (Vynokurov et al. 2024).

Data Records

The data in this occurrence resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 641 records.

This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.

Versions

The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.

How to cite

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

Hrad Y, Radzanivskyi O, Heinzel E, Moysiyenko I (2025). Records of vascular plants from the ramparts of the Bilsk settlement (Poltava Region, Ukraine). Version 1.0. Kherson State University. Occurrence dataset. https://ukraine.ipt.gbif.no/resource?r=bilsksett&v=1.0

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is Kherson State University. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 1568891e-00c6-4a38-aae2-2d7b3b1ae85e.  Kherson State University publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by Participant Node Managers Committee.

Keywords

Occurrence; biodiversity; steppe; cultural herritage sites

Contacts

Yuliia Hrad
  • Metadata Provider ●
  • Originator
Kherson State University
UA
Oleksii Radzanivskyi
  • Originator
Kherson State University
UA
Emilia Heinzel
  • Originator
University of Göttingen
DE
Ivan Moysiyenko
  • Metadata Provider ●
  • Point Of Contact
  • Falz-Fein Biosphere Reserve "Askania-Nova" NAAS of Ukraine
Kherson State University
UA
Nadiia Skobel
  • Programmer
  • University of Warsaw
Kherson State University
UA

Geographic Coverage

Poltava Region, Poltava District, Kotelevska settlement territorial community, Northeastern Ukraine, Forest-Steppe Zone

Bounding Coordinates South West [49.88, 30.784], North East [52.308, 35.552]

Taxonomic Coverage

All vascular plants were identified to species.

Kingdom Plantae
Phylum Tracheophyta

Project Data

No Description available

Title Creation of Protected Areas in Ukraine (2024–2025)
Funding Field research supported by projects "The project 'Creation of Protected Areas in Ukraine (2024–2025),' implemented by the Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group with the support of the Fondation de France." and Ukraine Future Leaders Program

The personnel involved in the project:

Oleksiy Vasyliuk
  • Curator

Sampling Methods

In 2025, a floristic study was conducted in the Bilsk settlement to document vascular plant species characteristic of its habitats. Data from seven floristic lists, generated using Vegapp, were compiled. Surveys were performed across 7 locations: the Eastern Fortification, the Makytra landmark, and 2 sections of the Western and 3 section of the Great Fortifications, totaling 3.6 km of ramparts Each species was assessed by its prevalence on a five-point scale: I - rare, II - occasional, III - frequent, IV - common, V - abundant. The choice of study plots was based first on satellite images from Google Earth, and then on direct field research. The field research was focused on specific habitats. Particular attention was paid to identifying protected species. The selection of study plots was conducted in two stages. Initially, plots were chosen based on satellite images from Google Earth. Subsequently, a direct field research approach was employed to select additional plots. The field research was focused on steppes habitats. A particular emphasis was placed on the identification of protected species.

Study Extent The dataset contains the records n of vascular plants. The study area is located in the Poltava Region, Poltava District, Northeastern Ukraine, Forest-Steppe Zone.
Quality Control Several specimens of vascular plants were collected as herbarium specimens to facilitate identification and verification after field research. After digitizing the data, we harmonised the taxonomic information according to the nomenclature sources «Ukrainian Plant Trait Database: UkrTrait v. 1.0» - (Vynokurov et al. 2024): for vascular plants, we used GBIF Backbone Taxonomy (GBIF species matching tool: https://www.gbif.org/tools/species-lookup) for the taxonomic check and implemented minor corrections of species names regarding misprints and problematic taxa to avoid misinterpretation.

Method step description:

  1. Site selection, field research.
  2. Identification of herbarium specimens of vascular plants.
  3. Digitization of field data forms using VegApp.
  4. Data validation and cleaning.
  5. Data set transformation according to Darwin Core standards.
  6. Taxonomic validation, final quality control.

Bibliographic Citations

  1. Vynokurov, D., Borovyk, D., Chusova, O., Davydova, A., Davydov, D., Danihelka, J., Dembicz, I., Iemelianova, S., Kolomiiets, G., Moysiyenko, I., Shapoval, V., Shynder, O., Skobel, N., Buzhdygan, O. & Kuzemko, A. (2024). Ukrainian Plant Trait Database: UkrTrait v. 1.0. Biodiversity Data Journal 12: e118128. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.12.e118128
  2. Bilsk Hillfort in scientific papers of B. A. Shramko: collection of scientific papers dedicated to the 95th anniversary of scientist / Compiled by Zadnikov S. A., Shramko I. B.; Editor: Korost I. I. – Kotelva –Kharkiv: V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, HCR «Bilsk», Maydan, 2016. – 606 p.: il. https://books.google.com.ua/books?hl=uk&lr=&id=-qNODQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA15&dq=info:4siqk53b4BYJ:scholar.google.com/&ots=xH3eJlODYj&sig=WMMd0nG3IeqwCNwoOyvsNL08F-c&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
  3. Schmidtlein & Chitin Software (2024). Vegapp. v.3. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=edu.kit.ifgg.vegapp, doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.27771642.v1

Additional Metadata