Description
According to various literary data, there are currently over 50,000 kurgans located within the territory of Ukraine, including those situated in the forest zone. However, due to excessive and uncontrolled agricultural activities, the actions of “black” archaeologists, and the ongoing active military conflicts within Ukraine, the number of kurgans in the country is decreasing sharply every year, particularly in areas associated with the steppe zone. Consequently, their ecological significance is increasingly recognized by scientists, as kurgans play a crucial role in preserving and restoring steppe vegetation. While the kurgans of the steppe and forest-steppe zones in the Kherson, Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad, Dnipopetrovsk, Cherkasy, and Poltava regions have been studied by researchers (I. Moysiyenko, B. Sudnik-Voitsikovska, I. Dembich, A. Shaposhnikova, E. Yevtushenko, etc.), the kurgans in the forest zone, specifically within the Kyiv and Zhytomyr Polissia, remain unexplored. Therefore, studying kurgans, particularly in the forest zone of Central Polissia, Ukraine, where they were investigated by us for the first time, is highly relevant today. This dataset contains 1226 occurrences of 214 species vascular plants of flora recorded in 10 kurgans during the project. The nomenclature of the dataset follows “Plants of the World Online” – (POWO 2024) with minor edits.
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 1,226 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:
Velychko N, Skobel N, Shchepeleva O, Moysiyenko I (2024). The preliminary results of the study of the flora of kurgans in the forest zone of Ukraine. Version 1.1. Kherson State University. Occurrence dataset. https://ukraine.ipt.gbif.no/resource?r=valycko&v=1.1
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: 51ef3ccd-0905-4777-b5b0-529ccab8ca1a. 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; kurgans
Contacts
https://orcid.org/0009-0008-7085-4323
- Programmer ●
- Originator
- Metadata Provider ●
- Originator ●
- Point Of Contact
Geographic Coverage
Kyiv and Zhytomyr administrative Regions, Central Polissia, North Ukraine
| Bounding Coordinates | South West [50.062, 28.125], North East [52.803, 31.992] |
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Taxonomic Coverage
All vascular plants are defined by species according to follows “Plants of the World Online” – (POWO 2024).
| Kingdom | Plantae |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Tracheophyta |
Temporal Coverage
| Start Date | 2023-09-08 |
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| Start Date | 2023-09-09 |
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| Start Date | 2023-09-10 |
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Project Data
Field research supported by projects EDGG (Eurasian Dry Grassland Group) small grants for grassland research in Ukraine by Ukrainians.
| Title | EDGG |
|---|
Sampling Methods
We have searched for kurgans in the bibliographical sources, scientific studies, and open sources for research. The selection of kurgans for research in 2023 was primarily based on current Google Maps data and historical bibliographic records. The area and boundaries of the studied kurgans were determined using Google Earth and measuring tapes (Google Earth 2023). We utilized visual analysis based on satellite images, focusing particularly on selecting undamaged and non-overgrown kurgans. To study the local flora and the presence of refuge of steppes at the kurgans (in the forest zone), we followed specific criteria that can only be verified under field conditions. Presence of protected species Red Lists of Regions (Kyiv Regional Council 2012; Zhytomyr Regional Council 2010), Red Data Book of Ukraine (Didukh 2009), etc. Presence of bunch-grasses (or tussock grasses such as Festuca etc.) and other steppe species. To obtain this dataset, we investigated flora of 10 kurgans in the investigated area.
| Study Extent | During the planned expedition to Central Polissia, we examined approximately 50 kurgans located within the Polissian Lowland, specifically in the Kyiv and Zhytomyr Кegions. However, from this list of kurgans studied, we selected only 10 for detailed investigation, as they had the most well-preserved vegetation cover and met the specified criteria. In the process of studying each of the kurgans, they were classified into five biotopes (Bottom southern, Slope southern, Top, Slope northern and Bottom northern), according to which a list of vascular plants was compiled. |
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| Quality Control | Some specimens of the vascular plants were collected as herbarium for determination and verification after the fieldwork. After digitizing the data, we harmonised the taxonomic information according to the nomenclature sources: for vascular plants “Plants of the World Online.” - (POWO 2024). |
Method step description:
- Site selection, field research.
- Identification of herbarium specimens of vascular plants.
- Recording and identification of vascular plants with using road-field methods and VegApp.
- Digitizing the field data forms.
- Data checking and cleaning.
- Taxonomic check, final quality control.
Bibliographic Citations
- Andrienko, T.L., Peregrym, M.M. 2012. Ofitsiini pereliky rehionalno ridkisnykh roslyn administratyvnykh terytorii Ukrainy (dovidkove vydannia) [Official lists of regional rare plants of administrative territories of Ukraine (reference book)]. Alterpress, Kyiv, 148 pp. [in Ukrainian]
- Burkovskyi, O.P., Vasyliuk, O.V., Yena, A.V., Kuzemko, A.A., Movchan, Y.I., Moysiyenko, I.I., Sirenko, I.P. 2013. Ostanni stepy Ukrayiny: buty chy ne buty? [The last steppes of Ukraine: to be or not to be?]. Geoprint, Kyiv, 38 pp. [in Ukrainian]
- Didukh, Ya.P. (ed.) 2009. Chervona knyha Ukrainy. Roslynnyi svit [Red Data Book of Ukraine. Plant Kingdom]. Globalkonsaltyng, Kyiv, 912 pp. [in Ukrainian]
- POWO. 2024. "Plants of the World Online. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet; https://powo.science.kew.org."
- Velychko, N.S., Skobel, N.O., Shchepeleva, O.V., Moysiyenko, I.I. 2024. Poperedni rezultaty doslidzhen flory kurhaniv Kyivskoi ta Zhytomyrskoi oblastei [The preliminary results of the study of the flora of kurgans in Kyiv and Zhytomyr regions]. Druk Art, Chernivtsi. [in Ukrainian]
- Velychko, N.S., Skobel, N.O., Shchepeleva, O.V., Moysiyenko, I.I. 2024. Rarytetni biotopy kurhaniv lisovoi zony Ukrainy [Rare biotopes of kurgans in the forest zone in Ukraine]. Institute of Botany named after M.G. Cold National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, P. 17 [in Ukrainian]
Additional Metadata
| Alternative Identifiers | 51ef3ccd-0905-4777-b5b0-529ccab8ca1a |
|---|---|
| https://ukraine.ipt.gbif.no/resource?r=valycko |