Session

Anthropogenic activities have led to a significant loss of natural habitats worldwide over the past centuries (Löki et al. 2019A) and in Ukraine. Large-scale destruction of steppe ecosystems occurred in Ukraine during the Soviet era, when almost all the plain steppes were cultivated and the area of steppe vegetation decreased by a factor of 40 (Burkovskyi et al. 2013). Old cemeteries, in our understanding, are cultural heritage sites established more than 100 years ago on or near virgin steppe land, within natural steppe habitats, before the significant transformation of the steppe cover and massive ploughing in the early 20th century (Europe Council, 2000). The preservation of the steppe and the rare flora of the old cemeteries was made possible by the respectful attitude towards burial sites in Ukraine, and thus at least some parts of the old cemeteries may have remained intact for centuries, despite the relatively high anthropogenic pressure within such sites. We investigated 50 old cemetries in the Right-Bank of Dnipro Grass Steppe Distirct (southern Ukraine) (National Atlas… 2007). The territory includes parts of Dnipopetrovsk, Kherson, Mykolaiv and Odesa administrative Regions The list of flora of old cemeteries includes 659 species of cascular plants, of which 52 have a conservation status. One of the problems of preserving biodiversity in old cemeteries is the lack of steady management. Modern management of old cemeteries in Ukraine does not have a clear management plan. Although we have observed grazing, mowing and burning in old cemeteries provided by local communities. We propose that the steppe flora of old cemeteries should be conserved by proper management. In particular, mowing and grazing of tree and shrub vegetation would be most appropriate in accordance with land use.We believe that it is not ethical to use the latter mowing and burning of management in these cultural heritage sites. The research was supported by IAVS Special grant to support the research of Ukrainian members ”Plant diversity and species-area relationships modelling of steppe enclaves within old cemeteries of Northern Prychornomoria region (Northern Black Sea Region) of Southern Ukraine”