Mertsalo M. Lichen forests (Cladonio-Pinetum Juraszek 1927) of West Polissya of Ukraine: distribution, current state and conservation concerns

The object of the study – lichen forests of the association Cladonio-Pinetum Juraszek 1927 occurring in the West Polissya of Ukraine. Тhe purpose – the combined analysis of the conditions of the formation and the evaluation of the current state of the clans of the Cladonio-Pinetum Juraszek аssociation in the Western Polissya 1927, their floristic, ecological-coenotic, biometric and syntaxonomic structure, and the development of scientific recommendations how to protect and preserve them. Methods of research – forestry, geobotanical, laboratory, mathematical-statistical. Scientific novelty – we got the integral representation of the lichens of the association Cladonio-Pinetum Juraszek 1927 in the conditions in the Western Polissya of Ukraine and we determined the species composition of their epigenetic biota. We singled out a complex of regional-diagnostic species of Cladonio-Pinetum of Western Polissya. We established the microclimate role of lichens. We discovered the fact of the successional transformation of Cladonio-Pinetum in Peucedano-Pinetum. We examined the vitality of lichens in the natural biotopes. Practical significance – the established composition of regional diagnostic species of lichens is the basis for the identifying dry lichen forests and recommendations about their protection and conservation are the basis for the singling out of environmental objects. The received results deepen knowledge about the condition and dynamics of lichen forests in the conditions of Western Polissya. Field of use – forestry.