Assessment of quality and chemical composition of continental halophytic grasslands in south-east Europe

Authors

  • Milica LUKOVIĆ University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Hotel Management and Tourism (RS)
  • Urban ŠILC ZRC SAZU, Institute of Biology, Ljubljana (SI)
  • Jovica VASIN Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops (RS)
  • Jasmina RADOVIĆ Institute for Forage Crops 37251 Globoder (RS)
  • Goran TOPISIROVIĆ University of Belgrade, Faculty of Agriculture (RS)
  • Marija KOSTIĆ University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Hotel Management and Tourism (RS)
  • Zora DAJIĆ STEVANOVIĆ University of Belgrade, Faculty of Agriculture (RS)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15835/nbha50112694

Keywords:

chemical composition, continental halophytic grasslands, suitability for utilization

Abstract

Continental halophytic grasslands are known for performing of range of ecosystem services especially remarkable in the regions where they are much distributed – in arid and semi-arid areas. Continental halophytic grasslands of the Central and South-East Europe are not considered as favourable for arable farming, however, traditional animal husbandry plays a crucial role in maintaining biodiversity and preserving these natural habitats. The particular interest of this study is the assessment of the chemical composition of biomass and the quality of insufficiently studied halophytic grassland communities of the central Balkans. In addition, the differences in pastoral value were monitored along the geographical gradient, i.e., between grasslands situated in the Pannonian plain (grasslands of Alliance Puccinellion limosae) and those distributed on the south Serbia (Alliance Festucion pseudovinae). The study was carried out at 18 representative sites, focusing on the saline grasslands of the two distinct regions – on the north and on the south of Serbia. The obtained results show that the halophytic grasslands have satisfying quality characteristics (average values: dry matter - 93.67%, crude protein - 8.66%, cellulose - 30.36%, crude fat - 2.27%) compared with other studied grasslands of saline habitats. There were no significant differences in quality and chemical composition of grasslands of the two regions, despite differences in floristic composition, indicating that salinity is the key determinant for pastoral value of the halophytic vegetation. The certain variations were attributed to the specific floristic composition related to ecological conditions and halophytic community characteristics.

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2022-03-21

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LUKOVIĆ, M., ŠILC, U., VASIN, J., RADOVIĆ, J., TOPISIROVIĆ, G., KOSTIĆ, M., & DAJIĆ STEVANOVIĆ, Z. (2022). Assessment of quality and chemical composition of continental halophytic grasslands in south-east Europe. Notulae Botanicae Horti Agrobotanici Cluj-Napoca, 50(1), 12694. https://doi.org/10.15835/nbha50112694

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Vol. 50 No. 1 (2022)

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Research Articles
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DOI: 10.15835/nbha50112694

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Copyright (c) 2022 Milica LUKOVIĆ, Urban ŠILC, Jovica VASIN, Jasmina RADOVIĆ, Goran TOPISIROVIĆ, Marija KOSTIĆ, Zora DAJIĆ STEVANOVIĆ

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