Microrelief and vegetation
On the highest parts of the bench top (berm back) surrounding the sodic lakes –those which hadn’t been ploughed up before their protection – and on the smaller patches of loessal habitats the steppe grasslands, while on the sandy habitats the remnants of sandy steppe meadows can be found. In these areas bloom the protected Orchis morio and the Iris pumila in spring. On the sloping margin of the bench top/berm back, at the temporary wet but mostly dry parts of it the closed stand of the Festuca pseudovina or the Artemisio santonici-Festucetum pseudovinae community with the species of Artemisia santonicum, while on the places which are rich in humus the Achillea collina compose the phytocoenosis (plant community) of the grassy salt steppe.
Between the bench top/barm back (szikpadka) and the lowered salty patch with slowly moving surface water (szikfok), in the transitional zone (ecotone) can be found the plant community of blind salty patch/bare patch (vakszik) with rather sparse vegetation. The water of the shallow saline puddles heat up quickly and as a result of the intensive evaporation and the drying effect of the wind, they generally dry up in the middle of the summer. The saline surface with great salt and soda content, with very large fluctuation in heat can only be tolerated by the desert and half-desert (semi-arid) plants. They have great absorbent capacity and generally the spreading out on the surface (patulous), the deep stake like root, and the succulent character are characteristic for their habit.
The vegetation of the “szikfok” (salty patch with slowly moving surface water) can be found in the shoreline zone of the lakes, lying deeper then “vakszik” (blind salty patch/bare patch), in the longer water covered zone. The mix of the Lepidium cartilagineum and the Puccinellia limosa represent the vegetation of the “szikfok” of the area between the Danube and Tisa rivers.
The places, covered for longer period by water the salt marshes are formed. The habitat is dominated by the high-growing swamp vegetation and its typical species are the Bolboschoenus maritimus, the reed (Phragmites australis) and the Schoenoplectus tabernaemontanus, S. litoralis.
On the parched lake bottom scattered annual halophyte and drought resistant plant species appear. In the lake beds of Kiskunság live the Cerastium subtetrandum and the Salsola soda. In addition to some goose-foot (Chenopodium sp.) and Orache (Atriplex sp.) species are characteristic as well.
Photos:
Pannon sáska (Epacromius coerulipes)
Kép forrása: http://www.sbic.it/index.php?page=foto-ortotteri
púposhasú rétiszöcske
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Platycleis_affinis_female_(5012514738).jpg
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