Analysis of vegetation of abandoned rural settlements in the Central Chernozem Region of the Russian Federation

The reduction of the rural population in Russia and around the world leads to the emergence of abandoned areas where secondary vegetation succession is formed. Studying these processes is important for understanding the mechanisms of ecosystem self-restoration. Despite the significant number of studies on this topic in other regions, such research is rare in the Central Chernozem Region of the Russian Federation. The aim of the work is to study the vegetation features of post-agrogenic and post-settlement geosystems by analyzing two abandoned settlements in the Belgorod and Voronezh regions, and to identify the patterns of their renaturation. The research was conducted in 2020 at two sites: the Novy Put farmstead (Belgorod Region) and the Krasny Don settlement (Voronezh Region). The methodology included interpreting space images to select the research sites, establishing geobotanical plots (3×3 m) at the sites, describing the vegetation with regard to species composition, life forms, ecological and cenotic groups, and habitats, and conducting a comparative analysis with background phytocenoses. The results revealed that the trend of renaturation is influenced by neighboring phytocenoses. These results can be used to predict succession and develop measures to restore disturbed ecosystems.