Biodiversity, utilization and management of grasslands of salt affected soils in Serbia

Salt affected soils especially in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world exhibit a significant increasing tendency. The relationship between plant/vegetation richness and soil salinity was assessed for 21 grassland asscociations and one subassociation of Serbia. Among studied grasslands, the ass. Halo-Crypsidetum aculeatae, Suaedetum maritimae and Salicornieto-Suaedetum maritimae were found to be indicators of the extremely saline soils (solonchak), whereas the ass. Lepidio crassifolio-Festucetum pseudovinae , Trifollietum subterranei and Peucedano-Asteretum punctati were typical indicators of sodic soils (solonetz). Management and use of grasslands of salt affected soils and evaluation of pastoral value and salinity tolerance of the studied grasslands was performed.