Ecological Niches and Synusiae in Meadow Phytocenoses

K. A. Kurkin

Dedinovsk Research Station of Floodplain Meadow Culture, Vil’yams Research Institute of Forage, Krasnaya Poima,
Lukhovitsk raion, Moscow oblast, 140514 Russia

Received March 19, 1997

Abstract—The strategy of phytocenoses is aimed at complete interception of resource flow, which results in
total phytocenotic competition. The strategy of the fauna consists in limiting the abundance of phytophagous
animals and distributing them over the resource niches to exclude “overgrazing” of plant cover. Plants in phy-
tocenoses have minimum possibilities for differentiating resource niches. Synusial differentiation does not
allow plants to escape competition but, on the contrary, provides for its maintenance and intensification. The
differentiation of synusiae in meadow phytocenoses by steps of the “resource competition ladder” and by cen-
otic positions is discussed. It is shown that interactions “within” a synusia are not limited to competition; rather,
they provide for mutual prosperity by collectively improving the status of the synusia in a phytocenosis.

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