Spatial structure of Colchicum s. l. (Colchicaceae, Liliopsida) populations in European Russia

   Analysis of the spatial structure of 43 populations of five species of geophytic ephemeroids of European Russia, Colchicum s. l, was carried out in 2021–2024. The distribution patterns of individuals, displayed by the Ripley function L(r)–r, were implemented in the spatstat package for the R programming language. Within the range of the genus, the occurrence frequency of populations with a random distribution type increased from north to south. In C. laetum and C. bulbocodium subsp. versicolor, which have ranges extended along geographic longitude on the Russian Plain, the populations with a contagious type of distribution of individuals were located exclusively along their northern and southern borders. Such a pattern was not observed in the species growing in the North Caucasus and mountainous Crimea. It has been shown that a random type of the spatial distribution of individuals of geophytic ephemeroids indicates homogeneity and optimality of growing conditions, and any deviations from it occur as a result of the unfavorable impact of various environmental factors. At least in Colchicum species on the Russian Plain, not so much the microrelief, microclimate or other locally manifested environmental factors, but rather the global gradients of natural and climatic conditions across the species’ range are dominant in determining the type of the distribution of individuals in populations. In those species of the genus, whose range covers mainly mountains and foothills, on the contrary, local environmental conditions probably determine the distribution type of individuals in space to a greater extent. Altitude above sea level is not a limiting factor for the distribution type of individuals in the populations of Colchicum species.

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