Ecological Systems and Devices Annotation << Back ECOLOGICAL FEATURES AND MONITORING OF POPULATIONS OF ORCHIS PURPUREA HUDS. IN THE SOUTH-EASTERN CRIMEA V.G. Shatko, Yu.N. Gorbunov, V.A. Kryuchkova The results of 30-year monitoring of the cenopopulation of a rare species of flora of the Crimea and Russia, Orhis purpurea Huds. have been summed up. The features of ecology and dynamics of the age spectrum of cenopopulations in the Karadag Nature Reserve on the territory of the Monastyrchik tract are established. The ecological type of O. purpurea can be characterized by xeromesophyte, by light mode – heliophyte, by salt mode – glycophyte, hemicryptophyte with underground tuberoid organs. The type of reproduction is seed. The analysis of the dynamics of the number of age groups showed that the total number of populations has increased over the years of observations, the number of individual age groups varies by year, which is due to the peculiarities of habitat and weather conditions. Analysis of the data on the state of the studied cenopopulation shows that it is young, full-fledged with a predominance of vegetative individuals in the age spectrum. The population is normal, growing, capable of self-maintenance without introducing rudiments from the outside. Long-term study of the dynamics of coenopopulations of O. purpurea allows us to conclude that this species can exist for a long time in intact habitat conditions. A gradual change in both meteorological and especially phytocenotic conditions can cause multidirectional fluctuations that do not lead to the loss of the species from the phytocenosis. Keywords: Orhis purpurea Huds., habitat ecology, populations, quantity dynamics, age structure. DOI: 10.25791/esip.5.2022.1295 Pp. 03-14.