This study presents the results of research on the adaptation of the invasive species Clematis flammula in various forest and disturbed communities in the lower belt of the southern macroslope of the Main Ridge of the Crimean Mountains. A geobotanical investigation conducted from 2019 to 2021 using the Braun-Blanquet ecological and floristic approach. Ordination and cluster analyses were performed using the PAST 3.26 software. Twelve factors were examined: light (Lc), thermal regime (Tm), aridity-humidity (Om), cryoregime (Cr), climate continentality (Kn), soil moisture (Hd), humidity fluctuation (fH), substrate acidity (Cr), salt regime (anionic composition) (Tr), carbonate content (Ca), nitrogen content (Nt), and granulometric composition of the substrate (Ae). The parameters of the ecological niches of the Clematis flammula and the communities were determined using the phytoindication method. The broad range of the fundamental ecological niche of Clematis flammula concerning most edapho-climatic factors facilitates the species to integrate into plant communities with varying degrees of disturbance. The studied communities are similar in terms of climate continentality, thermal regime, cryoregime, aridity-humidity and substrate acidity: however, they differ significantly in soil moisture, humidity fluctuation, and the content of carbonates and mineral nitrogen in the soil. A comparative analysis of the fundamental niche of the Clematis flammula and the realized niche of communities indicates that the environmental conditions in sparse downy-oak-juniper communities belonging to the Quercetea pubescentis class meet the requirements of the species to the greatest extent. The findings confirm the high degree of adaptation of the species to the natural conditions of the Southern Coast of Crimea.
alien plants, ordination and cluster analysis, plant communities, environmental factors, ecological scales, protected areas, Crimean Peninsula
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