Derezniak

(from Russian dereza; Lycium), thickets of steppe shrubs, including plants of the genus Lycium, blackthorn, dwarf almond, steppe cherry, and broom. A derezniak may be formed by several species of shrubs, sometimes with one species predominating (it is then called a visharnik [cherry thicket], ternovnik [blackthorn thicket], and so forth). Previously these thickets were common in the foreststeppe, steppe, and to some extent in the desert zones of the USSR; however, a large proportion of them have been destroyed as a result of the plowing up of these areas. They have been preserved mainly in regions of broken topography, as well as on outcrops of rock, along the slopes and bottoms of ravines, and along the bottoms of sinkholes. The thickets form the forest edges of watershed and bairak forests. Many shrubs of these thickets are recommended for steppe forestation. The thickets are sometimes (incorrectly) called shrub steppe, which is essentially a plant community with a predominance of steppe grasses in which the steppe shrubs do not play a dominant role.