Our studies were carried out in a water buffalo pasture of the Zámolyi basin, in the area of the Csíkvarsai meadow, in the bed of a former lake, which was drained in 2022, then dried up by autumn and it was grazed by domestic water buffalo. The grazed area was surrounded by an electric fence. The vegetation of this part of the area and part of the outside was surveyed on 19 of November. We took 3-3 coenological surveys in both separated areas. Based on the results, there were significant floristic and physiognomic differences in the vegetation. Among the clover species, species with ground-running stems (Trifolium repens and T. fragiferum) were dominant in the grazed area, but in the ungrazed area, there was a coherent plant population of 30-40 cm high, densely located alsike clover (Trifolium hybridum) in the lake bed. In addition, the occurrence of swamp pricklegrass (Crypsis schoenoides) was a floristic new discovery.
Due to the loss of water coverage, several Trifolium species have become abundant in the area, which is a result of the germination properties of the species. The thick seed coats were cracked by the loss of the effect of the water coverage on temperature equalisation, and germination could have begun, resulting in a dominant species in the area. During the present study, we have seen a very impressive result of the analysis of the vegetation of the lake bed in autumn aspect in the Zámolyi Basin, which is the result of the impact of water buffalo grazing. The number of species was more significant in the grazed area. Moreover, floristic rarities have been found and as an indicator of grazing, species of different life form types were dominant within the same genus.