Statistical assessment of ecological invariants of plant cover and the possibility of estimating invariants in the taxonomy of plants

In this work, for the first time, ecological invariants for the dry polydominant cereal-forb meadow of theKarelian Isthmus of the Leningrad region and taxonomic invariants of three species of Heracleum L. are determined. It isproposed to use the developed statistical methods for evaluating invariants to differentiate biological objects at all levels ofbiota: molecular, subcellular, cellular, organismic, population, coenotic and ecological.

Siberian plants in the collection «Alpine Slides» in the Peter the Great Botanical Garden of Komarov Botanical Institute of RAS

The article assesses the richness of the collection fund of Siberian plants that grew in the historical periodfrom 1954 to 1963 and grow in the modern period from 2011 to 2020 in the collection “Alpine Slides” of the Peter the GreatBotanical Garden. The main purpose of this article was to assess the preservation of the collection fund of Siberian andpartly Central Asian plants in the historical aspect. It was necessary to identify the plant species that are most resistant tocultivation in the conditions of St. Petersburg. As a result of the comparison, it was found that at present the collection fundof plants is quite poor, compared to the selected historical segment, and it needs to be replenished. The most stable in thecollection were 22 species, as they existed in the collection both in the selected time periods and exist at the present time.The age of individuals of individual species reaches almost 80 years – Brunnera sibirica, Bergenia × ornata, Actaea dahurica,A. simicifuga, Nepeta sibirica, Spodiopogon sibiricus and others. In the modern period of time, more than 20 species didnot pass the initial introduction test and existed in the collection for no more than 2–3 years. These include Viola altaica,Mertensia sibirica, Peucedanum baicalense, Orostachys thyrsiflora and others.

Ecological assessment using diatom community in Avarga Toson Lake (Mongolia)

A total of 32 diatom species were recorded in Avarga Toson Lake. Motile diatom species are dominatingin diatom communities. The species composition of two coexisted lakes is markedly different. Diatom richness, speciescomposition, and dominant species indicate that Burd lake is polluted by livestock grazing or domestic pollution, andToson Lake is polluted by human activities with high sediment accumulation at the bottom.

Dynamics of the ontogenetic structure Jurinea cyanoides (Asteraceae) coenopopulation in the Medvedskij Bor (Kirov region)

Data on the dynamics of the ontogenetic structure of one coenopopulation Jurinea cyanoides (L.) Reichenb.are presented for the period 2014–2019 due to environmental conditions. It is shown that the efficiency of the development of ecological space is the highest in terms of climate continentality and thermoclimatic factors, the lowest in termsof soil moisture and acidity, ombroclimatic aridity-humidity. The ontogenetic spectra are uniform over the years: the maximum fall on individuals of the juvenile, virginal and subsenile ontogenetic states, and the minimum is on the plants ofthe generative period in aggregate. According to the «delta-omega» classification, the studied coenopopulation undergoesdevelopment from young to transitional.

Vegetation degradation assessment in the agricultural zone of Northern Mongolia

We conducted research to assess vegetation degradation in Selenge province described as the agricultural zone.Our research results based on the vegetation community map showed that 46.7 % of the total area is light, 3.3 % is moderate,13.9 % is strong, and 30.4 % is very strong degraded. Vegetation degradation was mostly observed in river valleys, lowerplains, hills and small mountains and mountain slopes due to the intensity of summer grazing. The moderately degraded areawas often winter places using as rotate or properly managed grazing land and light degradation has occurred in the forest area.Very strong degradation was revealed mainly in Saikhan, Orkhon, Javkhlant sub-provinces and strongly degraded in Sant,Orkhontuul, Baruunburen. Light degradation of vegetation were observed in sub-provinces adequately covered by forestincluding Eruu, Tushig, Shaamar, Khuder, but there are still problems related to mining and deforestation.

Inventory of vascular spore plants and gymnosperms of the Kabardino-Balkar State Highland Reserve

The Kabardino-Balkar State Highland Reserve (KBGWZ) was established in 1976 to protect the alpinefloristic and faunal complexes of the Central Caucasus. The flora of the reserve includes about 1000 species of vascularplants. The inventory showed the presence in its flora of 40 species of vascular spore plants belonging to the divisionsLycopodiophyta (5 species, 2 families), Polypodiophyta (35 species, 12 families). Gymnosperms are represented by thedivisions Pinophyta, containing 3 families and 7 taxa of the species rank and below, as well as the division Gnetophytawith one representative of the genus Ephedra. Among the protected plants in the Red Book of the Russian Federation(2008), Taxus baccata is included. Asplenium scolopendrium (sub nom. Phyllitis scolopendrium), Ceterach officinarum andPolystichum lonchitis are in the Red Data Book of Kabardino-Balkar (2018). Among gymnosperms, Abies nordmannianaand Picea orientalis are also regionally protected species.

Molecular cytogenetics of Hedysarum gmelinii Ledeb. and H. setigerum Turcz. (Fabaceae) from populations of Southern Siberia

For the first time, a comparative karyotype analysis of closely related species Hedysarum gmelinii andH. setigerum (Hedysarum section Multicaulia) grown in Southern Siberia, has been performed by molecular cytogeneticmarkers. Chromosome numbers in karyotypes of these species were specified – 2n = 4х = 32. In some accessions, additionalB chromosomes were revealed. FISH analyses indicated high similarities in chromosome morphology and also patternsof chromosomal distributions of 45S and 5S rDNA clusters in karyotypes of H. gmelinii and H. setigerum, which confirmsthe close relationship between their genomes.

Flora of railway embankments in the vicinity of Abakan station (Republic of Khakassia)

xThe studied flora of railway embankments of Abakan stations includes 60 species belonging to 23 familiesand 54 genera. Analysis of the flora by taxonomic composition showed the predominance of small-species families andgenera in the flora. The ecological and geographical structure of the flora is studied. The biomorphological spectrum ischaracterized by an increased participation of species with a short life cycle.

Sozological substantiation of the creation of the protected natural object «Topilinskaya Gully» (Rostov region)

In the article the substantiation of the organization of a new specially protected natural area of the Rostovregion «Topilinskaya Gully» is given. Topilinskaya gully is forested, located on the Donetsk ridge on the northern borderof the Nizhnekundryuchensky sandу massif. A brief description of the flora and vegetation of the gully is given. The mainassociations, typical, relict and protected forest and psammophytic species are listed. The flora of the gully includes 178species of higher vascular plants from 51 families and 139 genera.

Wormwoods (Artemisia L.) of Southern Siberia

The article presents the data on the species composition and geographical distribution of the genus Artemisia L. in Southern Siberia, which were revealed in the process of studying the literature, critical revision of the P. N. Krylov Herbarium, Tomsk State University (TK), as well as field research by the authors in Gorny Altai, Khakassia, Sayan,Tuva. Several species from this territory are questionable in a taxonomic review (Artemisia viridis Willd., A. sacrorumLedeb., A. marschalliana Spreng. and species of the subgenus Seriphidium (Besser ex Less.) Fourr.). It was determined thaton the territory of Southern Siberia there are 88 species of wormwood belonging to 3 subgenera (Artemisia Less., Dracunculus Besser, Seriphidium (Besser ex Less.) Fourr.), 7 sections and 20 subsections. A chorological analysis was carried out,during which 36 endemic taxa were identified on the territory of Southern Siberia. The authors also identified a separategroup of South Siberian endemics, including narrowly endemic, subendemic taxa and South Siberian species that have anarea of distribution from Altai to Northern Mongolia.