General characteristics of urban flora. Features of the flora of mounds in the desert-steppe zone of Ukraine General characteristics of the flora

1. Lack of annuals (except for some weeds - wood lice), perennials dominate

2. Of the flowering plants, small shrubs dominate:

a) evergreens: by the time the snow melts, their system of assimilation organs is ready (lingonberries, partridge grass);

b) summer green: by the time the snow melts, they have a system of branches, although without leaves (dwarf birch, willow).

3. Xeromorphosis of leaves: leathery, flat or narrow heather-type due to physiological dryness, lack of water and nitrogen.

4. There are almost no plants with tubers, bulbs, or rhizomes (geophytes). If there are, they are located shallowly and on non-freezing slopes of river valleys.

5. Plant shapes:

a) trellis - stretch along the surface of the soil, raising leaves upward (polar willow, reticulate);

b) cushion plants (grass, saxifrage);

c) many species have dwarf forms, which under normal conditions reach large sizes (downy willow -20 cm).

6. Plant roots are concentrated in the surface horizons, which is associated with low soil temperatures and constant soil movement.

7. High frost resistance. Flowering spoon grass can withstand –46 0 C, while physiological stress occurs at -50 0 C.

8. Treelessness, since there is a gap between the evaporation of water and its entry into the roots of trees in winter and spring (evaporation is stronger on plants not covered with snow, and there is almost no water entry).

9. The flowering periods of different plant species are closer together, since they have a short growing season (almost species bloom immediately).

10. The flowers are bright, with shallow nectaries, an open corolla, often pollinated by dipterans, bumblebees (legumes). Flowers do not last long: cloudberries last 2 days, since there is little chance of pollination by insects (winds, frosts).

11. Vegetative propagation dominates; flowers are less commonly pollinated by wind and insects.

12. The longevity of tundra plants allows them to “wait” for a favorable season for generative reproduction. Arctic willow lives 200 years, wild rosemary 100 years, dwarf birch 80 years.

13. Carotinization of leaves (yellowish tint), since it is necessary to reflect excess ultraviolet radiation.

The layer of life that unites all underground and aboveground tiers in the community in the tundra is very narrow - up to 1 m.

Animal adaptations (features of fauna)

1. There are sharp differences in the composition of the summer and winter populations. In winter, lemmings, some voles, reindeer, and tundra partridge remain in the tundra. In summer, the impact of animals is less concentrated and less noticeable than in winter.

2. Some northern birds have larger clutch sizes than related species further south. More intensive growth of the chick was also noted (long daylight hours and the possibility of feeding). In summer there are geese, ducks, geese, swans, ptarmigan, and passerines.

3. The predominant insects are dipterans: mosquitoes, midges, etc. Insects and other invertebrates inhabit the litter and the upper peat horizon of the soil.

4. Bergman's rule: when moving from the poles to the equator, the sizes of warm-blooded animals decrease, and cold-blooded animals increase. With increasing size, the volume increases faster (and heat production) than the surface of the body. In addition, sexual maturity occurs later than in the south, so animals begin to reproduce after reaching larger sizes than their southern relatives.

5. Allen's rule: when moving from the poles to the equator, related species experience an increase in protruding body parts (ears and tails). This is due to a decrease in heat transfer through the capillaries in the ears of northern species.

6. There are few granivorous birds, since seed-producing plants are unproductive. Food for birds and mammals is green plant matter, bark and leaves of shrubs, berries, lichens (moss moss). Their growth is slow, so deer leave pastures for a long time, making migrations.

7. Migrations: seasonal (geese), feeding across the zone (deer, lemmings, snowy owls).

8. Well-developed fur and feathers, as well as subcutaneous fat in birds and mammals.

9. The role of lemmings in processing green mass is great, and their passages occupy up to 20% of the tundra area. The increase in their numbers repeats itself after 3-4 years. One lemming eats 50 kg of phytomass per year.

10. There are no reptiles or reptiles in the tundra.

11. Seaside adaptations:

– nesting of fish-eating birds on rocks inaccessible to predators (bird colonies);

– life of pinnipeds on ice floes near ice holes;

– a year-round active lifestyle of the polar bear in the coastal zone or in ocean ice.

Tundra ecosystems are dominated by phytophages: lemmings, waterfowl, deer, hares, musk oxen, which serve as food for zoophages (owls, arctic foxes). Invertebrates living in dying organic matter also play a certain role. In general, these are fragile ecosystems with few food connections.

2. Subzones of the tundra. Along the thermal gradient from north to south, there is a gradual change in the composition and structure of tundra biomes. To the south, the role of shrubs first increases, and then, when moving to the forest zone, trees. There are several subzones of the tundra zonobiome.

Polar desert. Polar deserts are an undeveloped zonobiome with an initial stage of overgrowing of polygonal soils. When they become overgrown, lichens appear first (in the Far North), and individual representatives of herbs appear further south. Diagnostic sign of the subzone – absence of mosses. There are no communities either, since their structure has not developed. There are no sedentary animals, there are no blood-sucking insects, but along the rocky shores of the ocean there are bird markets.

Subzone of spotted (arctic) tundra. The diagnostic sign of the subzone is lack of closure of vegetation (forbs and moss) cover. In the north, its projective coverage is 40%, and to the south it already reaches 95%. There are no shrubs yet and almost no sphagnum mosses. Formation of spotted tundra happens as follows. During frost heaving, mounds with lenses of ice inside are formed. Snow corrosion seems to cut off the turf from such a hillock, and the loamy gley soil is exposed. A non-overgrown stain is formed. It can increase when soils float up and pour out onto the turf.

Flora. The basis of the vegetation is made up of lichens and green mosses, with which various herbs are associated (partridge grass, polar poppy, saxifrage). Sedges and grasses (Alpine foxtail, Alpine pike) play a significant role. To the south, polar willow, stoneweed, cloudberry, lingonberry, and wild rosemary appear. All this adds up to colorful plant associations. In closed depressions there are marshy cotton grass and sedge tundras, along the outskirts of which peat mounds are common - this is a manifestation of thermokarst. Swampy tundras may have hollow structure.

Hollows are zoogenic. Lemmings make passages in the grass stands, gnawing the grass. With the constant growth of their incisors, lemmings are forced to constantly chew something in order to wear them down. If the slope of the area is weak, the hay chewed by lemmings is carried down and piled up in windrows across the slope. Gradually, the hay semi-decomposes and peat hollows form. Lemming burrows sometimes serve as the initial stage of frost crack formation, which sometimes forms a polygonal structure.

The Arctic tundra is low-tiered; usually the vertical structure is limited to grass-forb (or cotton grass-sedge) and moss layers. The layer of life is sometimes compressed to 20-30 cm, so the tundra is easily visible to the horizon. Her background is not green, rather khaki. This is the result of carotinization of pigments caused by an excess of UV radiation. Against this dull background, very bright flowers stand out in summer, attracting pollinating insects.

Fauna. Tundra partridges with white plumage are visible from afar. Since lemmings and partridges form the basis of the diet small predators, there are also white polar owls, whose diet also includes snow bunting sparrows and Arctic fox cubs. The more lemmings, the more owls and arctic foxes. There are usually no large animals. Reindeer are occasionally found, and along the sea coast there are polar bears, connected by a food chain with fish and pinnipeds. Many birds live here on the coast: seagulls, guillemots, etc. They all feed on fish and nest near the ocean, often forming bird colonies.

For 3-5 weeks, the Arctic tundra, in a phenological sense, lives very intensively, but everything quickly gives way to peace when cold weather sets in. Already in August frosts and snowfalls begin, and then the short autumn turns into a long winter with polar night.

Subzone of typical (subarctic) tundra.

Flora. These are shrub tundras (in Europe from the Kola Peninsula to the Lena River). A layer of shrubs is formed above the moss and grass-forb layers. Birch trees also appear: dwarf, splayed, Middendorf, willows: creeping, Lapland, wild rosemary, in some places (Priberingian tundra) - cedar and alder dwarf trees, many shrubs: lingonberries, cloudberries, blueberries, cranberries, blueberries. Shrub tundras are usually located in the interior of the continent, where winds are weaker, precipitation amounts are higher and average summer temperatures reach 10 0 C. Permafrost thaws up to 150 cm. The further south you go, the warmer and more important the role of shrubs in plant communities. Sometimes shrub layer It can be continuous, the roots densely penetrate the moss cover, as if binding it, and in some places real turf is formed. Characteristic in communities and mushrooms, moreover, their attachment is preserved and the boletus grows precisely under shrubby birches, and sometimes above them if the birch is creeping. Appear in abundance sphagnum mosses, which were not in the previous subzone. Sometimes, especially in gravelly places, the moss layer is replaced by lichen (Yamal, Gydan, Alaskan, Labrador tundras). Grass stand becomes richer, sorrel, sorrel, valerian appear, and in the meadow areas - buttercups, cinquefoil, sedge, and meadow grasses.

Fauna typical tundra also changes. Seaside birds and the polar bear are disappearing, lemmings are becoming more numerous (there are several species, vicarious with each other: Norwegian, Ob, ungulate, etc.), polar owls, arctic fox, appears in summer wolf. In Canada they are associated with shrub tundras musk ox and musk ox. The musk ox has now been introduced into the Taimyr tundra. There are many reindeer, although the only wild herd remains only in Taimyr. It roams from the Putorana Mountains to Severnaya Zemlya. Also characteristic of the subzone ermine and weasel. Very dense population waterfowl: geese, small swans, geese, plovers, waders - all associated with fresh waters. Usually they spend only the summer in the tundra, and in the fall they fly to southern latitudes. With an abundance of phytophagous birds, there are also many predators: peregrine falcon, gyrfalcon, etc. Freshwater birds are distinguished by their species and numerical richness fish, which are often exported: salmon, char, omul, grayling, navaga, whitefish, whitefish. And, conversely, the world of invertebrates is poor in a systematic sense, but the world of invertebrates is abundant: worms, arthropods, butterflies.

Only lemmings, arctic foxes and snowy owls winter in the tundra; other species migrate or fly south for the winter. Some (ptarmigan, reindeer, weasel, ermine) are equally characteristic of both the tundra and the taiga zone.

Maximum Impact The following species have an impact on the vegetation cover.

a) lemmings, each of which eats or gnaws up to 50 kg of phytomass per year. When the lemming population is too large, the animals begin migrating in a huge stream of tens of millions of individuals. Along the trajectory of such migration, the vegetation is fairly poisoned.

b) reindeer have less impact on vegetation, and there are relatively few of them left (in the 60s, 70 individuals per 100 km 2). Since the deer feeds on reindeer moss (cladonia lichen), which grows slowly, the moss moss quickly becomes depleted, and the deer are forced to wander. Since deer bite young shoots of trees, the forest penetrates from the taiga to the north more slowly than it could, and in some places it is already retreating to the south. In general, borealization of the tundra is observed.

c) waterfowl also influence the grass stand, especially geese, which pretty much eat vegetation near lakes.

Forest-tundra subzone (zonoecotone). Forest-tundra is sometimes called a zonoecotone, and sometimes a subzone. It starts where trees overlook the platform and watersheds. There are two types of vegetation here - tundra and forest. The transition from one to another is gradual. First, individual trees appear on the platform, low, crooked, with a flag-shaped crown. To the south they merge into island communities, and even further south a blurred, mosaic, but already continuous border of coniferous forest appears. Sometimes an economic boundary of the forest is also drawn, south of which commercial logging is possible. The forest-tundra subzone is not continuous. Where the tundra comes into contact with the mountains of the taiga zone, there is a sharp transition from flat tundra to mountain taiga ( NE Siberia, Alaska).

Transition The nature of forest-tundra is manifested in the fact that the sparse tree layer is simply superimposed on the tundra layer. Even further south, where independent taiga communities are already forming, tundra species have long been present in the lower tiers (in Karelia, spruce forests with tiers of dwarf birch). The forest-tundra is warmer than the tundra: the average July temperature is up to 12 0 C, there is more precipitation (up to 450 mm per year), and the permafrost thaws deeper. The increase in heat to the south determines the entire character of the forest-tundra biota. Forest communities with open forests occupy 30% of the area in the middle of the subzone, the tundra complex 10%, and 60% of the area is occupied by azonal swamps and meadows. Given this ratio, it is difficult to call the forest-tundra an independent zonobiome.

Flora and fauna has its own characteristics. In the forest-tundra, multi-layered communities are already evident, the composition of tree species is enriched: in addition to birches and willows, the biocenoses include spruce, larch, alder, cedar, etc. The tree layer is always sparse, but the shrub layer is clearly expressed and includes many species. Among the animal population there are more taiga species: brown bear, wolverine, weasel. There are fewer Arctic foxes, polar owls, and waterfowl, and oceanic birds and animals are finally disappearing. The role of the vile is increasing.

4. Tundra orobiomes. Orobiomes are mountain biomes. Approximately 25% of the area of ​​the tundra zone (together with forest-tundra) is occupied by mountains. The altitudinal spectrum of the mountains in the tundra zone is extremely primitive. The waist column begins at the bottom either with lowland tundra and then on the slopes it turns into mountain tundra, and in the upper tiers in loaches(initial stage of overgrowing of loose wood); either from the forest-tundra or from the northern taiga, and then the mountain tundras along the upper tiers of the ridges extend far to the south of the border of the tundra zone (along the Urals, the mountains of NE Siberia, the Far East and Alaska). Mountain tundras also occur far from the boundaries of the zone as an isolation belt in the Rocky Mountains of Alaska, in the mountains of Siberia and the Urals.

Since loaches cannot be considered a mature biome, consider the only orobiome of this zone - mountain tundra. Mountain tundra communities are composed mainly of typical tundra species. Vegetation succession leads to step by step overgrowth of clastic material of the mountains.

1. Crumbose lichens with rare participation of vascular plants: fescue, partridge grass.

2. Foliose and fruticose lichens.

3. Shrubs and mosses: green mosses, wild rosemary, blueberries.

4. Shrubs, with dwarf birches and willows and grass-moss mountain tundras (sedges, rush grasses).

These successions resemble lowland tundra ones. In other mountainous areas, only the composition of the grass and shrub layers changes: instead of dwarf birch, other species appear, dwarf cedar, etc. Similar successions are probably observed in the southern analogues of the mountain tundras of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, but are represented by other edificators.

Biomass. In tundras and forest-tundras, biomass increases quite sharply from north to south, from subzone to subzone. The average values ​​of biomass are as follows: in the arctic tundra the phytomass is 5 t/ha (70-75% roots), in the shrub (subarctic) tundra - 25 t/ha, in the forest tundra - 40-45 t/ha (22% roots). The increase is very low: in the tundra per year, minus litter, the increase is 0.05-0.1 t/ha, in the forest-tundra - up to 0.3 t/ha. In the Canadian tundra, the rates are higher due to the less continental climate. Even for the grass-shrub-moss tundra, the zoomass is only 0.012 t/ha.

So, flora and vegetation are two different components of the vegetation cover.

The flora of our Motherland has more than 18,000 species. All this huge variety of plants is distributed into 160 families. The richest species in our family are the Asteraceae, cereals, and legumes, each of which contains several thousand species. There are relatively many species in families such as Rosaceae, Cruciferae, Ranunculaceae, Dianthus, and Sedge. Representatives of these families can be found everywhere - from the tundra to the desert, from the western to the eastern borders of the country, from the plains to the highlands.

The geographical distribution of individual plant species is very different. Some of them are found only in a limited area, sometimes very small. Thus, Semenov fir grows exclusively in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, and Crimean peony - only in the southern part of Crimea. However, many species have a wider distribution; they are not confined only to a limited area. Finally, there are also species that are very widespread and are found throughout most of the territory of the Soviet Union. An example would be trees familiar to everyone - Scots pine, aspen, birch.

The area of ​​natural distribution of a plant on the earth's surface is called its habitat. If the range of a particular species is relatively small and this species is found only in one specific area of ​​the globe, then this species is called endemic for the corresponding area. This is what they say about endemic plants, or, in other words, endemics, of the Caucasus, Carpathians, Central Asia, etc.

The flora of our country contains many endemic species. There are especially many of them in the flora of high mountain belts.

Among the plants of the domestic flora, the so-called relics are of great interest - ancient species that have survived to our time from geological eras more or less distant from modern times. The “oldest” relics in our country are plants preserved from the Tertiary period (2 - 65 million years ago). These include, for example, Pontic rhododendron - a large evergreen shrub growing in the coastal regions of Georgia (Colchis); iron wood, forming forests in the mountains of Azerbaijan (in Talysh); Amur velvet - a tree common in our Far East (Primorye), and others. On the territory of the Soviet Union there are several regions where similar plants are found, the most important of them: Western Transcaucasia, or Colchis, the extreme south of Azerbaijan, or Talysh, our Far East. Relicts of the Tertiary period are rather heat-loving plants, so they survived in our country only where the climate remained quite warm for a long time. In other regions of the Soviet Union, plants of this type died in Quaternary period due to the onset of a glacier or a sharp climate change.

Relict plants, like endemic plants, are of great scientific value. Many of them need protection.

Lecture outline:

1. Position of the territory of the Rostov region in the system of botanical zoning. Overview of vegetation types in the area.

2. Features of the flora of the region.

3. Botanical and geographical zoning of the region.

1. Position of the territory of the Rostov region in the system of botanical zoning. Overview of vegetation types in the area.

The basin of the lower reaches of the Don and its western part - the Rostov region - are completely located within the Eurasian steppe zone. Steppes, as a zonal type of vegetation, are characteristic of leveled or slightly sloping watershed spaces, or plains. Steppes develop under conditions of a continental arid climate and flat terrain on soils of heavy mechanical composition (clayey and loamy) - on chernozems and chestnut soils. Steppe vegetation is a community of perennial drought-resistant and frost-resistant perennial grasses, the dominants of which are narrow-leaved dense-turf grasses and grass-like perennials.

Due to the vastness of the steppe zone, steppe communities do not remain homogeneous throughout its entire length and are sensitive to the slightest changes environmental conditions. In European Russia, the steppe zone includes four stripes, or subzones, of steppe vegetation: northern meadow, true forb-turfgrass and dry turfgrass and desert wormwood-turfgrass steppes.

Three subzonal types of steppes are common in the region: true rich-forb and forb-turf-grass steppes, dry turf-grass steppes (poor forb-grass steppes) and desert wormwood-turf-grass steppes. Having dominated in the past in the steppe part of the Don basin, by now they have been almost completely plowed. On varieties of zonal soils, often in non-zonal positions, edaphic variants of steppe vegetation are distinguished: halophytic, petrophytic, hemipsammophytic and psammophytic. They are distinguished by the best modern preservation.

The surviving steppes, including their edaphic variants, occupy, according to various sources, from 16.6% to 17.3% of the total area of ​​the region. Before plowing, they covered about 90% of the region's territory. The remaining areas of steppes are found in small fragments on gentle slopes of ravines unsuitable for arable land, in the territories of forestry enterprises, nature reserves, in water protection and other protection zones. They are distributed in more or less significant massifs in the southeastern regions, where the only steppe reserve in the region “Rostovsky” is located, as well as on rocky lands and on sandy river terraces above the floodplain.

The boundaries between subzonal types of steppes within the region have a meridional, rather than latitudinal, as usual, strike, which is associated with the direction of the axis of increasing climate aridity from northwest to southeast and the direct climatic influence of the Western Turanian (Caspian) deserts. Approximately these boundaries coincide with the isohyets of 450 and 400 mm of precipitation per year. However, the general direction of change in subzonal types of steppes is complicated and in some places disrupted by the presence of hills (Donetsk ridge, Don chalk ridge, spurs of the Kalach and Ergeninskaya uplands) and lowlands (Manych depression, lowering of the relief in the Azov region). Changes in absolute heights from 200 m and above in the hills to 50 m and below in the lowlands in the vegetation cover are reflected in the form of an extremely weakened phenomenon " vertical zoning": less xerophilic variants of steppe vegetation are confined to more elevated areas.

Thermal conditions also matter. Thus, in the northern regions of the region, with a relatively low amount of precipitation (less than 450 mm per year in the western part of the Don Chalk Ridge), due to lower average annual and summer temperatures, a favorable moisture balance develops for the development of the most mesophilic rich forb-turf-grass steppes and complex grove oak forests.

The botanical and geographical zoning of the steppe zone of Eurasia was carried out by the outstanding Russian steppe specialist, academician E.M. Lavrenko. According to this zoning, the steppes of the Rostov region are located within the Black Sea-Kazakhstan subregion of the Eurasian steppe region. Most of them are located in the Black Sea (Pontic) steppe province, and only the steppes of the extreme southeast belong to the Trans-Volga-Kazakhstan steppe province. The border between the Azov-Black Sea (Azov-Pontic) and Middle Don steppe subprovinces of the Black Sea (Pontic) province in the region runs along the Seversky Donets valley and further east along the Don valley. The steppes of the southeastern regions belong to one steppe subprovince - Ergeninsky-Zavolzhsky.

It should be noted that the provincial differences in the Don steppes are smoothed out. Many Pannonian-Pontic species characteristic of the Azov-Black Sea steppe subprovince penetrate into the extreme southwestern section of the Middle Don steppe subprovince, including one of the most important dominants of the steppes, Ukrainian feather grass Stipa ucrainica. The same applies to the steppes of the western section of the contour of the Ergeninsky-Trans-Volga steppe subprovince.

Non-zonal vegetation of the Rostov region is represented by several types. In negative forms of relief (river valleys, ravines, estuaries) communities of intrazonal (near-water, swamp, meadow) and extrazonal forest vegetation develop. Communities of desert halophytic vegetation on salt marshes, as well as on meadow and steppe solonetzes are also extrazonal. Intrazonal higher aquatic vegetation develops in the reservoirs of the region. In addition, on rocky rock outcrops and on alluvial and fluvioglacial sands of river terraces above the floodplain, unique intrazonal types of petrophytic and psammophytic vegetation are common. In both cases, this vegetation is the initial stage of the natural development of vegetation cover on these substrates, giving way to corresponding edaphic variants of steppe vegetation.

Finally, due to the high economic development of the territory, considerable areas in the region are occupied by vegetation of anthropogenically transformed ecotopes (technogenic, residential, ruderal, etc.), usually called synanthropic. Certain complexes of wild plants are also formed in artificial cenoses - forest plantations, shelterbelts, etc.

2. Features of the flora of the region.

The flora of the steppe part of the Don basin is distinguished by its richness and diversity of species composition. There are about 1950 species of vascular plants. In addition to vascular plants, 158 species of bryophytes, 192 species of lichens, about 550 species of fungi – macromycetes, and 800 species of phytopathogenic macro- and micromycetes were identified in the flora of the region. Algoflora of the Taganrog Bay and river. The Don and its tributaries contain over 900 species of phytoplankton and 45 species of algae - macrophytes.

The uniqueness of the Lower Don flora, the main core of which consists of species of zonal steppe communities, lies in the significant participation in it of species from adjacent zones. The contact of floristic complexes and communities of humid and arid florogenetic centers occurring on the territory of the steppe part of the Don basin, their mutual irradiation determine its rather variegated formational composition and transitional character, but at the same time, great species richness.

The taxonomic structure of the flora is characterized by the following leading families: Asteraceae – 13.6, Poaceae – 9.0, Brassicaceae – 6.2, Fabaceae – 6.0, Caryophyllaceae – 4.4, Lamiaceae – 4.3, Scrophulariaceae – 4.2, Apiaceae– 3.8% of the total number of species. Compared to the average taxonomic spectrum for the Eastern European flora as a whole, the Lower Don flora is distinguished by an increased proportion of species of the families Poaceae, Brassicaceae And Caryophyllaceae, which is determined by its connections with the ancient Mediterranean florogenetic centers. As part of the family Brassicaceae, containing many widespread synanthropic species, this may also be a consequence of its anthropogenic transformation. The major genera of the flora are Rosa(45 species), Carex(32 species), Veronica(30 species), Euphorbia(27 species), Centaurea(25 species), Allium, Artemisia, Galium(20 – 24 species each), Dianthus, Trifolium, Orobanche, Juncus etc. A third of all flora species (32.3%) belong to genera containing more than 10 species.

Among other indicators characterizing the taxonomic structure of the Lower Don flora, we point out the following. The average number of species per family is 14.3, per genus – 3.0. The ratio of species of the dicotyledonous and monocotyledonous classes is 3.9:1. More than half of its composition (51.5%) belongs to the ten leading families of the flora; more than two-thirds (70.6%) belong to 15. According to these parameters, the Lower Don flora occupies a transitional position between the floras of humid and arid florogenetic centers with great proximity to the latter.

The geographical heterogeneity of the flora of the region clearly appears when comparing three key floristic centers - northwestern, central and southeastern, corresponding to the distribution of the most characteristic types of subzonal forb-turfgrass, turf-grass and desert wormwood-turfgrass steppes. The richness of the floras of these centers is equal to 1202 species in the northwestern, 1013 in the central and 784 species in the southeastern. They have 676 species in common; 322 are specific to the northwestern, 64 to the central, and 18 to the southeastern. Species common to the northwestern and central nodal centers (204) are 2.3 times greater than for the central and southeastern (87). The seemingly more intense expansion of “northern” humid species into the central nodal flora, in relative terms (taking into account the species richness of floras) turns out to be not so significant: 16.1% versus 11.2% of penetrating arid desert species.

Steppe species form the core of the flora, both in general and in the floras of nodal centers, in individual specific and local floras. The proportion of steppe species ranges from 22–23 to 30–32% in the floras of individual regions, naturally increasing from the northwest to the southeast of the region. The general depletion of flora in this direction occurs due to a sharp decrease in the number of forest species. The increase in the number of halophyte species is less pronounced. Otherwise, the formational structure of the nodal floras is quite homogeneous (see Table 1).

Table 1

Formational structure of the flora of the nodal floristic centers

(I – number of species, II – as a percentage of the total number)

The uniqueness of the flora is emphasized by the presence of endemic species. The flora of the region contains both local endemics and endemics of the Pontic steppe province and its subprovinces. Most local endemics are associated with the phenomena of edaphic endemism and are confined to outcrops of various rocks and sands. The local Cis-Caucasian endemic is the false iris Iris notha. Local endemics of the Donetsk Ridge include Cleome Donetsk Cleome donetzica, bedstraw Dubovik Galium dubovicii, Serpukha Donetsk Serratula donetzica and others, to the Donetsk-Azov region - Pallas's hyacinth Hyacinthella pallasiana, Azov rosehip Rosa maeotica, norichnik Donetsk Scrophularia donetzica, Smolevka Donetsk Silene donetzica, milkweed Euphorbia cretophila and etc.

Donetsk-Don endemic plants are plants of chalk outcrops and open sands, for example, white-tomentose wormwood Artemisia hololeuca, types of cornflower Centaurea donetzica, C. protogerberi, C. tanaitica, abalone flower Klokova Chenorhinum klokovii, Don gorse Genista tanaitica, thin-legged Talieva Koeleria taliewii, chalk toadflax Linaria cretacea, chalk burrow Scrophularia cretacea, Don salsify Tragopogon tanaiticus and others, 20 species in total.

To the endemic sands of the basin of the middle and lower reaches of the Don, i.e. Don, include very rare extinct relict species of Astragalus Don Astragalus tanaiticus and Dubyansky's cornflower Centaurea dubjanskyi, the Volga-Don endemics include mainly plants of Cretaceous outcrops. Among the latter we can name the double-row chalk Diplotaxis cretacea, Meyer's bug Lepidium meyeri, chalk pennyweed Hedysarum cretaceum, doubtful hawthorn Crataegus ambigua, Norichnik Sarepta Scrophularia sareptana and etc.

Eastern Pontic endemics include more than 30 species, quite variegated in their ecological and phytocenotic composition. Most often these are steppe plants ( Euphorbia kaleniczenkoi, Onosma polychroma, O. subtinctoria, Veronica maeotica, Vincetoxicum maeoticum etc.), chalk and limestone outcrops ( Linum czerniaevii, Onosma tanaitica, Thymus calcareus etc.), a whole series of rosehip species ( Rosa chomutoviensis, R. diplodonta, R. lonaczevskii, R. subpygmaea, R. tesquicola and etc.).

The number of subendemics is significantly larger, there are about 200 species ( Caragana scythica, Ceratophyllum tanaiticum, Bellevallia sarmatica, Calophaca wolgarica, Dianthus squarrosus, Crocus reticulatus, Centaurea taliewii and etc.). Among the relict disjunctive subendemics is the most valuable and rare plant, which does not grow anywhere in Russia except in the Rostov region, Cymbochasma Dnieper Cymbochasma borysthenica.

The largest number of tertiary thermophilic relics is observed among aquatic flora: Althenia filiformis, Trapa natans, Vallisneria spiralis, aquatic fern Salvinia natans and etc.

In general, the level of endemism of the Lower Don flora is close to 15%. The presence of a large number of relict and endemic species indicates the long-term autochthonous development of the Lower Don flora. The questions of its genesis have not yet been fully investigated. The genesis of forest vegetation and associated floristic complexes has been analyzed in most detail. These studies belong to G.M. Zozulin. Based general ideas about historical development vegetation cover of the south of the European part of Russia, we can assume that its main floristic complexes took shape by the end of the Pliocene on the basis of the Turgai flora, enriched with elements of the ancient Mediterranean florogenetic centers. The Donetsk Ridge played a major role in the development of lowland flora, the flora of which has been characterized by continuous development at least since the beginning of the Paleogene.

3. Botanical and geographical zoning of the region.

Regional botanical and geographical zoning of the Rostov region was carried out by G.M. Zozulin and G.D. Pashkov (1974). On the territory of the region, 11 districts have been identified, taking into account the dominant subzonal types of steppes, the prevalence of non-zonal types of vegetation, and the characteristics of the floristic composition of communities. The outlines of these areas are shown in Figure 1, and their brief characteristics are as follows.

1). Northernmost region Kalach Upland(KV) with a developed erosion-denudation relief is located in a strip of rich herb-turf-grass steppes. Most of the ravines here are forested; complex oak forests prevail, overlooking the watershed slopes. Floristically, ravine forests are rich in nemoral species ( Ulmus glabra, Asarum europaeum, Polygonatum multiflorum, Carex montana, Stellaria holostea and etc.). Only in this area are some northern forest species, such as bracken, recorded at the southern borders of their ranges Pteridium aquilinum, woodsman Mercurialis perennis, bluegrass three-lobed Laser trilobum, Norway maple Acer platanoides and etc.

2). Srednedonskaya region (SD), or the region of the valley of the middle reaches of the Don, includes the right bank (high parts and the northern slope of the Don ridge dissected by ravines) and the left bank (with floodplain and sandy terraces above the floodplain) of the Don in its middle course. Forb-turfgrass steppes dominate; in the Don floodplain there is the Middle Don subtype of non-saline meadows with average moisture content. Large areas are occupied by floodplain forests and psammophytic herbaceous vegetation in combination with floristically rich arena forests (birch forests, aspen forests, oak forests, alder forests). Floodplain forests are dominated by oak forests; elm and alder forests are often found in near-terrace depressions. Alder forests contain a concentration of rare northern forest species ( Аthyrium filix-femina, Caltha palustris, Naumburgia thyrsiflora, Padus avium, Salix caprea, Thelypteris palustris etc.) The beams are wooded. Simplified oak forests are common in them; complex ones are noted only in the western part of the region. In ravine forests, many forest species have the southern boundaries of their ranges ( Asarum europaeum, Glechoma hirsuta, Carex elongata, C. montana, C. hartmannii, Bromopsis benekenii and etc.).

On the right bank of the Don, chalk outcrops with the richest chalk vegetation are widespread, in which chalk hyssops formed by obligate chalk ( Hyssopus cretaceus, Linaria cretacea and etc.). Only here they meet Hedysarum cretaceum, Serratula tanaitica, Juniperus sabina, Centaurea dubjanskyi, Polygala sibirica, Primula veris, Helictotrichon pubescens, Neottia nidus-avis and etc.

3). Kalitvensky district (K) - located on the southern gentle slope of the Don ridge in the river basin. Kalitva and its tributaries. Forb-turfgrass steppes predominate on the plains and poor forb-turfgrass steppes dominate on the slopes of river valleys. The ravines are forested, but the number of ravine forests to the south and southeast is decreasing, and they are concentrated in the upper reaches and bottom parts of the ravines. Simplified oak forests predominate north of the line “Millerovsky district - river. Alder." To the south of it, nemoral forest species, such as Aegopodium podagraria, Milium effusum, Pulmonaria obscura, Stachys sylvatica etc. Light forest species predominate in ravine forests ( Melica picta, Dictamnus caucasicus, Delphinium sergii, Symphytum tauricum, Vicia pisiformis and etc.).

Botanical and geographical areas of the Rostov region

(according to G.M. Zozulin and G.D. Pashkov, 1974).

Regions: KV - Kalach Upland, SD - valleys of the middle reaches of the Don, K - Kalitvensky, DC - Dono-Chirsky, DK - Donetsk Ridge, P - Priazovsky, DN - valleys of the lower reaches of the Don, AE - Azovo-Egorlyksky, DM - Manych valleys , DS – Dono-Salsky, EB – Ergeninskaya Upland.

There are widespread chalk outcrops belonging to the Voloshinsky (with developed chalk hyssopniks) and Kalitvensko-Glubokinsky (hyssopniks are weakly expressed) regions of Cretaceous vegetation. Psammophytic vegetation is found along the Seversky Donets and Kalitva. The forest coverage of sandy arenas is weak. Small peg and ribbon forests are floristically poor and formationally variegated, containing few forest species (of which Padus avium, Carex pallescens, Poa nemoralis, Scrophularia nodosa and etc.). Only found in this area Artemisia hololeuca, Carex divulsa, Coronaria flos-cuculi, Campanula altaica, Psathyrostachys juncea, Lathyrus niger and etc.

4). Dono-Chirsky district (DC) covers the Chira basin. A depleted version of forb-turfgrass steppes predominates, transforming along the slopes into moderately dry and dry turfgrass steppes in combination with the vegetation of steppe solonetzes. Bayrachnye forests are rare, located in the upper reaches of deep ravines and are represented by a subformation of simple oak forests with Acer tataricum And Euonymus verrucosa in the undergrowth. The grass cover in them is formed by weeds and forests ( Anthriscus sylvestris, Chelidonium majus, Galium aparine etc.) and, less commonly, light forest species. The Chira floodplain is poorly forested: island willow forests, aspen forests, and rarely elm forests are confined to the near-terrace floodplain; in its central part, only island birch bark forests and shrub formations—willow and black maple forests—are found; oak forests are completely absent. Steppe meadows (saline and non-saline) are widespread.

In the southern part of the region there is the Don-Tsimlyansky sandy massif with a complex of arena forests, psammophyte steppes and meadows. The arena forests are floristically poor and are represented by low-growing birch and aspen forests in valley-like depressions (there are no oak or alder forests here). Shrub thickets form Salix rosmarinifolia. Psammophytic steppes and pioneer groups on the sands alternate with sandy meadows in valley-like depressions (saline saline wheatgrass and non-saline reed grass).

Only found in this area Lycopodiella inundata, Orchis morio, O. palustris, Scabiosa isetensis, Dianthus rigidus, Nitraria shoberi and etc.

5). Area Donetsk Ridge(DK) is distinguished by the dominance of forb-turfgrass steppes and their petrophytic variants in combination with thyme forests on sandstones, limestones and shales. Bayrachnye forests are observed in deep ravines (simplified and simple oak forests). They are bordered by edge shrub formations and contain sub-Mediterranean species in the herbaceous layer and understory, e.g. Aegonychon purpureo-caeruleum, Vinca herbacea, Ornithogalum boucheanum, Ligustrum vulgare etc. (however, they lack many forest species). The Seversk-Donetsk floodplain is well forested. Meadow vegetation is represented by the western subtype of medium-humidity meadows. In the lower reaches of the river. Kundryuchya is the southernmost sandy massif in the region with arena forests and psammophyte herbaceous vegetation.

Only in this area are there species endemic to the Donetsk Ridge. Serratula donetzica, Cleome donetzica, Galium dubovicii etc., as well as Asplenium septentrionale, A. trichomanes, Onosma graniticola, Polygonatum latifolium, Pulmonaria mollissima and etc.

6). Priazovsky region (P), located on a coastal accumulative plain with gully-gully dissection, is characterized by an almost complete absence of ravine forests, which are replaced by shrub formations. In zonal positions, forb-turf-grass steppes are common in their most xerophytic Azov variant with edaphic petrophytic variants on rocky soils on the slopes of river valleys and ravines. Calciphiles are very typical for the steppes Salvia nutans, S. austriaca, Marrubium praecox, Teucrium polium, Clematis pseudoflammula, Cleistogenes maeotica etc. In the southernmost Tuzlovsky region of chalk vegetation, typical chalk hyssopniks do not form; dominates in pioneer groups Thymus calcareus with visible participation Artemisia salsoloides And Pimpinella titanophila. Species specific to the area are Eremurus spectabilis, Euphorbia cretophila, Genista scythica, Hyacinthella pallasiana, Linum hirsutum and etc.

7). Area Lower Don Valley(DN) gravitates towards the alluvial accumulative floodplain plain and is distinguished by the wide distribution of the Lower Don regional subtype of floodplain meadows (different types in moisture and salinity), rich in aquatic and semi-aquatic vegetation. The forest cover of the floodplain is uneven. Noticeable tracts of floodplain forests are observed in the estuarine part of the Seversky Donets, where, along with small-leaved forests (sedge forests, pussy willows, white poplar forests), oak forests are also found. Forest species of grasses are practically absent. Below the village. The Bagaevsky floodplain of the Don is treeless, not counting shrub formations and artificial forest plantations. There are few species specific to the area: Carex hordeistichos, Galega officinalis, Juncellus serotinus etc. Thermophilic aquatic relics are characteristic ( Vallisneria spiralis, Salvinia natans, Trapa natans s.l., Nymphoides peltata and etc.).

8). Area Manych valley(DM) is characterized by the dominance of moderately dry and dry turfgrass, valley and, in the extreme south, desert wormwood-turfgrass steppes in combination with solonetzes on the valley slopes and above-floodplain terraces. There are no natural forests. Communities of saline meadows, salt marshes, and meadow solonetzes are widespread, which include many desert-halophytic species ( Halocnemum strobilaceum, Halimione verrucifera and etc.). Only here in the relict Manych lakes and reservoirs of the Egorlyki floodplain are disjunctive thermophilic species found Althenia filiformis And Aldrovanda vesiculosa. Also typical for the area Frankenia pulverulenta, Crambe koktebelica(probably disappeared) Limonium suffruticosum, Tamarix meyeri, Marrubium leonuroides, Sameraria cardiocarpa and etc.

9). Azovo-Egorlyksky The region (AE) on the weakly dissected Yeisk-Egorlyk plain is located in the zone of dominance of rich forb-turf-grass Azov steppes. The area is completely treeless; in some places there are shrub formations in the ravines. After a break in the Azov region, meadow-steppe species participate in the formation of steppes: Echium maculatum, Filipendula vulgaris, Polygala comosa, Trifolium alpestre, T. montanum, Vicia tenuifolium, Libanotis montana and others. Meadows are represented by the western subtype of meadows of average and insufficient moisture and estuary - on the bottoms of estuaries of subsidence origin. Only in this area are marked Astragalus ponticus, Centaurium spicatum, Cymbochasma borysthenica, Iris notha, Kickxia elatine.

10). Dono-Salsky The region (DS) covers the Sal basin in the middle and lower reaches, high sections of the Salo-Manych ridge and its eastern slope. Dry soddy-grass steppes predominate here (in the west of the region there is a depleted version of forb-turfgrass steppes) in combination with steppe solonetzes. It is completely treeless, with occasional shrub formations in the ravines. The meadow vegetation is dominated by steppe meadows. Along the shore of the Tsimlyansk Reservoir there is a large tract of rocky steppes and thyme forests on marls and flasks with their characteristic Thymus kirgisorum. Only here they meet Buschia lateriflora, Astragalus calycinus and etc.

eleven). Near Ergeninskaya Upland(EV) within the Trans-Volga-Kazakhstan steppe province (on the western slope of Ergeni) desert wormwood-turfgrass steppes with a clear complexity of plant cover and a significant participation of desert-steppe xerophytes dominate ( Agropyron desertorum, Leymus ramosus, Stipa sareptana, Salsola laricina and etc.). There are no natural forests; low-shrub formations are spread sporadically in the ravines Caragana frutex, Calophaca wolgarica etc. In the upper reaches of the Sal basin, a special Verkhnesalsky variant of steppe meadows is widespread. Of the characteristic species - Euphorbia undulata,Stipa sareptana and etc.

LECTURE 2. Issues of protection and use of flora in the Rostov region.

Lecture outline:

1. Ecological and geographical groups of rare and endangered plant species .

2. Protection of the flora of the region in the system of protected areas.

3. Plant resources of the region and their potential.

1. Ecological and geographical groups of rare and endangered plant species.

In the complex set of problems of protecting vegetation in relation to the Rostov region, one has been most developed - the protection of the species diversity of natural flora. The high degree of economic development of the region's territory, the presence in the flora of a large number of species on the borders of their habitats and endemic ones are the reason that a significant part of the plants belongs to the category of rare, endangered and requiring protection. These are plants listed in the Red Book of the Rostov Region, the first edition of which was published in 2004.

In total, 327 species of plants and mushrooms are listed in the Red Book of the Rostov Region. Among them are fungi - 64 species (including 20 species of lichenized fungi, or lichens, and 44 species of fungi - macromycetes) and plants - 263 species (including 46 species of mosses, 28 species of higher spores, 1 species of gymnosperms and 188 species of angiosperms). In relative terms, the share of these species from the total number growing in the region is quite high: it is about 6.5% for fungi - macromycetes, about 10% for lichens, almost a third of mosses (30.2%) and about 10% - for vascular plants. Among the latter, almost all species of higher spore plants - mosses, horsetails (with the exception of 3 species) and ferns - are rare and endangered; There are 28 species in total. One of the two wild species of gymnosperms, Cossack juniper, is also included in the Red Book.

Thus, in total, approximately 9.5% of the species richness of fungi and plants identified to date in the Rostov region is included in the Red Book of the region. There are several reasons for such a large number of species that are rare and in need of protection.

Firstly, a significant number of naturally rare species grow in the region. These are species that are ecologically associated with specific substrates and therefore have a limited distribution, for example, species of rocky outcrops, marine littoral zones, fluvioglacial sands, etc. This group is dominated by obligate chalk plants - plants of chalk outcrops on the right banks of the Don and its tributaries northern half regions, more than half of which are included in the federal Red Book.

Secondly, the flora of the steppe part of the Don basin is very ancient, especially the flora of the Donetsk Ridge. Continuous autochthonous development of flora modern type can be traced back to the Paleogene, due to which it contains a group of endangered species that is most interesting from a scientific point of view relict species of different ages. Among them can be called chalk jaundice Erysimum cretaceum, Cymbochasma Dnieper, however, the most ancient species of the Lower Don flora are, apparently, a number of moss species with huge disjunctive areas ( Pterigoneurum kozlovii, Weissia rostellata and etc.).

The specificity of the Lower Don flora also lies in the fact that it contains big number borderline species. The steppe part of the Don basin is an arena of contact and interpenetration of species of northern humid (nemoral and boreal forest) and southern arid ancient Mediterranean mountain-steppe and desert) florogenetic centers. Some of the species of these florogenetic complexes are found in the region in isolated island locations on the border or outside the boundaries of their main range and, of course, are subject to protection.

Finally, a significant proportion of species included in the regional “Red Book” need protection for anthropogenic reasons. Their rarity or progressive reduction in range and numbers is due to destruction (of the steppe) or severe anthropogenic disturbance of habitats, which is characteristic of almost all remaining areas of natural vegetation in the region, including various types of reservoirs. For a number of species, eradication acts as the main limiting factor - these are resource species (edible macromycete mushrooms, medicinal and ornamental plants, etc.).

It is the combination of these factors, primarily the high economic development of the territory, that results in a critical, and for many species of plants and fungi of the Lower Don flora and mycobiota, a threatening state of their populations within the Rostov region.

Among rare and endangered species of vascular plants, seven main groups are distinguished depending on their association with certain types of vegetation and habitats, type of habitats and biological features.

Group steppe The species are united by previously widespread, but now on the verge of extinction, plants of the zonal steppes (due to the plowing of the steppes and intensive grazing on the remaining virgin lands). First of all, stenotopic obligate “steppes”, beautifully flowering early spring ephemeroids, and selectively eradicated useful plants became rare. This group includes 42 species (19.6%), incl. 19 are included in the federal Red Book. The latter include edificators of the former Don steppes of feather grass Stipa ucrainica, S. dasyphylla, S. pennata, S. pulcherrima, S. zalesskyi; early spring ephemeroids and hemiephemeroids Bellevalia sarmatica, Bulbocodium versicolor, Colchicum laetum, Eremurus spectabilis, Fritillaria ruthenica, Iris pumila, Paeonia tenuifolia, Tulipa schrenkii), Pontic and Pontic-Caspian endemics ( Calophaca wolgarica, Cymbochasma borysthenica, Delphinium puniceum, Elytrigia stipifolia, Eriosynaphe longifolia).

The second group of species is very numerous - plant species rocky outcrops. Along with steppe plants, these are extremely vulnerable stenotopic plants, which are deprived of a substrate for growth during the development of rocky rocks. Most of them belong to the pioneers of overgrowing rocky outcrops, are little competitive and are not found in more or less closed communities of rocky steppes. In addition, unlike steppe plants, petrophytic plants have always been relatively rare due to the limited distribution of rocky outcrops themselves.

Of the 46 (21.5%) species of rare and endangered petrophytes, 21 are obligate chalk. An extremely unique flora is associated with the chalk outcrops of the Rostov region, the originality of which is due to the specificity of chalk as a substrate, geographical reasons and historical reasons for its formation.

The steppe part of the Don basin, including the Seversky Donets basin, is one of the main genetic centers of the chalk flora and vegetation of the East European Plain - the so-called South Russian Cretaceous center. The vegetation and flora of the Cretaceous outcrops of the middle reaches of the Don and the Seversky Donets are distinguished by an increased concentration of Tertiary (Paleogene and Neogene) paleoendemics (for example, white-tomentose wormwood, Cretaceous toadflax, Cretaceous pennyweed, Meyer's bug, etc.) and products of the latest race formation - local and stenotopic neoendemics (hyssop Cretaceous, Klokov's abalone, Cretaceous woodruff, Cretaceous hornwort, Cretaceous hornwort, Don serpukha, Don gorse, etc.).

Of the plants and fungi living on chalk outcrops, 34 obligate and facultative chalk species are listed in the regional Red Book, of which 15 are also listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation - this is a third of the plant species growing in the region included in the federal list.

Endemic chalk outcrops are one of the most valuable autochthonous components of the core of the regional flora from environmental and scientific points of view.

Some species of this group are narrowly local and disjunctive endemics, confined to outcrops of crystalline rocks and shales of the Donetsk Ridge and its spurs ( Сleome donetzica, Onosma graniticola, Scrophularia donetzica, Serratula donetzica etc.), the extreme natural rarity and small population size of which is complicated, unfortunately, by the lack of real forms of their protection.

The third group unites plants of pioneer groups open sands– coastal and, mainly, fluvioglacial on sandy river terraces above the floodplain, called arenas (from lat. arena- sand).

The flora of sands occupy a special place among other floristic complexes of the south of European Russia, being a brilliant and historically long-standing analogue of the flora of sandy deserts. It reveals a record concentration of endemic species for lowland floras (from 20 to 40% of the species in its composition are endemics of different ages and ranks), which is an indicator of long-term autochthonous development. Sands, like rocky outcrops, are the arena of the latest race and speciation (a series of neo-endemics in the genera cornflower, clove, thyme, wheatgrass, woodruff, etc.).

Psammophytic flora underlies a special edaphic variant of steppe vegetation - sandy steppe, widespread in ancient sandy arenas of river terraces, and many authors (M.V. Klokov, E.M. Lavrenko, etc.) allow the earlier emergence of sandy steppe as a type of vegetation in the Black Sea zone of the south of the East European Plain than in the zonal steppe on black soil.

The Red Book of the Rostov Region includes, among the species of open sands, 3 species of macromycete fungi, 4 species of mosses, 16 vascular plants ( Astragalus tanaiticus, Centaurea dubjanskyi,Crambe pontica, Eryngium maritimum) and hummocky on river terraces above the floodplain ( Allium savranicum, Centaurea donetzica, C. gerberi, C. protogerberi, Pulsatilla pratensis etc., 12 species in total), among the last 5 species are narrowly local endemics and 4 species from the federal Red Book. The most scientifically valuable and rapidly dying species is the endemic and relict Astragalus Don. The situation with current state populations of this species are completely unknown. It is highly likely to be consumed by the young pontic endemic Astragalus fusiflora and requires urgent study and protection.

Three more species are found only or predominantly on the sands within the region: Juniperus sabina, Radiola linoides and a southern European disjunctive species included in the federal Red Book Prangos trifida, known from old collections from a single locality and probably disappeared.

The concept of flora…………………………………………………………….3-8
Contribution of flora to overall biodiversity………………………..9-10
Characteristics of the flora of Bashkortostan……………………….11-39
Protection of biological diversity and flora

as its component…………………………………………. 39-47

Conclusion…………………………………………………………….….48

Conclusions…………………………………………………………………….49

Introduction.
Preserving biodiversity is one of the key problems in building a society with sustainable development.The most important component of biodiversity is flora as a set of plant species growing in a certain area. Flora serves as the basis for the formation of not only vegetation, but also ecosystems. In accordance with the well-known ecological principle “diversity begets diversity,” flora predetermines the composition of heterotrophic components of ecosystems. For this reason, the study of flora, its rational use and protection are the most important components of a broad program for the conservation of biodiversity as an exhaustible resource.
There is undeniable progress in protecting biodiversity around the world. A number of important international documents have been adopted and are being implemented, such as the “Concept on the Protection of biological diversity"(Rio de Janeiro, 1992), "Pan-European Strategy for the Protection of Biological Diversity" (1996), etc. International cooperation in environmental issues is expanding and the activities of international organizations are intensifying - UNESCO, World Union Nature Conservation (IUCN), World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The WWF office operates in the Republic of Bashkortostan and makes a significant contribution to the protection of flora.
In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the protection of biodiversity in Russia and Bashkortostan. The need to preserve biodiversity is reflected in such documents as the “Concept of the Russian Federation’s transition to sustainable development” (1996), the federal law “On environmental protection (2002), the “Ecological Doctrine of Russia” (2002), the law “On specially protected natural territories of the Republic of Bashkortostan" (1995), republican comprehensive program "Ecology and natural resources of the Republic of Bashkortostan for 2004-2010", "Concept for the development of a system of protected natural areas in the Republic of Bashkortostan" (2003).
Purpose of the work: to talk about the uniqueness of the flora as a hotbed of biodiversity of global significance, economic value, state of use and protection; characterize the flora of Bashkortostan.

I. The concept of flora.
Flora (in botany, lat. flora) - a historically established set of plant species distributed in a certain territory at the present time or in past geological eras. Houseplants, plants in greenhouses, etc. are not included in the flora.
The name of the term comes from the name of the Roman goddess of flowers and spring blossoms, Flora (lat. Flora).
In practice, the expression “Flora of a certain territory” often means not all plants of a given territory, but only vascular plants (Tracheophyta).
Flora should be distinguished from vegetation– a collection of different plant communities. For example, in the flora of the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere, species of the families of willows, sedges, grasses, ranunculaceae, and Asteraceae are richly represented; from conifers - pine and cypress; and in vegetation - plant communities of tundra, taiga, steppe, etc.
Historically, the development of flora is directly determined by the processes of speciation, the displacement of some plant species by others, plant migrations, their extinction, etc.
Each flora has specific properties - the diversity of its constituent species (richness of flora), age, degree of autochthony, endemism. Differences between the floras of certain territories are explained primarily by the geological history of each region, as well as differences in orographic, soil, and especially climatic conditions.

Flora analysis methods:

geographical analysis - division of flora by geographic distribution; identification of the proportion of endemics;
genetic analysis (from the Greek genesis “origin, emergence”) - division of flora according to the criteria of geographical origin and history of settlement;
botanical-geographical analysis - establishing connections between a given flora and other floras;
ecological and phytocenological analysis - division of flora by growing conditions, by types of vegetation;
age analysis - division of the flora into progressive (young in time of appearance), conservative and relict elements;
systematic structure analysis - comparative analysis of the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of various systematic groups that make up the given flora.

Flora typification

Flora of specialized groups
Collections of plant taxa, covering specialized groups of plants, have corresponding specialized names:
Algoflora- algae flora.
Bryoflora- moss flora.
Dendroflora, or arboriflora- flora of woody plants.
Three more terms appeared before these groups of organisms were no longer classified as plants:
Lichen flora- lichen flora.
Mycoflora- mushroom flora.
Mixoflora- flora of myxomycetes (slime molds)

Flora of the territories
From the point of view of the nature of the territories under consideration, they are distinguished:
Flora of the Earth as a whole
Flora of continents and their parts
Flora of individual natural formations(islands, peninsulas, mountain systems)
Flora of countries, regions, states and other administrative entities

Flora according to external conditions
According to the criterion of external conditions, the territories under consideration are distinguished:
Flora of chernozem and other soil types
Flora of swamps and other special areas of the earth's surface
Flora of rivers, lakes and other fresh water bodies
Flora of the seas and oceans

Basic approaches to the study of floras.

Flora as a set of species of a certain territory is formed under the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors. For this reason, studying its composition is one of the tasks of environmental monitoring.

Regional floras.
Most often, regional floras are studied within the boundaries of administrative units (republic, administrative district, city or rural settlement). This is the most traditional type of floristic research, the most important task that allows for one of the options for biomonitoring - monitoring the state of biological diversity of plants in the region.
The result of the study of regional flora is a complete list of plant species with an assessment of their distribution. This makes it possible to identify rare species and compile the “Red Book”. With periodic repeated examinations, a tendency for changes in the flora under the influence of humans is revealed, primarily adventization, i.e. an increase in the proportion of alien species and a decrease in floristic diversity.
The study of regional floras is necessary for the geobotanical study of vegetation, the assessment of botanical resources and the development of a system for the protection of plant biodiversity in the region.

Specific floras.
Unlike regional floras, which are distinguished for any territory, regardless of the diversity of environmental conditions (they may contain different natural areas, plains and mountains, etc.) specific floras are identified for ecologically homogeneous territories (with one type of climate, one type of geomorphological structure of the surface, one type of predominant vegetation). For example, the flora of the Baymak or Abzelilovsky district, which include lowland and mountainous territories, cannot be considered as specific floras. The flora of the steppe part of the Bashkir Trans-Urals, the flora of the southern part of the mountain forest zone of Bashkortostan, etc. can be considered as specific.
The identification of specific floras is carried out over a fairly large area, within which the influence of the natural complex and human activity on the composition of plant species is fully manifested. This value can vary from 100 km? in the Arctic up to 1000 km? in the tropics.

Partial floras.
The concept of “partial flora” was proposed by B.A. Yurtsev within the framework of the method of specific floras, but this concept is also used in the study of regional floras. Partial flora is understood as the flora of a certain type of habitat and, accordingly, a certain type of plant community associated with it (in this case, the partial flora is called coenoflora). Thus, partial floras of reservoirs and coastal-aquatic habitats, lowland, transitional and raised swamps, southern steppe rocky slopes, post-forest meadows, wastelands, and fields are distinguished. When studying the floras of populated areas, partial floras of vegetable gardens, courtyards, trampled habitats, ditches, dung heaps, etc. are identified.

Assessing gamma diversity.
Gamma diversity is a form of biological diversity, defined as the number of plant species in a landscape or geographic area. It is synonymous with regional flora.
Gamma diversity depends on the area of ​​the study area and is formed as a result of the interaction of two forms of diversity:
Alpha - diversity - species diversity of communities;
Beta diversity - diversity of communities.
These two indicators are related nonlinearly, because In different communities, species richness is different, however, it is obvious that the richer the community is in species and the higher the diversity of these communities, the higher the gamma diversity. Naturally, both components of gamma diversity depend on the characteristics of climate and topography. On the flat territory of the desert zone, the values ​​of alpha and beta diversity and, accordingly, gamma diversity will be minimal. In the temperate zone, with a complex topography that combines species-rich communities of steppes, meadows, forests, and, in addition, there are coastal-aquatic and aquatic communities and ruderal and segetal communities associated with human influence, gamma diversity will be high.

Analysis of flora composition.
Any flora (regional, specific, partial) consists of species that differ in a significant number of parameters: systematic affiliation, life form, geographical characteristics, biological characteristics. For this reason, a qualitative analysis of the composition of the flora (compilation of various spectra) is one of the mandatory sections of any floristic study.
Flora analysis includes compiling spectra based on the following parameters.

Systematic composition.
The representation of different families is analyzed, special attention is paid to the first 10 families, which are called leading. The degree of their participation in the flora and the complex of soil-climatic factors, and the history and current state of the flora under human influence. Thus, for the natural flora of the temperate zone, to which Bashkortostan belongs, the leading families (Table 1) are characterized by the participation of Asteraceae, grasses, roses, sedges, legumes, cruciferous plants, cloves, noricaceae, etc. With increasing human influence (synanthropization and adventivization flora) the proportion of species from the families Chenopodiaceae and Cruciferae is increasing.
When analyzing the systematic composition of the flora, such indicators as the average number of species in a genus, the average number of genera in a family, the average number of species in a family that can receive an evolutionary interpretation are used (the more genera in families, the more ancient they are; the more more types in childbirth, on the contrary, they reflect later stages of evolution).

Spectrum of life forms.
This spectrum also reflects the diversity of environmental conditions in which the studied flora was formed. Thus, in tropical rainforests, phanerophytes predominate; in the forests of the temperate zone, to which Bashkortostan belongs, despite the fact that phanerophytes dominate, hemicryptophytes predominate in the flora. In the steppes and meadows there are few phanerophytes and the predominance of hemicryptophytes is more complete. Therophytes predominate in deserts. The significant participation of therophytes indicates synanthropization of the environment.

Synanthropicity of the flora.
Assessing the replenishment of flora by adventitious plants is an informative method of biomonitoring, because the proportion of alien plants is directly related to the intensity of vegetation transformation by humans.
This version of the analysis includes the compilation of spectra for the proportional participation of different groups of synanthropic species from among local species that have adapted to intense human influence, as well as adventive species.

Phytosociological spectrum.
The most promising way to compare floras (especially specific ones) is to evaluate the modern ecological structure of the flora and the degree of its adventivization.
By comparing the share of species of different orders or classes of vegetation, one can obtain the most integrated information about the geography, ecology and anthropogenic disturbance of the studied flora.

Contribution of flora to overall biodiversity.

Characteristics of the flora of Bashkortostan.

According to the latest data, the flora of vascular plants of Bashkortostan includes 1730 species, bryoflora - 405 species, lichen biota - 400 species. The floristic diversity of different regions of Bashkortostan varies. Areas with a high concentration of species are the Iremel and Yaman-Tau mountains; shikhans (mountains - outliers) Tratau, Yuraktau, Tastuba, Balkantau, Yaryshtau, Susaktau; ridges Mashak, Zigalga, Irendyk, Krykty, Kraka, Shaitan - Tau; valleys of the rivers Belaya, Inzer, Ural, Sakmara, Zilim, Nugush, Uryuk, B. and M. Ik, Zilair, Fortress Zilair, Tanalyk; lakes Yakty - Kul, Urgun, Talkas, Karagaily; swamps Tyulyukskoye, Tygynskoye, Zhuravlinoe, Septinskoye, Arkaulovskoye, Lagerevskoye, etc.
The formation of high floristic diversity is associated with the influence of a number of natural, historical and anthropogenic factors.

Relief. The Southern Urals mountain system is located on the territory of Bashkortostan. Due to the vertical zonation, mountainous terrain allows different biomes to be combined in a limited area - from mountain tundras and boreal forests to deciduous forests and steppes.

History of flora. The enrichment of the flora was facilitated by the complex history of the territory of Bashkortostan, especially its mountainous part. It contains many relics that reflect the history of the region over the past 1.5 million years, when climate cooling and warming alternated in the Pleistocene and Holocene.

Geographical location: the junction of Europe and Asia. The position of Bashkortostan at the junction of Europe and Asia has led to the combination of Siberian and European species in communities (the formation of an ecotone effect on a geographic scale). Thus, in the forests of the Southern Urals, typical European species are combined, such as amazing violet, lungwort, woodland grass, foxglove grandiflora, fragrant bedstraw, and species of the Siberian range - Siberian adonis, northern aconite, Gmelin's rank, unripe lance-shaped, etc.

Latitudinal zone. The location at the junction of forest and steppe zones gave rise to widespread hemiboreal forests with pine dominating the tree layer (with the participation of birch, larch and aspen). These are the richest forests in the Southern Urals, which is also due to the ecotone effect. With the undeniable dominance of boreal species in the herbage (reed grass, northern aconite, lily-leaved bellweed), nemoral and subnemoral species are common in these forests: male shield grass, spreading boron, stiff-leaved chickweed, common gooseberry, amazing violet, etc. A significant role is played by meadow, meadow- steppe and steppe species, such as: steppe cherry, chiliga, Russian broom, oregano, etc.

Human influence. During the period of sustainable environmental management, characteristic of the Bashkirs before the reform of 1861, anthropogenic factors did not cause significant damage to BR and other renewable resources. Moreover, some forms of human influence were a factor that increased BR. Thus, it was thanks to humans that species-rich communities of lowland and mountain post-forest meadows were formed. After the disappearance of natural large steppe phytophages (saiga, tarpan), it was the school horse breeding of the Bashkirs that was the main factor in the preservation of the steppe biome. Schools of horses constantly moved across the steppe landscapes, ensuring uniform grazing of phytomass. In addition, horses have the least detrimental effect on steppe communities: hoof pressure is minimal, and a wide diet contributes to uniform consumption of grass.

Systematic composition of the flora.

Table 1. Representation of families of higher spores and gymnosperms in the flora of Bashkortostan.

Resource characteristic

Let's consider the main groups of useful plants of the flora of Bashkortostan: forage, medicinal, melliferous, food, as well as “anti-useful” plants - poisonous, many of which, however, are used as medicines.

Forage plants
Forage plants form the basis of hayfields and pastures. Their number in Bashkortostan is at least 500 species. Forage plants are divided into agrobotanical groups: cereals, legumes, forbs, sedges, wormwood. In turn, these groups can be divided into steppe and meadow.
Cereals
Steppe: Agropyron pectinatum (crested wheat grass), Festuca pseudovina (false fescue), F. Valesiaca (Welsh grass), Koeleria cristata (crested grass), Poa transbaicalica (steppe bluegrass), Stipa capillata (feather grass), S. Lessingiana ( K. Lessing), S. Pennata (K. pinnate), S. Sareptana (K. Sarepta), S. Tirsa (K. angustifolia), S. Zalesskii (K. Zalesski).
Meadow: Agrostis gigantean (giant bentgrass), A. Stolonifera (shoot-forming species), Alopecurus pratensis (meadow foxtail), Bromopsis inermis (awnless brome), Calamagrostis epigeios (ground reed grass), Dactylis glomerata (urchin grass), Elytrigia repens (wheatgrass) creeping), Festuca pratensis (meadow fescue), Phalaroides arundinacea (reed grass), Phleum pratensis (meadow timothy grass), Poa angustifolia (angustifolia bluegrass), P. pratensis (meadow grass).
Legumes
Steppe: Astragalus danicus (Danish astragalus), Medicago romanica (Romanian alfalfa), Melilotus albus (white sweet clover), M. Officinalis (officinalis), Onobrychis arenaria (sandy sainfoin), Trifolium montanum (mountain clover), Vicia tenuifolia (pea narrow-leaved).
Meadow: Lathyrus pratensis (meadow chin), Medicago lupulina (hop alfalfa), Trifolium hybridum (hybrid clover), T. pratense (meadow pea), T. repens (creeping pea), Vicia cracca (mouse pea).
Forbs
Steppe: Achillea millefolium (common yarrow), Centaurea scabiosa (cornflower), Filipendula vulgaris (meadowsweet), Galium verum (bedstraw), S. stepposa (steppe sage), Serratula coronata (crowned cornflower), Thalictrum minus (small cornflower ).
Meadow: Achillea millefolium (common yarrow), Carum carvi (common cumin), Filipendula ulmaria (meadowsweet), Fragaria viridis (green strawberry), Geranium pratensis (meadow geranium), Heracleum sibiricum (Siberian hogweed), Leucanthemum vulgare (common cornflower) , Pimpinella saxifrage (saxifrage), Plantago maior (great plantain), P. media (medium), Polygonum aviculare (bird knotweed), P. bistorta (snake), Potentilla anserina (cinquefoil), Prunella vulgaris ( common blackhead), Ranunculus polyanthemos (multifloral buttercup), Rumex confertus (horse sorrel), R. thyrsiflorus (pyramidal sorrel), Sanguisorba officinalis (burnet), Tanacetum vulgare (common tansy), Taraxacum officinale (dandelion), Tragopogon orientalis ( eastern salsify).
Meadow-marsh: Caltha palustris (marsh marigold), Lythrum salicaria (willow loosestrife), Symphytun officinale (comfrey), Trollius europaeus (European bathhouse).
Sedges
The main part of sedge species is associated with wet and swampy meadows. Sedges are poorly eaten on pastures, and sedge hay is considered of little value. The feed value of sedge forage increases when it is ensiled.
The most common in Bashkortostan on waterlogged soils are Carex acuta (sharp sedge), C. Acutiformis (pointed sedge), C. cespitosa (turfy sedge), C. juncella (sedge sedge). C. pediformis (stop-shaped), C. Praecox (early), C. muricata (spiny) and others are common in steppe meadows and steppes.
Among the saline species, C. asparatilis (rough) and C. distans (distanced) are of greatest nutritional importance.
Wormwood
Artemisia (genus Artemisia) form the basis of semi-desert communities, which do not exist in Bashkortostan. However, some species of wormwood are found in disturbed meadow and ruderal communities (A. Absinthium - wormwood, sieversiana - Siversa village, A. vulgaris - common wormwood), however, most of the wormwood is associated with steppe grass stands, with a special role played by Austrian wormwood ( A. austriaca), dominant in the steppes with heavy grazing. All wormwoods are poorly eaten in pastures and hay.
Medicinal plants

The great medieval physician Paracelsus said that “the whole world is a pharmacy, and the Almighty is a pharmacist.” Currently, the flora of Bashkortostan includes about 120 species used in scientific medicine, and more than 200 species used in folk medicine. List medicinal plants flora of Bashkortostan used in scientific medicine:
Achillea millefolium (common yarrow)
Adonis vernalis (Spring adonis)
Alnus incana (Grey Alder)
Althaea officinalis (Althaea officinalis)
Angelica archangelica (Angelica officinalis)
Artemisia absinthium (Wormwood)
Betula pendula (Warty birch)
Bidens tripartita (Tripartite series)
Bupleurum aureum
Capsella bursa – pastoris (Shepherd's purse)
Carum carvi (Cumin)
Centaurea cyanus (Blue Cornflower)
Centaurium erythraea (Common centaury)
Chamerion angustifolium (Ivan - narrow-leaved tea)
Chamomilla recutita (Chamomile)
Chamomilla suaveolens (Chamomile)
Chelidonium majus (Great celandine)
Convallaria majalis (May lily of the valley)
Crataegus sanguinea (Blood red hawthorn)
Datura stramonium (Datura stramonium)
Delphinium elatum (Tall Larkspur)
Digitalis grandiflora (Foxglove grandiflora)
Dryopteris filix – mas (Male fern)
Echinops sphaerocephalus (Echinops sphaerocephalus)
Elytrigia repens (Creeping wheatgrass)
Erysimum diffusum (Erysimum diffusum)
Equisetum arvense (Horsetail)
Fragaria vesca (Wild strawberry)
Frangula alnus (Break buckthorn)
Glycyrrhiza korshinskyi (Korzhinsky's licorice; the species is included in the Red Book of the Republic of Belarus)
Gnaphalium rossicum (Russian dryweed)
Humulus lupulus (Common hop)
Huperzia selago (Common sheep)
Hyoscyamus niger (Black henbane)
Hypericum perforatum (St. John's wort)
Inula helenium (Elecampane)
Juniperus communis (Common juniper)
Leonurus quinquelobatus (Moonwort five-lobed)
Lycopodium clavatum (Moss moss)
Melilotus officinalis (Melilot officinalis)
Menyanthes trifoliate (Trifoliate watch)
Nuphar lutea (Yellow egg pod)
Origanum vulgare (Oregano)
Oxycoccus palustris (Swamp cranberry)
Padus avium (Bird cherry)
Plantago major
Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine)
Polemonium caeruleum (Blue cyanosis)
Polygonum aviculare (Knotweed)
Polygonum bistorta (Snake knotweed)
Polygonum hydropiper (Water pepper)
Polygonum persicaria (Knotweed)
Potentilla erecta (Potentilla erecta)
Quercus robur (English oak)
Rhamnus cathartica (Gester laxative)
Ribes nigrum (Black currant)
Rosa majalis (May rosehip)
Rubus idaeus (Common raspberry)
Rumex confertus (Horse sorrel)
Sanguisorba officinalis (Burnet)
Sorbus aucuparia (Rowan)
Tanacetum vulgare (Common tansy)
Taraxacum officinale (Dandelion)
Thermopsis lanceolata (Thermopsis lanceolata)
Thymus serpyllum (Creeping thyme)
Tilia cordata (Little Leaf Linden)
Tussilago farfara (Mother and Stepmother)
Urtica dioica (Nettle)
Vaccinium vitis – idaea (Lingonberry)
Valeriana officinalis (Valerian officinalis)
Veratrum lobelianum (Lobel's hellebore)
Viburnum opulus (Viburnum)

Honey plants
Beekeeping is a traditional branch of the Bashkir economy, and the main food supply for bees consists of plants of wild flora, which determines the high commercial quality of Bashkir honey. Honey plants include plants from which bees collect nectar and pollen. Bees get sugar (carbohydrates) from nectar, and protein and fat from pollen.
All plants, including nectar bearers, provide pollen, but wind-pollinated plants are especially rich in it. Among them: tree and shrub species from the genera Alnus (alder), Betula (birch), Corylus (hazel), Populus (poplar), Salix (willow), Quercus (oak), Ulmus (elm); herbs – Cannabis ruderalis (hemp), Humulus lupulus (hops), species of the genera Amaranthus (sorrel), Artemisia (wormwood), Bidens (chain), Chenopodium (pigweed), Rumex (sorrel), Typha (cattail) and others.

E.N. Klobukova - Alisova identifies the following groups of honey plants.

Poisonous plants
Some of the flora of Bashkortostan is represented by poisonous plants, and many of the plant poisons in low doses are used as medicines. The most important poisonous plants are the following: Aconitum septentrionale (tall fighter), Actaea spicata (spike-shaped crowberry), Adonis vernalis (spring adonis), Anemonoides altaica (Altai anemone), A. ranunculoides (buttercup), Chelidonium majus (greater celandine), Cicuta virosa (poisonous plant, this is the most poisonous plant), Conium maculatum (spotted hemlock), Convallaria majalis (May lily of the valley), Daphne mezereum (wolf's bast), Equisetum palustre (swamp horsetail), E. pratense (meadow horsetail), E fluviatile (x. river), E. sylvaticum (x. forest), Hyoscyamus niger (black henbane), Juniperus Sabina (Cossack juniper), Paris quadrifolia (four-leaved crow's eye)
Brief description of natural areas of the Republic of Bashkortostan

BASHKIR CIS-URALS
1. Kama-Tanypsky region of broad-leaved, broad-leaved-dark-coniferous and pine forests
The undulating plain between the rivers. Kama, Belaya and Bystry Tanyp. The climate is moderately warm, well-humidified. Gray and light gray forest, soddy-podzolic and floodplain soils predominate.
Human influence. The area is heavily developed and densely populated. Factors of threat to biodiversity and deterioration of the ecological situation: cutting down the last fragments of indigenous forest types and replacing them with artificial plantings; air pollution from industrial emissions and acid rain; pollution (soil, atmosphere, water) during oil production; soil erosion; overgrazing; destruction of natural vegetation during the preparation of the bed of the Nizhnekamsk reservoir; unregulated recreation in coniferous forests (Nikolo-Berezovskoe district); anthropogenic swamping of forests, etc.
Vegetation, flora. In the past, broad-leaved-dark coniferous (linden-fir-spruce, oak-fir-spruce), broad-leaved (linden-birch, linden-oak, etc.) and, along the sandy river terraces, broad-leaved pine forests dominated, which, at present , were mostly replaced by secondary forests, meadows, artificial plantings and farmland. The main forest-forming species: spruce, fir, pine, birch, linden, oak, aspen. The vast swamp areas that existed in the past (Katay, Cherlak-Saz, etc.) in the Pribelskaya Lowland have been destroyed or severely disturbed by land reclamation. The flora is mixed, boreal-nemoral, relatively poor. Relict and endemic species are almost absent.
Objectives of biodiversity protection. Key areas with rich biodiversity: river valleys and their terraces (the Kama, Belaya, Bystry Tanyp, Piz, Bui, etc. rivers), the Karmanovskoye reservoir, the green zone of Neftekamsk, restricted forest strips along river banks, preserved and restored island indigenous types of forests and swamps. The level of protection is low: 1 reserve and 6 natural monuments.
Main objects of protection: standard and rare types of forests (broad-leaved-dark-coniferous and pine, southern taiga pine forests, green moss and lichen, pine-larch-linden - on sandy soils, spruce-white moss forests, etc.), preserved and potentially restored swamps (sphagnum pine, sedge-hypnum, etc. .), rare species of plants (Siberian iris, sandy astragalus, perennial forest grass, wild rosemary, marsh cranberry, grasshopper, etc.). Species requiring reintroduction or restoration of habitats: narrow-cupped carnation, anomalous peony, slender cotton grass.
2. Zabelsky region of broad-leaved forests
General characteristics of the natural complex. Gently undulating and hilly plains of Pribelye. Karst landforms are widely represented. The climate is moderately warm, well-humidified. To one degree or another, podzolized gray forest soils predominate.
Human influence. The area is heavily developed and densely populated. Factors that threaten biodiversity and deteriorate the ecological situation: logging of indigenous forests, overgrazing, soil erosion, river pollution. White industrial wastewater, air pollution, destruction of swamps, unregulated recreation around cities, poaching, urbanization, etc.
Vegetation, flora. In the past, broad-leaved forests (oak, linden, maple, elm) dominated, which have now largely given way to secondary forests (linden, birch, aspen) and farmland. In the north of the region, minor fragments of broad-leaved and dark-coniferous forests have been preserved. On the slopes in small areas there are steppe meadows and meadow steppes. Along the banks of the Belaya and Sim rivers, small fragments of pine forests have been preserved. The flora is mixed, relatively poor.
Security tasks. Key areas with rich biodiversity: valley natural complexes (the Belaya, Sim, Bir, Bystry Tanyp rivers, etc.), restricted forest strips along river banks, numerous sphagnum swamps in karst depressions, old-growth forests, relict island pine forests along the Belaya and Sim. The level of protection is low: 20 small natural monuments and 2 zoological reserves.
Main objects of protection: rare species of plants (salvinia floating, ephedra bispica, rusty schenus, yellow iris, oblique onion, swamp cranberry, water chestnut, blue-blue, etc.).
Species requiring reintroduction or habitat restoration: beautiful feather grass, wood apple tree.
3. Region of deciduous-dark coniferous forests of the Ufa Plateau
General characteristics of the natural complex. A flat hill deeply dissected by river valleys with absolute heights of 450-500m. Karst landforms are widely represented. The climate is moderately warm, well-humidified. Mountain gray forest soils predominate. There are unique frozen soils under green moss forests.
Human influence. The area is heavily developed (long-term logging) and sparsely populated. Factors that threaten biodiversity and deteriorate the ecological situation: logging of the last fragments of indigenous forests (including in restricted areas), air pollution from industrial emissions and acid rain, forest fires, unregulated recreation around the Pavlovsk reservoir, poaching.
Vegetation, flora. In the past, linden-dark coniferous and dark coniferous (spruce, fir) forests predominated. In addition, oak forests were widespread in the western part, and pine and broad-leaved pine forests were widespread in the northern and eastern parts. At present, indigenous forests, disturbed to one degree or another, are preserved mainly only in restricted strips along the Ufa, Yuryuzan, and Ai rivers. The rest of the territory is dominated by secondary birch, aspen and linden forests. Areas of steppe meadows and sphagnum bogs are rare. The flora is mixed boreal-nemoral, enriched with relict Siberian species (Siberian zygadenus, Siberian adonis, bitter bitter, etc.). An endemic species of the Ufa Plateau, the Ural moth, has been described.
etc.................

The impact of all of the above and other factors has led to the formation of specific plant communities in the urban ecosystem! with a unique species composition. In this case, two opposing processes can be observed. On the one hand, many plant species characteristic of the conditions of a given region are disappearing, on the other hand, new species are appearing.

So, in the flora of any city you can find local (aboriginal) Wilsh or autochthonous by origin and species allochthonous(from aNosis - ChuayaV i.e. who came to this territory from other regions of the globe. Sravlin

Recently introduced species began to be called adventive, or newcomers. Introduced species can be either cultivated or weedy. The spread of adventive species can occur spontaneously or deliberately. Purposeful human activity to introduce into culture in a given natural-historical region plants that previously did not grow there, or transfer them into culture from the local flora is called introduction.

The number of adventive species in cities is very large. The share of adventive species in urban flora can reach up to 40%, especially in landfills and railways. For example, currently 370 adventive species have been identified in Moscow and the region (Ecopolis-2000..., 2000). Sometimes they can behave so aggressively that they displace native species. Most local representatives disappear from the urban flora already when cities are founded. It is difficult for them to acclimatize in the city, since the new habitat conditions are not similar to natural ones. It has been established that of the surviving local species, there are usually few forest species. Wednesday newcomers More Avdas come from the southern regions.

The ecological composition of the urban flora is also somewhat different from the zonal one. Naturally, species adapted to lack of moisture (xerophytes) and soil salinity (halophytes) take root better.

The enrichment of urban flora is partly due to the wilding of some ornamental plants. Thus, 16 such species were found in parks near Moscow, which turned out to be very resistant to anthropogenic loads (Frolov, 1989).

Vegetation in the city is unevenly distributed. For large cities, the following pattern is most typical. The increase in plant species encountered is from the city center to its outskirts. City centers are dominated by "extremely urbanophilic" species. There are very few of them, which is why the centers of some cities are sometimes called “concrete (asphalt) deserts.” Closer to the periphery, the proportion of “moderately urbanophilic” species increases. The flora of the surrounding area is especially rich; “urban-neutral” species are also found here.

The leading place in landscaping cities in the temperate zone is occupied by deciduous trees; conifers are practically not represented. This is explained by the weak resistance of these breeds to the polluted environment of the city. At all species composition urban plantings are very limited. For example, in Moscow, mainly 15 tree species are used for city landscaping, in St. Petersburg - 18 species. The predominant trees are broad-leaved trees - linden, including small-leaved linden, Norway maple, balsam poplar, and Pennsylvania ash. smooth elm, small-leaved birch.

The share of participation of other species is less than 1%. On the streets of the city you can see such species as rough elm, pedunculate oak, Scots pine, American maple

Kansky, horse chestnut, poplar of various types (Berlin, Canadian, black, Chinese), large-leaved linden, common spruce, European larch, etc.

One more characteristic feature urban flora and its obvious difference from the natural one is its greater dynamism and instability. Floristic composition and total species can change in a fairly short period of time. The age of the settlement has an impact, for example, the younger the city or microdistrict, the more unstable the flora. It is also necessary to take into account such factors as the expansion of buildings, the demolition of old buildings, the development of industry and transport.

The ever-increasing collection of wild plants has a noticeable impact on the flora of large cities. There is a ban on collecting any wild plants on the territory of Moscow. Currently, more than 130 species of native plants should be considered rare and vulnerable, some of them are on the verge of extinction. 29 species are included in the list of wild plants subject to special protection in Moscow and the Moscow region.

As for herbaceous plants, in addition to cultivated plants (lawn grass mixtures) in the city there are many weeds and garbage (ruderal< растений. Они отличаются достаточной степенью устойчивости по отношению к антропогенным факторам и высокой агрессивностью. Эти растения в большом количестве растут на пустырях, около дорог, по железнодорожным насыпям, на запущенных свалках и т.д. Для нормального функционирования им даже необхо­димы постоянно идущие нарушения.

The living conditions of plants in cities are very similar. The proportion of synanthropic species is constantly increasing. This leads to the fact that the floristic composition of cities in different climatic zones becomes very similar, and in fact, urban vegetation turns into azonal. Thus, 15% of plant species are common to all European cities, and if we compare only the centers of these cities. then this figure will be much higher - up to 50% (Frolov, 1998).

The total lifespan of urban plants is significantly less than that of natural ones. So, if in the forests of the Moscow region linden lives up to 300-1,400 years, then in Moscow parks - up to 125-150 years, and on the streets - only up to 5-80 years. The growing season also differs.

Features of the urban environment affect the course of life processes of plants, flora, their appearance and structure of organs. For example, urban trees have reduced photosynthetic activity, so they have a thinner crown, smaller leaves, and shorter shoots.

City trees are extremely weakened. Therefore, they are excellent places for the development of pests and all kinds of diseases. This further aggravates their weakening, and sometimes causes premature death.

The main pests are insects and mites, such as moths, aphids, sawflies, leaf beetles, psyllids, herbivorous mites, etc. About 290 species of various pests have been recorded in Moscow alone. The most dangerous are the gypsy moth, larch cap moth, linden moth, viburnum leaf beetle, etc. Now the number of trees affected by elm sapwood is growing. Also, many green spaces suffer from the typograph bark beetle, which has been actively breeding in recent years.

It is noteworthy that in urban conditions the leaves of many plants dry out at the edges, brown spots of various sizes and shapes appear on them, and sometimes a white, powdery coating appears. Such symptoms indicate the development of all kinds of diseases (vascular, necrosis-cancer, rotting, etc.). In Moscow, a widespread spread of rot diseases in plants has been revealed, which affects the quality of the city’s green spaces. This is especially noticeable in areas of new development, mass recreation and landfills. Due to the high incidence rate, the volume of sanitary felling carried out in the city exceeds all others for the same period.

Thus, it is obvious clear difference urban flora from natural. Urban communities are characterized by much lower species diversity, strong anthropogenization, and a large number of ruderal species. The biodiversity and gene pool of plants can be preserved to some extent in the territories of forest parks and parks. However, there are still trends in decreasing species diversity in the urban area. To increase it, first of all, it is necessary to conduct research that will provide more data on the ecology of certain species.