ЭКОЛОГО-ГЕОГРАФИЧЕСКАЯ СПЕЦИФИКА РАСТИТЕЛЬНЫХ ИНВАЗИЙ В УСЛОВИЯХ СРЕДНЕРУССКОЙ ЛЕСОСТЕПИ

Abstract

This study discusses the ecological and geographical features of plant invasions in the Central Russian forest-steppe. The studies have been conducted since 2002. The obtained data are summarized in the context of the ecological-geographical (biogeographic) approach. The main trends of phytoinvasions in the region are identified. The invasive component of the flora is characterized by high diversity of North American elements (31 species, 40.8 %), moreover, many species formed secondary European-North American (13 species, 17.1 %), Holarctic (11 species, 14.5 %) and cosmopolitan (8 species, 10.5 %) habitats. The Asteraceae family is characterized by high variety of species (19 species (25.0 %). Groups of invasive species are almost equal by the type of drift. Thirty-two species (42.1 %) are ergasiophytes (plants deliberately introduced to a region), 36 species (47.4 %) are xenophytes (random “aliens”) and 8 species (10.5 %) have mixed type of drift (xen / ergasiophytes, ergasio/xenophytes). The invasive component of the flora of the Central Russian forest-steppe is characterized as mesophytic, forest-steppe, Eurasian-North American with a predominance of monocarpic biomorphs. The research proves high saturation of communities of broad-leaved (20 / 26.3 %), mixed (25 / 33.0 %) and pine (23 / 30.3 %) forests, meadow steppes (20 / 26.3 %), floodplain meadows (19 / 25.0 %) and coastal habitats (19 / 25.0 %) with invasive species. The analysis of the occurrence of 49 invasive species in the communities of the Central Russian forest-steppe determines the confinement of 27 species to the edge-meadow-steppe and 22 species to the edge-forest habitats. The zonal type of secondary area is characteristic for 11 species of xenophytes. Longitude (from West to East) settlement trends are recorded for 5 species. It is substantiated that the geography of the secondary range has a continuous character for 18 invasive plant species within the region. More than 20 invasive species show a tendency to uniform distribution throughout the study area.