Descriptive study of the flora of the "Relic Oaks" landscape reserve (Eastern Siberia) in the context of the protected area importance for maintaining biodiversity

The article shows the importance of specially protected areas for preserving the gene pool of rare and useful plants in Siberia on the example of the "Relic oaks" state landscape reserve. The landscape reserve is located on the territory of Eastern Siberia (Russia), on the two large floristic areas of Holarctic: Circumboreal and East-Asian. During the study, 696 species of higher vascular plants have been identified in the territory of the landscape reserve. The prevailing families are following: Asteraceae, Poaceae, Ranunculaceae, Rosaceae, Cyperaceae, Fabaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Brassicaceae, Apiaceae, and Scrophulariaceae. In the territory of landscape reserve, 4 floral complexes were identified: alpine, forest, steppe and meadow-alluvial, as well as 10 chorological groups. The feature of the flora was prevalence of forest and steppe plant species with the East Asian type of habitat. By the number of species, herbaceous plants in the landscape reserve dominate over arboreal plants, and shrubs have the largest share among arboreal plants. The spectrum of life forms of plants shows the climatic conditions of the territory at the border of large floral areas and zones of vegetation. On the studied territory, there are 171 species of higher vascular plants (24.5% of the total flora composition in the landscape reserve), are rare and protected in various regions of Siberia

Seed morphology of some species in the family Gentianaceae

In this work, we investigated the outer and inner morphological characters of the seeds of 13 species in the family Gentianaceae. We also identified the main morphometric parameters and described the shape, coloration and sculpture of the seed surface. Some aspects of their internal structure were analyzed as well

Assessment of the diversity of vascular plants in phytocenoses with a share of Quercus mongolica on the territory of Relic Oaks State Reserve

In this paper, we assess the diversity of vascular plants in phytocenoses with Quercus mongolica (family Fagaceae) on the territory of the Relic Oaks State Reserve (Eastern Siberia, Transbaikal region), where Q. mongolica is located at the northwestern boundary of the areal. The descriptions of phytocenoses have been processed in the PAST3 application. The similarity of species composition has been determined using the Jaccard index. The resulting tree diagram shows two groups of descriptions at a similarity level of 0.14-0.15. The first group includes the descriptions of mixed forest quadrats, in which Q. mongolica is a co-edificator. The second group of descriptions presents the communities where Q. mongolica is the only species in the tree layer. The analysis of the tree diagram shows the dependence of species richness within the phytocenoses on the surface patterns and edaphoclimatic conditions. The phytocenoses located on steep southern slopes show less diversity

Electrochemical Reducing of Terbium and Holmium Ions in the Sodium and Potassium Chlorides Melt with Equimolar Composition

Interest to rare-earth metals (REM) and their alloys is due to the possibility of using them for the creation of new materials need for modern technology. For instance, REM as alloying components allows for preparation of material with special magnetic properties. A promising method for forming such coating is the surface treatment of metals. This process has an electrochemical character as such for the organization of technology the knowledge of kinetics and mechanism of these processes is important. Despite significant interest in rare-earth metals, these issues are not well described in the literature. In order to choose an adequate mathematical model for calculation of kinetic primers, preliminary experiments that allow evaluating the reversibility of the electrode process have been conducted. Based on that, it was concluded that cathodic reduction of terbium and holmium ions in equimolar NaCl-KCl melt is irreversible. By means of voltammetric analysis, kinetic parameters (transfer coefficients, heterogeneous constants of charge transfer rate) of terbium and holmium electroreduction in equimolar NaCl-KCl melt were determined. The experiment was conducted in a three-electrode cell under a purified argon atmosphere. A dependency of kinetic parameters on the concentration of terbium and holmium chlorides wt (%): 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, was determined. The experiment was conducted in 1073–1173K temperature range. Values of kinetic parameters increase with temperature but decrease with the increase of REM chloride. Based on obtained data, it was found that electroreduction of chloride complexes LnCl63– (Ln–Tb, Ho) in equimolar NaCl-KCl melt is irreversible in the studied range of temperatures and REM concentrations. In summary of experimental data, in range of temperature and rare-earth chloride concentration, and assumption was made that reduction of terbium and holmium ions occurs in two stages. The process includes the preceding stage of complex dissociation. A mechanism of LnCl63– complex reduction in the mentioned melt is proposed. The obtained results are in agreement with literate data for analogues systems

Determination Of Formation Regimes For Bilayer Cobalt Dysprosium Intermetalic Surface Alloy

High tech industrial fields on modern development stage are in need of construction materials with an optimal ratio of volume and surface properties, along with low cost of material itself. As evidenced by studies, in order to give a set complex of properties to a workpiece that operates under specific conditions, it is often sufficient to only modify its surface area. Over the course of studies, by means of gravimetric, influence of technological parameters (temperature and time samples are kept in the melt) on specific mass change of cobalt samples, that act as substrate, during electroless diffusive saturation with dysprosium in eutectic melt of lithium and potassium chlorides have been studied. A mathematical dependency was established for specific mass change of cobalt samples on time spent in melt for temperature range of 873–973 K. Composition of intermetallic coats obtained on surface of cobalt samples was studied means of EDX and SEM analyses. It was discovered, that for chosen temperature range, diffusion layers formed on surface of cobalt samples consists of two structural zones that correspond to Co-Dy and Cp2Dy phases

Ecological and morphological features of Rhodiola rosea L. in natural populations in the Altai Mountains

The paper presents the results of the comprehensive study of Rhodiola rosea L. in natural populations in the Altai Mountains. The phytocoenotic confinement, demographic structure, and morphological characters of 9 coenopopulations of Rh. rosea were studied in different ecological and coenotic conditions in the Chemal and Kosh-Agach regions of the Republic of Altai. Correlation between the morphometric parameters and their calculated values for the shoot and sex of the studied individuals, as well as environmental factors, was revealed. Rhodiola rosea L. is a valuable medicinal plant used for functional diseases of the central nervous system. At present, the natural reserves and areas of natural growth of the golden root have decreased significantly. The species is included in the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation (2008) and many regional Red Data Books of Siberia. In the Altai Mountains, Rh. rosea is widespread throughout the highlands, where it has occupied a wide range of habitats. The study showed that the highest values of ecological and effective density are characteristic of coenopopulations which are part of various hygrophytic variants of alpine and subalpine miscellaneous herbs with a high total projective cover of the herbaceous layer (CP 1, 2, 3, 4). The lowest values were found for coenopopulations growing in communities with a scarce herbaceous layer or dense shrub layer, and on steep gravelly slopes with crumbling soil and nonuniform moisture distribution (CP 5, 6, 8, 9). The studied coenopopulations are normal, full-membered, or incomplete-membered (some of them lack postgenerative individuals). In terms of the ontogenetic spectra, they are mainly left-sided, with a predominance of young generative individuals (CP 4, 5, 7) or bimodal, with an additional peak for old generative individuals (CP 2, 3, 6, 8). Male and female individuals Rh. rosea differ in many morphometric characters of the generative shoots. In some coenopopulations (CP 2, 3, 6, 9), male and female individuals show multidirectional deviation of characters compared to the totality, which indicates that in different environmental conditions these characters are not only genetically determined but can also be related to the sex of individuals

Pollen quality and pollen productivity of blue honeysuckle species and varieties

Studies to assess the pollen quality and pollen productivity of blue honeysuckle were conducted on the ecosystem dendrological territory of the Siberian Botanical garden of TSU (Tomsk). Objects of research: 8 varieties and 4 species of blue honeysuckle – ‘Velvet’, ‘Berel’, ‘Vasyuganskaya’, ‘Zolushka’, ‘Lazurnaya’, ‘Ogneny Opal’, ‘Selena’, ‘Tomichka’, Lonicera altaica, L. edulis, L. kamtschatica, L. turczaninovii. It was found that the ‘Ogneny Opal’ and ‘Velvet’ varieties have low fertility, and the ‘Berel’ and L. edulis have an average fertility. Other varieties and species of honeysuckle have high pollen fertility. The viability of pollen with high values is more than 60 % – ‘Berel’, ‘Vasyuganskaya’, ‘Lazurnaya’, L. turczaninovii, L. kamtschatica, with average values from 40% to 60 % – ‘Selena’, ‘Tomichka’ and L. altaica, with low values – less than 40 % – ‘Velvet’, ‘Zolushka’, ‘Ogneny Opal’ and L. edulis. High pollen productivity – more than 20,000 pollen grains per flower – ‘Tomichka’, L. kamtschatica, L. turczaninovii and L. edulis, average productivity - from 10,000 to 20,000 pollen grains – ‘Berel’, ‘Vasyuganskaya’, ‘Zolushka’, ‘Lazurnaya’, ‘Selena’ and L. altaica, low productivity – less than 10,000 pollen grains per flower – ‘Velvet’, ‘Ogneny Opal’. It is recommended to use at least 10% of varieties with high pollen viability and pollen productivity as pollinators when creating industrial honeysuckle plantations: ‘Lazurnaya’, ‘Vasyuganskaya’, and ‘Berel’

IAPT/IOPB chromosome data 16

[EN] Inula helenioides DC., I. langeana Beck, I. maletii Maire, I. montana L., I. oculus-christi L., I. salicina L. (Asteraceae)

Assessment of the success of the introduction of some rare plant species in the Siberian Botanical Garden of Tomsk State University

About 300 species of natural flora are currently in the collection of the laboratory of rare plants of the Siberian Botanical Garden of Tomsk State University (TSU). 6 species of rare plants of the natural Siberian flora, included in the Red Book of the Tomsk Region, were the objects of this study: Aconitum anthoroideum DC., Allium obliquum L., Erythronium sibiricum (Fisch. et C.A. Mey.) Krylov, Potentilla erecta (L.) Raeusch., Primula macrocalyx Bunge, Thymus marschallianus Willd. Evaluation of their successful introduction was carried out using scales proposed by various authors. Its own unified scale for the introduction of rare and endangered plants of the natural flora of Siberia has been developed. It was established on the basis of the analysis that the species studied upon introduction into the southern taiga subzone of Western Siberia belong to medium resistant (Thymus marschallianus), resistant (Aconitum anthoroideum, Allium obliquum, Erythronium sibiricum, Potentilla erecta) and highly resistant (Primula macrocalyx)