Geographical Patterns of Weed Diversity in the Central Urals

Abstract

The weed flora of arable lands was studied in four areas: the mountainous part of the Central Urals, the eastern macroslope of the Ural Mountains, the western piedmont of the Ural Mountains and the Transural region. These areas matched vegetation types such as middle taiga, southern taiga and northern forest-steppe. The weed flora consisted of 256 species from 41 families and 166 genera. The greatest taxonomical diversity was revealed in the eastern macroslope of the Ural Mountains (208 species); however, in the mountainous part of the Central Urals and the western piedmont of the Ural Mountains, it was as low as 141–143 species. About 40% of weeds occurred in all areas: the group of territory-specific weeds was clearly significant in the Transural region (14%). In the forest-steppe zone, the group of alien species approached 50%, while in the taiga zone it reached 40%.