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Overall, 34 local floras of vascular plants were analyzed at testing sites in the Middle Volga region with an area of 400 km2. Noticeable differences were revealed in the nature of correlations between the number of species of adventitious and native flora fractions and environmental factors: climate and relief. In the region, the number of native species is negatively related to air temperature, evaporation rates, and water deficit, while adventive species show a positive relationship with these characteristics. Adventive species are more often found in gently sloping lowlands in polygons characterized by increased elevation differences and drainage area. In general, adventitious species are more associated with semi-arid conditions in sites with relatively high ranges of environmental factors and standard deviation. Multiple regression showed that adventive species are more closely related to environmental factors than native species. In the region, adventive species are distributed predominantly in places (ecotopes) with increased environmental heterogeneity. An analysis of the relationships with environmental factors of the studied fractions may indicate that their distribution on the test sites is consistent, as a result of which they do not show opposition, which is also confirmed by the weak positive relationship between the richness of their species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spontaneous appearance of the annual plant, Veronica cardiocarpa Walp. (Plantaginaceae), from Central and Minor Asia was recorded in the O.V. Fomin Botanical Garden of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv in 1983 as a result of unintentional introduction. It was the first documented occurrence outside of its natural range. V. cardiocarpa has been widespread within the Botanical Garden since 2007, and the first location outside the Botanical Garden was discovered in 2010. Later, the presence of V. cardiocarpa was noted in Chernihiv, as well as new locations in Kyiv. This species has become a new invasive plant of the flora of Ukraine, because it occupies new areas and shows high seed productivity. Additionally, V. cardiocarpa has high seed germination under certain conditions that were established during our experiment, consisting of four variants and a control. The conditions of the second variant—cold stratification with low positive temperatures for two months and germination of seeds at + 18–20 °C—were the most favourable—49 ± 4.36% germinated seeds began to appear on the third day after completion of stratification. Moreover, some indirect facts show that V. cardiocarpais is already deeply integrated in local urban ecosystems. Therefore, the main stages of the adaptation and spreading of V. cardiocarpa have been studied and described in Ukraine in this research. Information about a new location of this species in the Russian Federation significantly changed the understanding of V. cardiocarpa distribution in Eastern Europe. Finally, in this article, we discuss the important matter of dealing with the V. cardiocarpa invasion, and some approaches to prevent similar cases of the new alien species penetration through collections of botanical gardens and arboreta. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lepas (Anatifa) pectinata Spengler, 1793 is a common member of marine fouling in subtropical and tropical waters of the world's oceans. This article is the first record of this species from Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan. A total of 117 specimens collected from the southwestern coast and the islands of the bay in 2015–2020 have been examined. The finding of small individuals and the presence of nauplii in mantle cavities indicate that L. pectinata reproduces successfully in the Sea of Japan. Due to the increasing amount of man-made marine litter, as well as climatic and hydrological conditions, L. pectinata has become a seasonal adventive species in the fauna of Peter the Great Bay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Reunion planthopper Euroxenus vayssieresi (Bonfils, Attie et Reynaud, 2001) is recorded from continental Africa for the first time. Sexual dimorphism in coloration and fifth instar larva of Eu.vayssieresi are described and the distribution pattern (chorotype) of this species is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three common Western Palaearctic species of the weevil subfamily Entiminae are recorded from Yakutia for the first time: Otiorhynchus velutinus Germ., O. raucus (F.) and Omias puberulus Boh. The history of their appearance in the extant fauna of Yakutia is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes a new case of long-distance dispersal in vascular plants. The reported plant belongs to a group of closely related taxa from East Asia, here referred to as 'kumokiri-alliance'. Our phylogenetic data show that this alliance is poorly resolved into separate species and according to available data the discussed taxon cannot be referred to any particular species. Presumably the same plant was earlier discovered in Italy (in 2012) and in Austria (in 2016) and reported under the name L. kumokiri, but most of the authors treated it as a native element in those countries. In this article, we report further records of this plant in Krasnoyarsk krai, in the Republic of Dagestan and presumably also in Kamchatka krai of Russia. The ITS sequence data of plants from Krasnoyarsk krai and from Republic of Dagestan show that it is very closely related (if not identical) to the plants from Italy, suggesting that the plant has already developed a large secondary range, probably the largest among orchids in Eurasia, but it might have been overlooked due to its inconspicuous habitus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The data on the distribution of Canadian pondweed ( Elodea canadensis), an invasive aquatic plant native to North America, in the Republic of Bashkortostan are presented. This species has widely expanded in Bashkortostan and poses a threat to the Southern Ural ecosystems. Canadian pondweed is naturalized in waters of this region and occurs in various aquatic vegetation types; it often replaces native species and forms monodominant communities of the Elodeetum canadensis association. The species is present in many other aquatic communities, including 32 associations and six unions of the Lemnetea and Potametea classes of aquatic vegetation. A map of the secondary range of Elodea canadensis on the territory of Bashkortostan is charted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relative competitiveness of adventive plants in herbaceous communities of the Western Caucasus is analyzed using a simple mathematical model, S = N( S/N), where N and S are the numbers of vascular plant species on 15-m and 0.5-m plots, respectively, and N and S are the numbers of adventive plant species on 15-m and 0.5-m plots, respectively. The model is based on two assumptions: (1) stochastic character of the processes of species immigration and extinction occurring on the area of plant communities, and (2) ecological equivalence of indigenous and adventive species. If adventive species of a herbaceous community are characterized by a higher or lower competitiveness as compared with indigenous species, then one should expect the actual number of these species on 0.5-m plots to be higher or lower as compared with the number calculated using this model. The communities of low-mountain and mid-mountain near-riverbed shoals, forest glades, steppe meadows, annual crop fields, fallow lands, and the herbaceous layer of low-mountain forest communities are chosen as the objects of this study. The results show different competitiveness of adventive plants in different herbaceous communities of the Western Caucasus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of adventive dominants ( Erigeron annuus, Solidago canadensis, Ambrosia artemisiifolia, Asclepias syriaca, etc.) on the composition and species richness of fallow plant communities (Belaya River basin, Western Caucasus) are analyzed. The results show that (1) adventive dominants have light effects on the composition of fallow communities; (2) communities with more abundant adventive dominants are characterized by lower community species richness on the plots of 0.5 and 15 m as a whole, and a lesser number of native species and higher number of adventive ones; and (3) communities with more abundant adventive dominants are characterized by a lower average frequency of native and adventive species on the plots of 0.5 m. However, the relations between all these characteristics are poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adventive fraction of the Middle Ural flora is represented by 328 species of vascular plants from 198 genera and 51 families. Most of the adventive plants are nonaggressive and form the group of epecophytes (41%); all these plants have been accidentally introduced into the Middle Ural flora (xenophytes). Ephemerophytes occupy second place in the number of species (27%). More than half of this group (60%) is represented by ergasiophytes. The maximum diversity of ephemerophytes is observed in the urban flora (26%) and along railways (23%). Colonophytes form a group of similar size (26%), and most of these species are introduced plants. Agriophytes (18 species, or 6%) represent the most aggressive group. Among them, 78% belong to xenophytes and 22% are ergasiophytes. Thirteen agriophyte species represent alien plants: Heracleum sosnowskyi, Artemisia absinthium, Conyza canadensis, Impatiens grandulifera, Bunias orientalis, Chenopodium album, Convolvulus arvensis, Echinocystis lobata, Hippophae rhamnoides, Elodea canadensis, Epilobium adenocaulon, Epilobium pseudorubescens, and Amelanchier spicata. Thus, alien plants are a minor component of the adventive flora of the Middle Urals (4%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the territory of the Vyatka-Kama Cis-Urals, 22 species of alien macrophytes are recorded. They compose 6.5% of the number of known macrophyte species known for the region. Most of them do not play an active role in formation of vegetative communities and constitute a part of aquatic communities as accompanying elements ( Amaranthus retroflexus, Chenopodium glaucum, C. rubrum, Xanthium strumarium, Epilobium pseudorubescens, Juncus gerardii, Senecio vulgaris, Typha laxmannii, Mimulus guttatus, Butomus junceus, Scirpus tabernaemontani, and Zannichellia repens). They grow in secondary and open natural ecotones and do not pose a serious threat to aquatic ecosystems in the region because of their low activity in aquatic communities. Among alien species of macrophytes, invasive species are encountered. Some of them ( Najas major, Vallisneria spiralis, Phragmites altissimus, Juncus tenuis, and Echinochloa crusgalli) have become a constant part of secondary biotope communities but pose a threat to indigenous macrophyte species only in specific biotopes where ecological conditions differ significantly from normal ones. Other species ( Elodea canadensis, Epilobium adenocaulon, Impatiens glandulifera, Mentha longifolia, and Lemna gibba) have successfully naturalized in natural ecosystems or have been penetrating into them. The overwhelming majority of alien macrophyte species within the region are plants which do not refer to aquatic plants: hygrophytes (ten species or 45.5%) and hygromesophytes (three species or 13.6%). Only five species (22.7%) belong to hydrophytes and four species are helophytes (18.2%). Six species of alien macrophytes are characterized by transcontinental (North America) drift, 12 species (54.5%) are characterized by transzonal drift, and four species (18.2%) have been introduced from adjacent natural zones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The saturation of herbaceous communities with adventive species in the Northern Caucasus has been estimated using as an indicator the number of such species in 0.5-m plots. Among factors accounting for variation in the test parameter, consideration has been given to the coverage of the herbaceous layer, the species richness of communities (in 0.5-m plots), and the numbers of adventive and indigenous species (in 15-m plots). The field data have been processes by methods of ordinary and multivariate regression analysis. The results show that variation in saturation with adventive species between small areas of herbaceous communities largely depends on the number of such species in larger areas, their species-holding capacity, and the level of completeness of communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reviewing published coccinellid surveys we found that the number of adventive species has increased steadily over the last century while the average proportion of native individuals has remained fairly constant until 1987 followed by a rapid decrease between 1987 and 2006. Seven long-term studies indicated that the total density of coccinellids increased by an average of 14% following establishment of adventive species, but this increase was not significant and in 4 of 7 cases the total density of coccinellids actually decreased following establishment. Similarly, no significant difference was found in comparisons of diversity across all studies. These results illustrate that even with multiple long-term data sets it is currently difficult to make any general conclusions regarding the impact adventive coccinellids have had on native coccinellid assemblages. However, it is clear that specific systems and species have seen major shifts in recent years. For example, adventives have become the dominant species in a third of the assemblages where they are found. Focusing on two formerly common native species, Adalia bipunctata and Coccinella novemnotata, we show they have become rare in their former ranges and discuss potential explanations for this phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Hawaiian Islands support a speciose radiation of native Mecyclothorax beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae). This lineage has undergone a classical island radiation resulting in extensive ecological specialization, flight-wing loss, and 100% single-island endemism. We report on the sympatric occurrence of several Mecyclothorax species endemic to Haleakala volcano, East Maui with the newly arrived, adventive Trechus obtusus (Coleoptera: Carabidae), a tramp species originally from Europe. Arrival of T. obtusus in afforested, non-native gymnosperm plantation forest near Polipoli, Maui was associated with subsequent decreased abundance of native Mecyclothorax beetles. Since discovery of T. obtusus on Haleakala, their populations have been transformed through subsequent increase in frequency of brachypterous individuals. Consequences of this transformation to flight-wing dimorphic populations may simultaneously include enhanced reproductive capacity of brachypterous individuals, increased local adaptation of populations, and enhanced metapopulational dynamics ultimately permitting range expansion and occupation far beyond anything observed for the monomorphically brachypterous native Mecyclothorax. Trechus obtusus and several Mecyclothorax species occur sympatrically with Argentine ant, Linepithema humile (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in subalpine shrublands on Haleakala. Recent sampling corroborates earlier findings that localized presence of Argentine ant is associated with significantly decreased abundance of native Mecyclothorax. Conversely, abundance of the continental T. obtusus is not significantly affected by ant presence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

73 adventive wild species occur in the flora of Israel: 39 are of tropical origin, 20 are North American. The geographical distribution pattern suggests that about two thirds of the species reached Israel through neighbouring countries, while only one third arrived directly from their countries of origin. - Three patterns of population dynamics can be recognized: accidental species (7), colonizing species (30), and species penetrating into natural habitats (3). There is insufficient information about the remaining species. - About 20 species are widespread noxious weeds which now have economic significance in Israel, 20 others are known to have similar ecological tendencies in other countries. These species soon may become aggressive weeds in Israel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of the study of adventive species of Caprifoliaceae Juss. S.L. on the territory of the Northwest European part of Russia are presented. At present, 6 wild and 16 adventive species from this family are found on the territory of St. Petersburg and Leningrad oblast. An analysis of adventive species according to the degree of naturalization from appearance of self-sowings around plantings (first stage of naturalization) until entering the natural plant communities (last stage) is carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data on an adventive species new to the flora of the Republic of Mordovia, Rosa glauca Pourr., are given. Several locations of the species were discovered in Romodanovskiy district. One cenopopulation of R. glauca was registered on a steppe slope together with several rare plant species- Adonis vernalis L. and Iris aphylla L. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]