Assessment of Plant Status by the Stability of Development in Natural and Anthropogenic Conditions (Fluctuating Asymmetry of Leaf Features of the Silver Birch, Betula pendula Roth)

The stability of development (in terms of the fluctuating asymmetry of leaf measurements) was studied in populations of the silver birch Betula pendula from different parts of the range under varying degrees of anthropogenic impact (under the influence of industrial facilities in the territory of Khakassia and the Belgorod region and in the urbanized environment in Yoshkar-Ola, Yakutsk, and Moscow). The data obtained show an increase in the degree of disturbance of the developmental stability as adverse effects increase, from a conditionally normal state to a critical one. In habitats with a similar degree of deviation of conditions, a similar reaction of plants is observed, despite the considerable spatial remoteness and various kinds of impact.