A comparison of taxonomic and biomorphological structure of the floras of Kemerovo and basins of the Bolshaya Promyshlennaya and Strelina rivers – the closest studied native floras, comparable in area, has been carried out. The flora of Kemerovo is characterized by a large number of species (826), genera (411), and families (102) compared to the flora of the Bolshaya Promyshlennaya (538, 303, 89) and Strelina (511, 294, 85) river basins. The Jaccard index of similarity of the flora of Kemerovo with the flora of basins of the Bolshaya Promyshlennaya and Strelina rivers had low values, 0.54 and 0.51, respectively. The biomorphological structure of the city flora is characterized by a higher proportion of trees (4.9 %), shrubs (6.5 %), monocarpic terrestrial grasses (26.7 %) and a lower proportion of polycarpic terrestrial grasses (56.5 %) compared with the flora of basins of the Bolshaya Promyshlennaya (4.0 %, 4.4 %, 20.5 %, 64.6 %) and Strelina rivers (3.4 %, 4.2 %, 20.7 %, 65.6 %).

The article discusses topical issues of conservation of an important component of natural ecosystems – steppe vegetation. The current state of the vegetation cover of the steppe phytocenoses of eastern Stavropol region in the conditions of anthropogenic impact on them is assessed. It was revealed that, depending on the intensity of herbage clearing during the grazing period, the steppe communities of the studied territory are represented by five stages of degradation – from insignificantly degraded, preserved virgin species, to very severely degraded with foci of desertification. The ways of solving this problem are proposed – restoration of zonal steppe vegetation and its biological diversity against the background of optimization of pasture management.

The paper presents the results of retrospective analysis of the collection of Rosa ×hybrida hort. of the Donetsk Botanical Garden for the period from 1971 to 2025. A comprehensive assessment of the current state of collection is provided, and promising development trends are identified. Over the entire research period, a total of 620 cultivars were studied. The maximum varietal diversity (303 cultivars) was recorded in 1988. Currently, the collection contains 168 cultivars from 14 garden classes, including old and modern garden roses. The core of the collection is composed by roses of two garden classes: hybrid tea ones (37 %) and floribunda (18 %). Cultivars of foreign selection predominate. Domestic selection is represented by 9 cultivars. The dominant flower color is red (36.9 %). To replenish the collection with promising varieties, 145 cultivars (129 cultivars of foreign and 16 ones of domestic selection) undergo variety testing.

In the Arboretum of the Institute of Ecology of the Volga Basin of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Togliatti, Samara region, Russia) 200 species and nothospecies of trees and shrubs are known to grow, 34 of them are running wild introduced arboreal species. In addition, 29 species and nothospecies of trees and shrubs have fallen out of cultivation. Most of the plants are in satisfactory vital condition.

The arboretum of the Karadag Scientific Station Park includes 32 species, 5 forms and 1 hybrid of evergreen deciduous plants belonging to 25 genera from 21 families. The largest number of species are represented by the families Rosaceae (5 species), Agavaceae (4 species) and Berberidaceae (4 species). The range of life forms is dominated by evergreen shrubs from the Mediterranean and East Asian floristic regions. Most plants are well adapted to local climatic conditions, are in excellent sanitary condition, show high frost and drought resistance, successfully bloom and bear fruit. The bioecological assessment showed the prospects of many species of evergreen deciduous plants in the landscaping of the eastern part of the Southern coast of Crimea.

The correlation between the size and shape of the leaf blade of Polygonum aviculare L. was investigated. Among the considered shape indicators, the indicator of the relative location of the widest part is most correlated with the size of the leaf blade. Indicators of the width of the leaf blade are more correlated with indicators of the shape of the leaf blade than indicators of length. At the same time, there was no strong correlation between the size and shape of the leaf blade of P. aviculare.

The North American walnut pouch eriophyoid gall mite Aceria brachytarsus (Keifer, 1939) (Acariformes: Eriophyidae), which is trophically associated with host plants of the family Juglandaceae, has been recorded in Russia for the first time. The species was found in 2024 in Republic of Crimea and Donetsk People’s Republic, and in 2025 in Zaporozhye and Kherson regions on the leaves of common walnut Juglans regia L. Outside its native range, A. brachytarsus was first reported in Iran in 1990, with subsequent records in Europe dating back to the early 21st century. Currently, the species has been recorded in many European countries. It is likely that A. brachytarsus is already widespread in southern regions of Russia but has remained undetected by specialists until recently. The species is not considered an economically significant pest of walnut, but its participation in the formation of a multi-species complex of specialized phytophagous species can have a negative effect on the phytosanitary status of this valuable crop, including due to the synergistic effect.

Based on long-term research (2000–2025) and a review of literature sources, data on leaf beetles and weevils adventitious to the Trans-Volga-Ural region are summarized for the first time. These can be considered to be 6 species of Chrysomelidae (including 4 species of Bruchinae), 1 species of Nemonychidae, 4 species of Brentidae and 16 species of Curculionidae. 11 species are archaeoinvaders, 16 are neoinvaders, including 9 species (Callosobruchus maculatus (Fabricius, 1775), Magdalis angulicollis Boheman, 1843, M. margaritae Barrios, 1984, Cardipennis rubripes Hustache, 1916, Otiorhynchus smreczynskii Cmoluch, 1961, O. sulcatus (Fabricius, 1775), Pholicodes cf. pancaucasicus Davidian, 1992, Ph. inauratus inauratus Boheman, 1833, Polydrusus formosus Mayer, 1779), which probably penetrated into the region in the 21st century. The number of invaders known in the Trans-Volga region significantly exceeds that in the TransUrals (21 versus 12). In the Urals (including the Cis-Urals), 16 adventitious species have been noted. The adventive component includes West Palaearctic nemoral (8), Iranian-Turanian and Mediterranean (8), North Asian (5), Southeast Asian (3) and American (2) species in origin.