Materials and methods: herbarium collections, literature data, field observations.

Nomenclature: POWO 2023.

Results: According to the modern classification (APG III 2009, APG IV 2016, POWO 2023), the order Dipsacales is represented by two families: Caprifoliaceae (incl. Dipsacaceae, Linnaeaceae, Valerianaceae) and Viburnaceae (incl. Adoxaceae, Sambucaceae). In the flora of Ukraine, the Caprifoliaceae family is represented by 14 genera (Cephalaria, Diervilla, Dipsacus, Epilobium, Knautia, Linnaea, Lomelosia, Lonicera, Lythrum, Oenothera, Pterocephalus, Scabiosa, Succisa, Succisella, Symphoricarpos, Trapa, Valeriana (incl. Centranthus, Valerianella), Weigela); the Viburnaceae family includes 3 genera (Adoxa, Sambucus, Viburnum). An independent genus isolated from Scabiosa is the genus Lomelosia (3 species in the flora of Ukraine). The genus Valeriana includes species of Centranthus, which are currently considered as part of it (in the flora of Ukraine – 2 species), and Varianella (16 species). Some species are new or previ­ously not included in the relevant summaries, have undergone changes in taxo­nomic rank (lowered to subspecies) or have been synonymized. The annotated list also includes widely cultivated species that escape from culture, as well as those that do not go beyond the boundaries of culture (in the notes). The Myrtales order includes three families: Lythraceae s.l., Onagraceae and Myrtaceae, which in the flora of Ukraine are relatively small in number of genera and species. The family Lythraceae (incl. Punicaceae, Trapaceae) is represented by five genera and 15 species (native and alien), the most numerous of which is the genus Lythrum. Lythrum s. l. also includes the genera Middendorfia (M. borysthenica = Lythrum borysthenica) and Peplis (P. alternifolia = Lythrum volgense, P. portula ≡ Lythrum portula), which were previously recognized as separate taxonomic groups of generic rank in domestic floristic summaries. The genus Trapa, which was previously accepted as part of the monotypic families Hydrocaryaceae or Trapaceae, is represented by one polymorphic species T. natans, within which 10 more species (microspecies or local races) are sometimes distinguished, which are given for Ukraine. The Onagraceae family includes 5 genera and about 50 species (native, alien and cultivated). The most numerous are the genera Epilobium (incl. Chamaenerion) – 21 species and Oenothera – 14 species. The Myrtaceae family in Ukraine is represented by 4 genera and 7 cultivated species.

Keywords

annotated list, distribution, species, subspecies, genus, family, systematics, no­menclature, synonyms, herbarium specimens, Adoxa, Cephalaria, Diervilla, Dipsacus, Knautia, Linnaea, Lomelosia, Lonicera, Pterocephalus, Sambucus, Scabiosa, Succisa, Succisella, Symphoricarpos, Valeriana, Viburnum

Question: What research methods should be used to assess the topologi­cal differentiation of habitats (on the example of the Dniester canyon)?

Locations: Dnister canyon, Ukraine.

Methods: critical analysis of the literature sources and electronic resources.

Nomenclature: Euro+Med Plantbase (https://www.europlusmed.org/), Mucina et al. 2016, Dubyna et al. 2021.

Results: We outlined methodology (approaches, methods) for the ecological and topological differentiation of vegetation (habitates) evaluation and illustrated its use on the example of the Dniester canyon. We conducted critical analysis of the relevant terms and proposed a schematic structure of their relationships. The basic concept of the topo­logical structure is the ecomere, which is represented by macrocombina­tions of habitats at the altitudinal-regional level, by mesocombinations at the catena-landscape level, and by microcombinations at the facies-local level. The Dniester Canyon is considered as a model of ecological and topological differentiation of the river valley catena which includes meso­combinations of slopes and floodplains. The main unit of the meso­combination is the links characterized by the proper phytocenoses (habitates). According to the influence of external factors series are distin­guished, and geoseries are distinguished according to the changes in cenotic structure. Based on comparative analysis of ecological and coenotic profiles of various series and geoseries we identified 16 sigma syntaxa. Their nomination is given by the typical syntaxon. For example, specific petrophyte-grass (Poetosigmetum versicoloris) and shrub-forest (Corno-Quercosigmetum) ecomers are illustrated.

Conclusions: Based on synphytoindicative assessment and modern mathematical methods (the main components of PCA-ordination and the "thermal" matrices of correlation dependence construction) we established the nature of interdependencies between changes in ecologi­cal indicator values and their influence on the plant communities (habitats) differentiation. The obtained results of the topological differen­tiation assessment and the quantitative (score) indicators are important for further monitoring, comparative analysis and forecasting of possible changes in the vegetation cover.

Keywords

ecomers, topological differentiation, biotopes, vegetation, mesocombina­tions, sigma-syntaxa

Question: Which alien invasive plant species are the most dangerous in Ukraine according to data from electronic resources?

Locations: Ukraine.

Methods:, critical analysis of the literature sources and electronic resources

Nomenclature: Euro+Med Plantbase (https://www.europlusmed.org/).

Results: Based on a critical analysis of the literary sources, a list of 69 species that can potentially be considered dangerous invasive in Ukraine has been compiled. For each of these species, the number of occurrences in Ukraine was determined based on data from the GBIF and iNaturalist electronic resources. Comparison of the data obtained by frequency of occurrence allowed us to select 20 species with the largest number of localities in Ukraine, according to GBIF and iNaturalist. The first five positions in both lists belong to the same species, although their order in the top 5 is slightly different. According to the analysis, the most dangerous invasive alien species in the flora of Ukraine are Acer negundo, Erigeron canadensis, Erigeron annuus, Ambrosia artemisiifolia, and Robinia pseudoacacia.

Conclusions: The analysis of electronic resources as an additional criterion along with other criteria (ecological, phytocoenotic, dynamic, etc.) in determining the degree of invasiveness of alien species gives fairly objective outcomes since the use of citizen science resources provides more or less uniform coverage of the country's territory and is not related to research plans, which often affect the uniformity of the distribution of available data. In addition, the vast majority of data on these resources have been collected over the past five years, i.e., they reflect the current distribution of these species, not their past distribution, which is reflected in literature and archival sources and may well differ from the current state.

Keywords

alien plants, invasiveness criteria, phytoinvasions, species distribution, GBIF, iNaturalist, filtered data

Questions: How high is the diversity of the lichen-forming, lichenicolous and lichen-related fungi in Teremky woodland? How reprentative is the old-growth oak forest by Indicators of Ecological Continuity for the woodland?

Location: Kyiv Region, Ukraine

Materials and methods: аbout 80% of the observations were made during the autumn-winter blackout within 3 hours in the woodland per day; microscope technique

Nomenclature: Index Fungorum, POWO 2023, Mucina et al. 2016

Results: The list of 126 species of lichen-forming, lichenicolous fungi and lichen-related fungi from 75 genera, 32 families, 19 orders, 8 classes and 2 divisions have been provided for the Teremky woodland as a part of the Holosiivskyi National Nature Park (Kyiv, Ukraine). Lichen-forming fungi are represented by 105 species, lichenicolous fungi – by 13 species, and lichen-related fungi (facultative lichens or semi-lichens) – by 8 species. Among them 54 species of lichens, lichenicolous and lichen-related fungi are new for the Holosiivskyi National Nature Park, 35 species new to the Kyiv region, 10 species new to the lowland part of Ukraine and three species new to Ukraine. Corticolous lichen species (101 species, 84%) are predominantly found in the Teremky woodland. It is highest representation on Quercus robur (72 species), but the peculiarity of the woodland is the presence of a significant number of old-growth Prunus avium trees with 44 corticolous species. The most abundant lichens (more then 11 locations) in the Teremky woodland are 19 species (15%), while more than half of the species (71 species, 56%) are rare (1–3 locations). Eight indicator species of the ecological continuity for woodland as Acrocordia gemmata, Anisomeridium biforme, Bactrospora dryina, Bacidia rubella, Chaenotheca phaeocephala, Ch. trichialis, Eopyrenula leucoplaca, Toniniopsis separabilis were found in the Teremky woodland, which is sufficient to indicate high representativeness (category B) of Central-European hornbeam-oak habitats. The maximum diversity of corticolous lichen-forming, lichenicolous and lichen-related fungi is 63 species per hectare, which can be used as a baseline for comparison with other forest habitats of the plain part of Ukraine.The indicator qualities of corticolous lichen-forming fungi are discussed.

Keywords

biodiversity, old-growth oak forest, indicator species, Ukraine

The Ukrainian school of steppe studies, which was started at the beginning of the last century, has a number of scientific discoveries associated with the names of outstanding scientists - Y.K. Pachosky, G.I. Tanfilieva, H.M. Vysotskyi, E.M. Lavrenka, N.O. Desyatova-Shostenko, F.Ya Levinoi, O.I Sokolovskyi, M.S. Shalita, Yu.D. Kleopova, G.I Bilyka, V.V. Osychnyuk and many others who defined new paths and horizons of its development. Among its leaders, the academic figure Vasyl Semenovych Tkachenko occupies a prominent place, who on September 3 of this year turns 85 from the day of his birth and 60 years of scientific activity. The results of the study of Vasyl Semenovych's scientific achievements and socio-ecological activities give reasons to consider him one of the most prominent figures of modern steppe studies. Basic education, breadth and flexibility of views on global and local environmental problems, logic and discipline of thinking, intellectual self-sufficiency, firm ethical principles combined with a certain degree of non-conformism, content of personal experience and valeological endurance made it possible to formulate and implement strategic guidelines in the field of development of the national steppe studies. He laid the foundations of phytocenotic and cartographic monitoring of protected steppes, on the basis of which the specificity and functional essence of the reserve structurogenesis of grass ecosystems, its phasing and homeostatic orientation were determined. His research within the steppe belt of Ukraine is quite well-known, in particular, on the reasons for the shallowing of small rivers in the Donbass and on measures to optimize the environment of its area, on the development of classification and detailed geobotanical zoning, on the ecological justification of the projected Danube-Dnipro water management complex, on the representativeness of the network of nature conservation areas in the steppe zone, its optimization, etc. The contribution of V.S. Tkachenko was involved in nature conservation, and with his participation, the protection council of protected areas and nature reserves was organized, a number of steppe species were described in the editions of the "Red Book of Ukraine" and rare phytocenoses in the "Green Book of Ukraine".

Keywords

bibliography, botany, steppe, Ukraine