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Factors of Richness of Urban Floras in the Ural–Volga Region

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Abstract

Original data on 14 urban floras in the Ural–Volga region have been analyzed to estimate the effect of the geographic location, topography, climate, size, and age of a city on the species richness of its flora. This parameter in different cities varied from 288 to 973 species, with the proportion of alien species varying from 21 to 41%. Factors of flora richness were estimated by multiple linear regression using principal component estimates obtained by factor analysis of 13 city characteristics as predictors. It has been confirmed that the richness of urban floras depends primarily on the city size, which accounts for greater proportions of variation in the number of native species (56%), the number of alien species (91%), and the total number of species (71%). In addition, variation in the number of native species is determined by terrain elevation (22%), increasing at higher elevations. The proportion of alien species in the urban flora does not depend on the size of the city and is negatively correlated with terrain elevation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ural Federal University, Yekaterinburg, 620083, Russia

    A. S. Tretyakova

  2. Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Yekaterinburg, Russia

    D. V. Veselkin

  3. Institute of Ecology of the Volga River Basin, Russian Academy of Sciences, Tolyatti, 445003, Russia

    S. A. Senator

  4. Botanical Garden-Institute, Ufa Scientific Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Ufa, 450080, Russia

    Ya. M. Golovanov

Authors
  1. A. S. Tretyakova
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  2. D. V. Veselkin
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  3. S. A. Senator
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  4. Ya. M. Golovanov
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Correspondence to A. S. Tretyakova.

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Original Russian Text © A.S. Tretyakova, D.V. Veselkin, S.A. Senator, Ya.M. Golovanov, 2018, published in Ekologiya, 2018, No. 3, pp. 165–173.

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Tretyakova, A.S., Veselkin, D.V., Senator, S.A. et al. Factors of Richness of Urban Floras in the Ural–Volga Region. Russ J Ecol 49, 201–208 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1067413618030098

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