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The indicators of the sanitary condition of woody plants in the conditions of natural and artificial ecosystems of the Voronezh and Saratov Regions were established and analyzed. In suburban ecosystems of the research area, the state of woody plants is determined at the level of weak damage. In suburban areas of Balashov with the greatest economic and technosphere potential, woody plants reach an average (moderate) degree of damage. In remote relatively preserved ecosystems (control parameters), the state of these organisms corresponds to a weak ecological diagnostic criterion. According to the identified average arithmetic sanitary indicators in the Voronezh Region, the best condition is characterized by woody plants in the ecosystems of Novohopersk and Gribanovsky, in the Saratov Region - in Turki and Samoylovka. There were also significant differences in the arithmetic mean parameters of the sanitary condition of this group plants representatives differentiated by functional zones. The highest damage values are typical for woody plants in the urban ecosystems of industrial zones. The maximum danger to woody plants was observed within these zones in Povorino, Borisoglebsk, and Balashov with high-level average values of damage to these organisms. Significant concern is also caused by the defeat of the analyzed group of organisms in these cities as part of the ecosystems of the settlement zones. The results of the assessment of the sanitary condition of woody plants should be used as a scientific basis for landscaping, environmental protection and reforestation. Measures are proposed to improve the condition of woody plants in various types of ecosystems in the research area. According to the sanitary state of these organisms, it is possible to determine the limits of sustainability of ecological frameworks and differentiate the parameters of environmental comfort for the local population in different territorial categories.

The aim: to perform research of the species composition and condition of urban and suburban ecosystems of the Khopyor River Region. The route method was used for the species composition of woody plants. Also, using this method the conditions of the growth of trees and shrubs were described. The data of field ecological observations and researches were analyzed in the laboratory conditions. Plant species were identified by means of determinants. The geographical analysis and floristic belonging of plants in towns and villages is carried out. A diagnostics of the vital state of woody plants is carried out according to the complex of their external signs on ecologically different territories. It is found that the greatest species diversity is characterized by the family Rosaceae Juss. The poverty of the species composition of woody plants in the towns and villages of the research area is associated with insufficient introduction. The largest number of species of trees and shrubs in urban areas are characterized by parks and squares. Of great concern is the weakening of the vital condition of woody plants in the area of suburban highways. The greatest values of damages of the objects of the research are revealed at wood plants as part of roadside territories of towns and villages. The expediency to restore greening in ecologically problematic urban areas is obvious.

Abstract. This paper presents data on characteristics and extent of degradation of soil quality, atmospheric air and plants in urban and suburban areas of the Lower and Middle Volga region, Central Chernozem region. The goal of the research is to analyze and present data of environmental monitoring of soil, atmosphere and plants. On the example of the Saratov, Voronezh and Penza Regions, the values of the state of terrestrial ecosystems on different types of soils are established. The predominant position in terms of area and economic use is occupied by soils transformed in the course of urban development, as well as artificial soils. Compaction, anthropogenic inclusions, littering and heavy metal contamination are of great importance in the degradation of the soil cover. In the air-technogenic pollution, the formation and deposition of dust on the leaf surface of plants plays a significant role. Bioindicative signs in the analysis of the state of the environment and ecological systems were indicators of the viability, condition and stability of trees and shrubs. They are obtained based on average data from the research and subsequent assessment of life status. Separately, the indicators of degradation of woody plants assimilation organs depending on the levels of unfavorable soil-ecological and aerogenic conditions in urban and suburban ecosystems of the studied regions are considered. The significance of degradation of environmental objects by analyzed anthropotechnogenic factors is reflected in the correlation analysis results.

The primary sources of anthropogenic and technogenic impacts on the environment of urban and suburban areas of the Voronezh and Saratov Regions which are part of the Khopyor River Region have been identified. Among the combined urbanized and man-made sources it is necessary to distinguish the activity of pedestrians and road transport. These conditions characterize the local background of the total anthropo-technological load in relation to the settlements of the research area. Its main manifestations include soil compaction, density of the road and path network and clutter. Arithmetic mean values of degradation impacts were analyzed for settlements in the subregion under consideration. A scale of point-based environmental assessment of the state of the environment is developed for differentiated localities in the Khopyor River Region. High anthropogenic and technogenic load is found in Balashov, middle - in Borisoglebsk, Rtishchevo, low - in Povorino and Gribanovsky, an extremely low load - in Romanovka, Arkadak and Novokhopersk. The obtained and analyzed values of anthropogenic and technogenic loads on the environment demonstrate the features of its state and the direction of its degradation, the levels of environmental comfort of urbanized areas for the population. The system of environmental quality management, urban and suburban environmental management in the Khopyor River Region should be reoriented to an ecosystem basis using the environmental assessment criteria and the environmental monitoring results presented and analyzed in this paper.