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.

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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.

Aim: to assess the aesthetic appeal of tree and shrub plantations of urban ecosystems (for example, the settlements of Central Russia). The research is implemented on the example of common, special and limited use plantations. Environmental diagnostics aesthetic qualities of the plantings carried out on the basic biological and ecological signs. The paper considers one of the key indicators of the environmental comfort, taking into account anthropogenic impacts. It is the decorative effect of tree and shrub plantations. These plants make the basis of an autotrophic component of the urban systems of Central Russia and form the functional core of their ecological frameworks. A high level of decorative plantings of woody plants and shrubs in the research areas was established. The highest points of decorative plantings were found in the town of Novokhopersk and in the urban village of Gribanovsky. In the region under consideration reliable differences in esthetic qualities of tree and shrub plantations are revealed. Planting of trees and shrubs have a high aesthetic appeal. It characterizes the degree of culture of urban landscapes and technogenic pressure upon them. The results obtained can be used in the system of environmental monitoring of the urban environment in Central Russia.

This article presents the factors influencing the formation and viability of woody vegetation in the forests of Penza region, located at the border of broad-leaved forests zone (north-eastern part) and forest-steppe (west-ern half and south-eastern part). According to the results of the National Ecological Rating of Regions, Penza region ranked 28th out of 85 Russian regions where environmental pollution is monitored. The total land area of forests is 999.3 thousand hectares, or 23.0% of the total land area of Penza region. Operational forests occupy 413.1 thousand hectares or 45.1% of the total area of land area of forest fund. Protective forests occupy 502,100 ha or 54,9% of total area of lands of forest reserve. Coniferous (pine, spruce), soft-leaved (birch, aspen, linden, alder, willow, poplar) and hardleaved (oak, ash, maple, elm) forest plantations grow on the territory of Penza region. The predominant and main tree species are Pínus sylvestris, Quercus robur, Betula pendula, Populus tremula, Tília cordata and Fraxinus excelsior. Every year, the region’s forests are affected by abiotic, biotic and anthropogenic factors. As a result of these processes there is a weakening of trees and their increased retreat in the plantation. Among the range of negative impacts on the condition of the region forests the first place is occu-pied by forest diseases (68,9% of the total area of all the negative factors), the second place - by weather condi-tions and soil and climatic factors (22,2%), the third - by forest fires (7,7%). In general, the condition of forests in Penza region is satisfactory. The most important task of forestry is to increase the productivity and quality of forests.