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.

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.

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.

Natural and anthropogenic ecosystems of the European part of Russia are quite diverse. Of particular importance for science and practice are environmental studies of urban and suburban natural and anthropogenic ecosystems to establish the state of their functional components-plants that are producents and perform important environmental functions. The complex ecological analysis of parameters of soil and woody plants in different urban functional planning zones and suburban natural and economic objects is carried out. This approach is proposed as an additional universal criterion to the existing system of environmental impact assessment, as it takes into account the multifactorial impact on living organisms and contributes to the objectivity of environmental monitoring.