Ecological and botanical features of the railroads flora of the Middle Volga Region

The paper summarizes the study of ecological characteristics of the Railways flora in the Middle Volga Region. The author comes to the conclusion that in most cases there aren’t any significant differences between aboriginal and alien species of the Railways flora, as well as their settlement of functional zones. The most significant differences have been recorded between aboriginal and alien species in the addition of families, which in turn does not have a decisive role in their addition to the flora as a whole. The author thinks that ecological features of the territory of individual growth are more important than biological features of species and families in the formation of the Railways flora. The developed «scale of oppression» allowed to determine characteristics of a particular individual. In the course of the research the dependence between the degree of oppression of plant organisms and the distance to the railroad tracks was established. The author found no significant differences in reactogenicity between the indigenous and alien species at active human impact on the Railways - both groups showed similar trends of oppression.