EPPO Global Database

EPPO Reporting Service no. 07 - 2021 Num. article: 2021/165

Alien flora in a boreal region of European Russia


Kostroma Oblast is in the central part of European Russia, between 57o160’ and 59o370’ latitude and between 40o230’ and 47o380’ longitude and is located mostly in the Upper Volga River basin. Approximately 70 % of the region is covered with coniferous and secondary mixed forest and the region has a temperate continental climate. An assessment of the alien vascular plants in the Kostroma Oblast region was conducted using a dataset of literature published from 1866-2000 and field observations made between 2011-2020. Among the 1 200 vascular taxa listed for this region, 330 are neophytes, including 125 casual and 172 naturalized species, with 21 species considered invasive (Table 1). 33 casual species previously recorded for the region are no longer found. Naturalized alien plants made up approximately 14% of the vascular flora of Kostroma Oblast. Elodea canadensisErigeron canadensisHeracleum pubescensLupinus polyphyllus, and Matricaria discoidea are the most widely distributed invasive species across the region.


Table 1. Twenty-one invasive plant taxa considered invasive in Kostroma Oblast (RU) (* = species on the EPPO List of Invasive Alien Plants and ** = species on the EPPO Observation List).


Species/Taxa

Family

Form

Acer negundo 

Sapindaceae

tree

Amelanchier spicata*

Rosaceae

shrub

Aronia × mitschurinii 

Rosaceae

shrub

Bidens frondosa**

Asteraceae 

annual

Echinocystis lobata 

Cucurbitaceae

annual

Elodea canadensis 

Hydrocharitaceae

aquatic

Epilobium ciliatum subsp. adenocaulon 

Onagraceae

perennial

Epilobium pseudorubescens 

Onagraceae

perennial

Erigeron annuus 

Asteraceae

annual, biennial

Erigeron canadensis 

Asteraceae

annual

Heracleum pubescens 

Apiaceae

biennial, perennial

Hippophae rhamnoides 

Elaeagnaceae

shrub

Impatiens parviflora 

Balsaminaceae

annual

Juncus tenuis

Juncaceae

perennial

Lupinus polyphyllus*

Fabaceae

perennial

Matricaria discoidea 

Asteraceae

annual

Sambucus racemosa 

Adoxaceae

shrub

Schedonorus arundinaceus

Poaceae

perennial

Solidago canadensis*

Asteraceae

perennial

Symphyotrichum x salignum 

Asteraceae

perennial

Zizania latifolia 

Poaceae

perennial



Sources

Leostrin A, Pergl J (2021) Alien flora in a boreal region of European Russia: an example of Kostroma oblast. Biological Invasionshttps://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-021-02589-2