SUBTROPICAL CONIFEROUS DENDRORARITY ACCLIMATIZATION TRENDS EX SITU IN UKRAINE

Abstract

This study is aimed at identifying the modern area of cultivation and preservation of rare species of subtropical coniferous woody plants, as well as possible regional directions for their further introduction in Ukraine. For this, a network of artificial reserved park cells in Ukraine, in which rare species of subtropical coniferous woody plants grow, were geographically determined ex situ. In the steppe area, this network covers 11 artificial reserve cells united in 5 socalled acclimatization centers, in the broad-leaved forest area there are 12 reserve cells and 4 acclimatization centers, and in the Ukrainian Carpathians there are 7 reserve cells functioning, which are covered by 3 acclimatization centers. The species composition of the studied plants is given for each reserve cell. Most coniferous subtropical dendroratities are found in Odessa (13) and Uzhgorod (10) botanical gardens. We have compiled a general list of taxa, which includes 19 species and their varieties. They all belong to 5 families: Cupressaceae (9 taxa), Pinaceae (5), Taxodiacae (2) Cephalotaxaceae (2) and Araucariaceae (1). All of the studied taxa are listed on the IUCN Red List (2019). In Ukraine, the most suitable ectopic and landscape conditions for the wide acclimatization of subtropical conifers to the north of the Crimea are the Black Sea and Transcarpathian lowlands. If the current trend towards regional climate warming remains unchanged, possible territorial directions for further introduction and acclimatization of these plants into protective urban landscapes of the north of the Steppe, the Bukovyna foothills of the Carpathians, the Volcanic Carpathians, the brоadleaf forest zone, and the southern part of the Right-bank Forest Steppe are determined for the near future (30-40 years), and the northern part of the Right-bank Forest Steppe, Left-Bank Forest Steppe and the mixed forest zone of Ukraine in the long term (70-80 years).