Synanthropic plants as indicators of the ecological state of city of Samara

This article focuses on the analysis of synanthropic flora of Samara. It surveys the history of the research of the flora of the city of Samara, and states that it is possible to base the estimation of the ecological condition of the city of Samara on the process and degree of synanthropy. When studying urbanoflorae different authors define the concept of synanthropic flora differently. O.P. Vinkovskaya, E.P. Gnatyuk, and G.S. Antipina, K.V. Kachkin, I.G. Sokolova, T.V. Astakhova, T.A.Terekhina dealt with issues of terminology. The author believes that the synantropic flora consists of adventitious cultivated plants, adventitious ruderal weeds and apofyte types. In the conditions of the increasing anthropogenous change the process of synanthropization of the vegetable cover becomesquite urgent. The article describes the structure of the synanthropic fraction of the urban flora of Samara. The author notes that in the synanthropic fraction the share of monocotyledonous plants has considerably decreased, and that the adventitious species prevail, the flora being made up by forest-steppe boreal, nemoral and multizone plants. In the analysis of the synanthropic component of the flora such indicators as the flora synanthropy index, the adventivity index, index of the apofyteness and the index of cultivation have been calculated. The author comes to the the conclusion that synanthropy causes reduction of the flora variety.