12.03.2015.
Poster presentation.
Title:
S. A. OSTROUMOV , S. V. KOTELEVTSEV , M. E. JOHNSON , S. C. McCUTCHEON , V. A.POKLONOV , E. A.SOLOMONOVA ,J. F. TYSON , V. L.SHELEYKOVSKY , T.V.SHESTAKOVA and B. XİNG.
.M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University, Lengory, 119991, Moscow, Russia 2. University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, U.S.A. 3.University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, U.S.A. 4.The Main Botanical Garden of Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia;
http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2015/03/12032015-poster-presentation-title-use.html;
http://5bio5.blogspot.ru/2015/03/12032015-poster-presentation-title-use.html;
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http://www.botany.az/uploads/Work_shop_jurnal.pdf;
This was published on page 61,in the book:
International conference Environmental changes and conservation of plant diversity.
Conference program and abstract book;
21-23 April 2013;
Baku, Azerbaijan;
Important environmental change includes hazardous chemical pollution of the biosphere.The authors' interdisciplinary research on environmental chemicobiotic and ecotoxicological interactions involves various species of plants. This poster reports on the investigation of: (1) the concentration of the chemicals in plant tissues;(2) the effects of chemicals on the selected plants; (3) the effects of the selected plants on concentrations of chemicals in the aquatic environment; (4) the role of the selected plants in mitigation of chemical stresses; and (5) the practical use of this new knowledge to improve water quality. This research exposed environmental pollutants to a variety of species of aquatic and terrestrial plants. These numerous tests defined the phytotoxicity of synthetic surfactants, detergents, and heavy metals, to the plants investigated.The investigations of phytoremediation potential tested the selected plant species in aquatic microcosms (e.g., Potamogeton sp.) and using plant seedling bioassays (e.g., Fagopyrum esculentum). Other investigations determined the phytotoxicity of metal oxide nanoparticles to Myriophyllum aquaticum, Pistia stratiotes, Ludwigia sp., and other plant species. During these incubations in aquatic medium with CuO nanoparticles, Cu accumulated in the biomass and mortmass (decomposing plant detritus) of Elodea. Additional investigations found analogous accumulation in the biomass and mortmass of Ludwigia sp., Myriophyllum aquaticum, and Typha sp. Further study defined the phytoremediation potential of these and several other aquatic plants provide prospect of developing new technologies for water purification.The current advancement shelp to understand better, chemico-biotic interactions in the modern biosphere and to alleviate consequences from environmental change, especially chemical pollution.
Keywords: Phytoremediation, water purification, hazardous chemicals, phytotoxicity, accumulation, copper, nanoparticles, Elodea, Fagopyrum esculentum, Ludwigia sp., Myriophyllum aquaticum, Potamogeton sp., Pistiastratiotes, Typha sp.
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http://www.botany.az/uploads/Work_shop_jurnal.pdf
This was published on page 61,in the book:
International conference Environmental changes and conservation of plant diversity
Conference program and abstract book
21-23 April 2013;
Baku, Azerbaijan;
Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences,İnstitute of Botany,
International conference Environmental changes and conservation of plant diversity,
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
International conference Environmental changes and conservation of plant diversity
Honorable Chairman Scientific Committee Members: Program Committee Members: Organizing Committee Members: International Advisory Committee Members: Project manager: Collaborating project manager:
Coordinated by Academician Ahliman Amiraslanov
Prof. Dr. Valida Ali-zade – Head of Committee
Prof. Dr. Gregor Kozlowski Prof. Dr. Munir Ozturk Prof. Dr. Volker Roemheld Prof. Dr. Irada Huseynova – Head of Committee Prof. Steven McCutcheon Prof. Prof. Thomas Borsch Dr. Vahid Farzaliyev Dr. Esmira Alirzayeva – Head of Committee Dr. Tamilla Shirvani Dr. Vugar Kerimov Rena Rehimli Malahat Huseynova Aida Dadashova Prof. Alan Baker Prof. Nicolas Dickinson Prof. Walter Horst Prof. Erwin Grill Prof. Nicolaus von Wiren Prof. Thomas Borsch Dr. Esmira Alirzayeva Dr.Gregor Kozlowski
the Institute of Botany of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences
Saturday, 20 – Arrival Sunday, April 21 10.00-11.00 – Registration 11.00-12.00 – Opening Ceremony Academician Ahliman Amiraslanov – Honorable chairman Prof. Novruz Guliyev - Vise-Minister of Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources Mr. Azer Aliyev - Chief of Ecological Department of SOCAR Prof. Valida Ali-zade – Director of the Institute of Botany, ANAS Status of plant diversity conservation in Azerbaijan 12.00-12.30 – Break 12.30-13.05 – Prof. Steven McCutcheon – University of Georgia, USA Genetic and Proteomic Diversity of Plants Used in Phytoremediation 13.05-13.40 – Prof. Munir Ozturk – Ege University, Turkey Biodiversity, Conservation and Climate Change (Chairs – Prof. A.Baker and Prof. W.Horst) 13.40-14.40 – Lunch 14.40-15.15 – Prof. Volker Römheld – University of Hohenheim, Germany Rhizosphere processes as determinants for heavy metal uptake in plants 15.15-15.50 – Prof. Nicolaus von Wiren – IPK, Germany Root morphological changes under variable nutrient availabilities (Chairs – Prof. E.Grill and Prof. N.Dickinson) 15.50-16.05 – Break 16.05-16.40 – Prof. Suzanne Sharrock – BGCI, UK The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation – a framework for conservation action from local to global 16.40-17.15– Prof. Gregor Kozlowski – University of Fribourg, Switzerland Conservation of Tertiary relict trees with specific reference to the genus Zelkova (Ulmaceae) (Chairs – Prof. T.Borsch and Dr. P.Smith) 17.20 – City tour 19.00 – Banquet in the city center April PROGRAM 4 Monday, April 22 09.00-09.35 – Prof. Alan Baker – Honorary Professorial Fellow, UK Metallophytes: a biodiversity and phytotechnological resource for soil clean-up, phytomining and mine waste restoration 09.35-10.10 – Prof. Walter Horst – University of Hannover, Germany Aluminium exclusion and Al accumulation are not alternative Al resistance mechanisms – the example of buckwheat 10.10-10.35 – Dr. Tiina Nieminen – Metla, Finland Response of birch (Betula pubescens) and pine (Pinus sylvestris) seedlings to elevated soil heavy metal concentrations 10.35-11.00 – Dr. Philip Rogers – AMEC, UK Flora, biodiversity and conservation – implications for the global mining industry (Chairs – Prof. V.Römheld and Prof. S.McCutcheon) 11.00-11.15 – Break 11.15-11.50 – Prof. Erwin Grill – Technical University of Munich, Germany Drought in times of climate change: a major threat for plants and agriculture 11.50-12.25 – Prof. Muhammad Igbal – Jamia Hamdard University, India Active ingredients of medicinal plants in changing environment 12.25-12.50 – Dr. Liisa Ukonmaanaho – Metla, Finland Recovery of understorey vegetation after forest clear-cut on peatland 12.50-13.10 – Nargiz Sultanova – Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan Occurrence and detection of some single stranded DNA (ss DNA) plant viruses in Azerbaijan (Chairs – Prof. M.Ozturk and Prof. N.von Wiren) 13.10-14.10 – Lunch 14.10-14.45 – Prof. Thomas Borsch – Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin,Germany Scientific research to support conservation in the Caucasus – the Caucasus plant Diversity Initiative 14.45-15.20 – Prof. Sajeva Maurizio -European Regional Representative, CITES Plants Committee, University Palermo, Italy The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and the Conservation of Plant Diversity 15.20-15.55 – Dr. Paul Smith – Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, UK The Millennium Seed Bank Partnership: conserving and enabling the use of plant diversity for innovation and adaptation 15.55-16.20 – Dr. Clare Tiverdi – Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, UK Millennium Seed Bank Partnership: Saving the Flora of the Caucasus (Chairs – Prof. V.Ali-zade and Dr. S.Scharrock) 16.20-16.35 – Break 16.35-17.10 – Prof. Nicolaus Dickinson – Lincoln University, New Zealand Benefits, trade-offs and conservation of plant diversity in novel ecosystems and changed environments in New Zealand 17.10-17.35 – Prof. Ahmad Aksoy – Erciyes University, Turkey Conservation of plant diversity: A Case study from Kayseri - Turkey 5 17.35-18.00 – Prof. Faridah Hanum Ibrahim – University Putra, Malaysia Plant Diversity of Ayar Hitam Forest Reserve-Malaysia 18.00-18.20 – Prof. Svetlana Litvinskaya – Kuban State University, Russia Rare genofound and peculiarities of biodiversity of Northern Caucasus under changing environment Diversity (Chairs – Prof. M.Sajeva and Dr. G.Parolly) 18.20-18.50 – Poster session 19.00 – Dinner Tuesday, April 23 09.30-10.05 – Prof. Gunter Neumann – University of Hohenheim, Germany Glyphosate and the challenge of an ecological risk assessment 10.05-10.40 – Prof. M.N.V. Prasad – University of Hyderabad, India Water security for sustainable development - search for natural products for the treatment of waste water 10.40-11.05 – Prof. Giorgi Kvesitadze – Georgian Academy of Sciences, Georgia Symbiotic action of plants and microorganisms as detoxificators of organic pollutants 11.05-11.25 – Dr. Esmira Alirzayeva – Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan Multiple tolerances to environmental stress factors in Artemisia plants (Chairs – Prof. M.Iqbal and Dr. L.Ukonmaanaho) 11.25-11.40 – Break 11.40-12.15 – Dr. Deirdre Ryan - JSTOR, USA Global Plants Initiative: Collaborative community built database 12.15-12.40 – Dr. Gerald Parolly – Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin, Germany The conservation of Calligonum bakuense – A workshop report 12.40-13.05 – Dr. Gabor Sramko – University of Debrecen, Hungary Conservation phylogenetics – setting priority based on lineage uniqueness 13.05-13.25 – Dr. Eldar Shukurov - Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan Phytorestoration of disturbed desert habitats in Qobustan Region of Azerbaijan (Chairs – Dr. C.Trivedi and Prof. Faridah Hanum) 13.25-14.25 – Lunch 14.25-15.00 – Round table 15.00-15.30 – Discussion and preparation of action plan 15.30-15.45 – Break 15.50 – Excursion 19.00 – Dinner and Closing ceremony Wednesday, April 24 - Departure 6 Status of plant diversity conservation in Azerbaijan Valida M. ALI-ZADE Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, AZ1073, Baku, Azerbaijan, An environmental change, including biotic and abiotic factors, environmental pollution, climate change etc. is a critical factor limiting the productivity and nutritional quality of plants. This problem is especially important for Azerbaijan, which is considered as the oldest oil-producing country of the world and oil production and other industrial fields connected with it have here almost 160 years of history. Azerbaijan is one of the geographic-botanically richest regions of the Caucasus. The territory and landscape of Azerbaijan is distinguished by a high level of biodiversity. There are 4500 higher plants, including 200 Azerbaijanian and 950 Caucasian endemics. The species diversity and high endemism of Azerbaijan's flora is, in first place, the result of the manifold ecological conditions for plants and the historical development of ecosystems during different periods. According to the Global Strategy of Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, the protection of endangered species is a major task of today. The biodiversity of Azerbaijan and their natural habitats are under the affect of increasing anthropogenic activity and global climate change, which result in the decreasing of number of populations of most species, the destruction and fragmentation of plant cover structure. These and/or other casual factors could lead to the critic condition or vanishing of the rare and endemic plant species. Therefore, there is a serious need to protect rare ecosystems and unique genetic resources. The proportion of protected areas increased from 4.5 % to 10.3 % of the country's total area. At present, there are 9 national parks and 11 nature reserves. Development of modern scientific directions and initiation of the biodiversity conservation in the Republic belong to Academician Jalal Aliyev. International programs directed to the study and conservation of flora of Azerbaijan started to function in the mid- 90s. The second edition of the “Red Book of Azerbaijan” including 300 rare and endangered plant (266 higher and 20 lower plants) and fungi (14) species is prepared. Assessment according to IUCN criteria (IUCN, 2001) are: CR – 27 species, EN – 53 species, VU – 158 species, NT– 50 species, DD - 12 species. For the past more than 20 years of independence of the country classical botanical disciplines were enriched with new, more advanced representations and have poured out in new interdisciplinary directions of a science, such as «gene engineering», "bioinformatics", «molecular systematics», «molecular genetics», «conservation genetics» etc. The success in the field of molecular genetics and biochemical mechanisms of plant resistance to effect of environmental stress factors such as drought, salinization and pollution typical for Azerbaijan is achieved. Identification of different viruses and pathogenic fungi is carried out based on modern molecular biological approach. These findings in the territory of the Republic are of value in recognizing host ranges of the pathogens and the management of the plant disease they cause. Ecological researches of our scientists have found out existence of specific vegetative communities, various ecotypes of endemic flora which are adapted for environmental contamination. The innovative strategy of the Institute of Botany in this area is based on the appropriate selection of plants successfully growing and produced seeds under dry and saline environments, possessing a great metal/salt removal potential. vm_alizade@yahoo.com Oral Presentations 7 Genetic and proteomic diversity of plants used in phytoremediation Steven C. MCCUTCHEON University of Georgia, Faculty of Engineering and Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, Athens, Georgia, 30602 United States of America Compared to monoculture applications, phytoremediation involves few applications of ecosystems. Thus, practitioners have not optimized the use of plant diversity except in a few field studies that allowed plant and rhizosphere communities to self-engineer the habitat. Self-engineering allows more sustainable use of energy, nutrients, and landscape modification. Applications using wetland communities have more sustainably removed explosives from groundwater to establish ecosystem proof-of-practice. Guiding conservation of plant diversity using genetics and proteomics is also at a nascent stage. The hundreds of enzymes proven useful in phytoremediation compared to tens of thousands of natural plant proteins indicate many more plants express enzymatic activity. Metabolic pathways seem more numerous that the tens of thousands of plant proteins. Yet the limited exploration of metabolism establishes that phytoremediationmore sustainably treats pollutants similar to natural molecules. The less similarity, the more likely xenobiotic molecules may require metabolic or transgenic engineering despite the great plant proteomic diversity yet to be explored. Plant genetic diversity (110,000 DNA base pairs versusmammals with 32,000 and bacteria with 2500 base pairs) may explain phytoremediation being significantly more sustainable than bioremediation or other remediation. If the longer DNA strands express greater enzymatic activity than other kingdoms, then genetic diversity favors plant conservation and use in waste management. Unable to move and fewer compared to microorganisms, greater plant enzymatic activity seems likely. Until ecological engineers use plant ecosystems more, and scientists explore genetic and proteomic diversity, prioritizing plant conservation and understanding succession due to climate change apparently will remain ad hoc. Keywords: Phytoremediation, proteomics, genetics, metabolism, enzymes, xenobiotic, DNA, diversity, conservation Steven.C.McCutcheon@gmail.com Oral Presentations 8 Biodiversity and Conservation- A Case Study from Europe and Turkey Münir ÖZTÜRK Faculty of Forestry, Univ. Putra Malaysia, Selangor-Malaysia&Botany Dept., Ege Univ., Izmir, Turkey, Total number of recorded living species is said to be around 1.75 million.Life on earth depends on the components of these living systemscalled biodiversity, as they maintainessential ecosystem functions including primary production. An unsustainable use of natural resources has damaged biodiversity so severely that this situation now threatens human life. More than 12000 species are known to be threatened with extinction.Nearly 5000 taxa of plants are said to have become extinct since the year 1700 and 17 plants are lost per year.The rate at which species are becoming extinct is higher than the natural one due to both biotic / abiotic interferences.The extinctions of biodiversity can have a direct impact on human society.Thousands of compounds that could cure diseases or be of great economic and ecological importance may be lost on a daily basis togeher with the destruction of plant cover.There is a great need to reverse this process. One of the most effected areas is the world'slargestlandmass the Eurasia, the most urbanised and the densely populated continent in the world. An attempt is made here to present the latest situation in Europe and Turkey. Keywords: Biodiversity, Conservation, Europe, Turkey References:1. Celik A, Baslar S, Guvensen A, Ozturk M (2003) Role of National Parks in TURKEYA Case Study from Dilek Peninsula-Great Menderes Delta National Park. Pakistan Journal of Botany 35(5): 641-658. 2. Davis SD, Heywood VH, Hamilton AC (1994) Centres of Plant Diversity. Vol. I, WWFPublication, Information Press, U.K., pp:354. 3. Efe R, Cravens R, Ozturk M, Atalay I (2008) Natural Environment and Culture in the Mediterranean Region. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, UK, 496 pp. 4. Nurlu E, Erdem U, Ozturk M, Guvensen A, Turk T (2005) Biodiversity and Land Use in the Coastal Zone of Izmir. Xth EURECO- European Ecological Congress, 8-13 November, Kusadasi, pp.78. 5. Ozturk M, Gucel S (2009) Garden Culture Among Turks & Botanical Gardens of Anatolia. First MEDOMED, First International Seminar: The Andalusi Experience: An Example for Biodiversity Conservation, Alhambra-Granada, 7-9 October,2009,Spain. 6. Ozturk M, Gucel S, Küçük M, Sakçalı S (2010) Forests,Climate Change & Forest Fires in the Mediterranean Region of Turkey. Journal of Environmental Biology-Special Issue,31,1-9. 7.Ozturk M, Yucel E, Yarci C, Celik A, Aksoy A (1998) Plant diversity in the Turkish black sea region and strategies for its conservation. NATO-ARW, Batumi-Georgia, Kluwer Acad. Publ., (Eds. V.Kotlyakov,M. Uppenbrink, V.Metreveli) pp:155-173. 8. Ozturk MA (1995) Recovery and rehabilitation of mediterranean type ecosystem- A case study from Turkish maquis. In: Evaluating and Monitoring the Health of Large-Scale Ecosystems, NATO-ARW (Eds. D.Rapport, C .L. Gaudet, P.Calow), Springer- Verlag, pp: 319-332 munirozturk@gmail.com Oral Presentations 9 Rhizosphere processes as determinants for heavy metal uptake in plants Volker RÖMHELD Plant Nutrition, Institute of Crop Science, University Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany Azerbaijan has a very nice, unpolluted country side. In contrast to this unpolluted mountainous area in the area of Baku soils highly polluted by organic contaminants as well as by heavy metals. For clean-up purpose rhizosphere processes have to be considered. In particular, in hyperaccumulator plant species such as some Artemisa species rhizosphere processes affect mobility and uptake of heavy metals by plant roots. Thus, these rhizosphere processes are of high importance for heavy metal mobilization and uptake by plant roots. Keywords: Rhizosphere processes, heavy metal, Hyperaccumulator v.roemheld@uni-hohenheim.de Oral Presentations 10 Morphological responses of roots to changing nutrient availabilities Ben GRUBER, Ricardo GİEHL, Nicolaus von WİREN Leibniz-Institute for Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, Dept. Physiology & Cell Biology, Molecular Plant Nutrition group, Corrensstr. 3, 06466 Gatersleben, Germany Nutrients have a profound effect on plant growth and development. Thereby roots show a particularly high plasticity in their morphological response to changing nutrient availabilities. Although such changes are often associated with an increase the foraging capacity of plants, root morphological responses to the deficiency of different nutrients remain poorly characterised. After establishing growth conditions and characterizing the effect of the deficiency of a particular nutrient on the root system architecture of Arabidopsis thaliana, we observed that root traits describing the initiation or elongation of roots of different orders respond specifically to various nutrient deficiencies. Investigating the lateral root response to localized supplies of different nitrogen forms, we observed a stimulation of lateral root initiation under localized ammonium supply, whereas nitrate rather stimulated the elongation (Lima et al., 2010). With regard to localized supplies of micronutrients, we found a particularly strong, dose-dependent stimulation of lateral root length by Fe. Using different Arabidopsis mutants affected in Fe acquisition or transport and the Fe supplementation via shoots in tetrapartite agar plates, we found that Fe-dependent lateral root elongation responds to symplastic root Fe rather than to external Fe and this is largely independent of the Fe nutritional signals from the shoot. We further identified the auxin importer AUX1 as a major Fe-responsive signaling step required for the observed in the elongation of lateral root cells (Giehl et al., 2012). Taken together, our results allow describing root plasticity in response to different nutritional conditions. Keywords: root development, nutrient disorders, nutrient deficiency, lateral root formation References: Lima J.E., Kojima S., Takahashi H. and von Wirén N. (2010) Ammonium triggers lateral root branching in Arabidopsis in an AMMONIUM TRANSPORTER1;3-dependent manner. Plant Cell 22: 3621-3633 Giehl R.F.H., Lima J.E., and von Wirén N. (2012) Local iron supply triggers lateral root elongation in Arabidopsis by altering the AUX1-mediated auxin distribution. Plant Cell 24: 33-49 vonwiren@ipk-gatersleben.de Oral Presentations 11 The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation – a framework for conservation action from local to global Suzanne SHARROCK Botanic Gardens Conservation International, 199 Kew Road, Richmond, TW9 3BW, UK. There is unequivocal evidence that the Earth's climate is warming at an unprecedented rate and the effects of this are geographically inequitable, varied and unpredictable, with potentially devastating consequences for global plant diversity. The adoption of a Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 2002 marked an important advance in raising awareness of the threats faced by plants worldwide, as well providing a coherent framework for policy and action. The GSPC includes 16 plant conservation targets to be achieved by 2020. Implementation of the GSPC requires a unique combination of actions at both national and international levels and involves a wide range of stakeholders. The GSPC addresses issues such as maintaining ecosystems as carbon sinks, providing reservoirs of genetic and species resources as a safeguard for the future, developing a better understanding of species most at risk, and reducing the stresses on plant diversity caused by land use change, over-harvesting and invasive alien species. This presentation will provide an introduction to the GSPC, review progress to date towards the targets of the GSPC and discuss how implementation of the GSPC will help to both mitigate the effects of climate change and support adaptation strategies. Keywords: plant conservation, global strategies, climate change, ecosystems, species suzanne.sharrock@bgci.org Oral Presentations 12 Conservation of Tertiary relict trees with specific reference to the genus Zelkova (Ulmaceae) 1,2 3 4 Gregor KOZLOWSKI , Joachim GRATZFELD , Giuseppe GARFÌ , Laurence 1 1 1 FAZAN , Evelyne KOZLOWSKI , Sébastien BÉTRISEY 1 Department of Biology and Botanic Garden of the University of Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 10, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland 2 Natural History Museum Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 6, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland 3 Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), 199 Kew Road, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3BW, United Kingdom 4 National Research Council (CNR), Institute of Plant Genetics, Corso Calatafimi 414, I-90129 Palermo, Italy Tertiary relict trees represent ancient organisms that have been able to outlast changing environmental conditions for millions of years. They provide a unique opportunity to understand past and recent biogeographical and evolutionary processes (1, 2). For many relict species, however, only a few highly threatened populations remain (3).Zelkova, a member of the Ulmaceae family, represents one of the most emblematic relict tree genera (4).Today, the rarity of Zelkova in the wild, especially of the three westernmost species (Z. sicula, Z. abeliceaand Z. carpinifolia) calls for swift conservation action (5, 6, 7). In 2010, the Botanic Garden of the University of Fribourg (Switzerland), in collaboration with the Natural History Museum in Fribourg (Switzerland) and Botanic Gardens Conservation International (United Kingdom), initiated an interdisciplinary project to undertake a scientific review of the relict tree Zelkova. Following main objectives were addressed: (a) Review of existing conservation status assessments and global survey of ex situ collections; (b) Basic and applied research, including molecular phylogeny, phylogeography, population genetics and structure, and genetic analyses of wild Zelkova populations compared with ex situ collections; (c) Public awareness and outreach, including development of exhibitions and organisation of national and international seminars to exchange knowledge and share individual conservation expertise. Besides the most recentscientific results of the Zelkova project, two upcoming exhibitions in Fribourg (Switzerland) and in Baku (Azerbaijan) will be presented. Their main topic will be the importance of the Hyrcanian forests of Azerbaijan– one of the richest floristic areas of Western Eurasia. Keywords: Conservation dendrology, ex situ conservation, Hyrcanian forests, phylogeography, refugia, threatened tree species References: 1.Milne RI, Abbott RJ. 2002. The origin and evolution of Tertiary relict floras. Advances in Botanical Research 38: 281-314. 2.Milne RI. 2006. Northern Hemisphere plant disjunctions: a window on tertiary land bridges and climate change? Annals of Botany 98: 465-472. 3.Connor SE. 2009. Human impact – the last nail in the coffin for ancient plants? Journal of Biogeography 36: 485-486. 4.Denk T, Grimm GW. 2005. Phylogeny and biogeography of Zelkova (Ulmaceaesensustricto) as inferred from leaf morphology, ITS sequence data and the fossil record. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 147: 129-157. 5.Fazan L, Stoffel M, Frey DJ, Pirintsos S, Kozlowski G. 2012. Small does not mean young: Age estimation of severely browsed trees in anthropogenic Mediterranean landscapes. Biological Conservation 153: 97-100. 6.Kozlowski G, Gibbs D, Huan F, Frey D, Gratzfeld J. 2012. Conservation of threatened relict trees through living ex situ collections: lessons from the global survey of the genus Zelkova(Ulmaceae). Biodiversity and Conservation 21: 671-685. 7.Kozlowski G, Frey D, Fazan L, Egli B, Bétrisey S, Gratzfeld J, Garfì G, Pirintsos S. 2013. Tertiary relict tree Zelkovaabelicea (Ulmaceae): distribution, population structure and conservation status. Oryx (in press) gregor.kozlowski@unifr.ch Oral Presentations 13 Metallophytes: a biodiversity and phytotechnological resource for soil clean-up, phytomining and mine site restoration Alan J.M. School of Botany, The University of Melbourne, Australia; Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation, The University of Queensland, Australia; Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, The University of Sheffield, Contact address: 9 Victoria Road, Felixstowe, Suffolk, IP11 7PT, UK. Metallophytes - plants that have evolved on metal-enriched soils – have key 'values' that must drive research on their unique properties, and ultimately their conservation. The ability of metallophytes to tolerate extreme metal concentrations commends them as the optimal choice for ecological restoration of mineral wastes and metal-contaminated sites. Metallophytes, and in particular metalhyperaccumulating plants, have also spawned several novel phytotechnologies, including phytoremediation, phytoextraction and phytomining. Other new potentials for exploiting their unique properties are emerging. Action towards conserving the global metallophyte resource base is imperative because many species are under threat of extinction primarily through mineral exploration and mining activities. This concern has been identified as a priority in the Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development (MMSD) Project of the Global Mining Initiative in 2002, but positive responses from the minerals industry have been slow. The last decade has however seen an ever-increasing interest in metaltolerant and metal-accumulating plants both from an academic standpoint and their use in restoration and phytostabilization. Few studies have highlighted the need to conserve these species. This presentation identifies future research needs for the conservation and utilization of the global metallophyte biodiversity. Keywords: metallophyte, phytoextraction, phytomining, phytostabilization, biodiversity conservation, mine waste restoration BAKER ajmb@unimelb.edu.au Oral Presentations 14 Aluminium exclusion and Al accumulation are not alternative Al resistance mechanisms – the example of buckwheat(Fagopyrum esculentum) Walter J. HORST, Benjamin KLUG and Thomas KIRCHNER Institute for Plant Nutrition, Leibniz University Hannover, Aluminium (Al) toxicity is one of the most important factors limiting plant growth on acid mineral soils. Whereas most plant species adapt to Al-toxic soils by exclusion of Al from uptake and transport to the shoots, buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) is characterized by accumulation of Al in the leaves and exclusion of Al from root uptake by the exudation of oxalate. The use of a minirhizotron differentiating between spatial responses to Al along the root apex suggested that the Al-induced release of oxalate, and Al uptake as well as Al accumulation are spatially not separated in the root apex (Klug and Horst, 2010a). The effect of Al and oxalate supply and the application of the anionchannel blocker phenylglyoxal(PG) allowed deriving a hypothesis with an Al + oxalate (Ox) plasma-membrane transporter in the root cortex and a xylem-loading n Al citrate (Cit) ) transporter in the xylem parenchyma cells as key elements of Al accumulation in buckwheat (Klug and Horst, 2010b). Localization ofAl in root tips by fluorescent dyes and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma massspectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) support the view that the 10 mm apical root tip is the main site of Al uptake into the symplast ofthe cortex, while the subapical 10–20 mm zone is the main site of xylem loading through the pericycle and xylemparenchyma cells (Klug et al., 2011. The transcription of selected genes and metabolic profiling confirm a major role of oxalate in the root cortex for the detoxification of Al in the root apoplast by root exudation and transport of Al into the central cylinder and of citrate in the central cylinder for the xylem transport of Al to the shoots particularly in distal segments of the root apex (Kirchner et al., 2012). References: 1.Kirchner, T.W.; Klug, B.; Erban, A.; Kopka, J.; Horst, W.J. (2012): Physiological and molecular analysis ofthe spatial characteristics of aluminium uptake and translocation in roots of buckwheat th (Fagopyrum esculentum). Compendium of Abstracts, edsPrakash, N.B. et al., 8 International Symposium on Plant-Soil Interactions at Low pH, October 18-22. 2012, Bengaluru, India, 98-99 2.Klug, B.; Horst, W.J. (2010a): Spatial characteristics of aluminum uptake and translocation in roots of buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum). Physiologia Plantarum 139, 181–191. 3.Klug, B.; Horst, W.J. (2010b): Oxalate exudation into the root-tip water free space confers protection from aluminum toxicity and allows aluminum accumulation in the symplast in buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum). New Phytologist 187, 380–391. 4.Klug, B.; Specht, A.; Horst, W.J. (2011): Aluminium localisation in root tips of the aluminium-accumulating plant species buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench). Journal of Experimental Botany 62, 5453–5462 horst@pflern.uni-hannover.de Oral Presentations 15 Response of Downy birch and Scots pine seedlings to soil heavy metals Tiina M. NIEMINEN Finnish Forest Research Institute. P.O. BOX 18, FI-01301 Vantaa, Finland Trees have been suggested as a low-cost and ecologically sound solution to remediation of heavy metal-contaminated land (Dickinson 2000). Benefits arise from stabilization of eroded land, but trees may also provide clean-up of the soil. The aim of this study was to determine growth and metal (Cu and Ni) uptake by tree seedlings (Pinus sylvestris L. and Betula pubescens Ehrh.) from smelter-polluted forest soil in West Finland. Two-year-old containerized tree seedlings were planted in soil pockets (depth about 20 cm) containing mulch (2 L) at a distance of 500 2 meters from a large Cu-Ni smelter complex on six replicate plots (5 x 5 m ) of both species. Half of the plots were covered with a 5 cm-thick layer of mulch. After a 10 year period, 3 seedlings from each experimental plot were harvested.The overall survival rate of pine seedlings was ca. 90% and that of birch over 50% after the tenyear study period (Helmisaari et al. 2007). The mulch cover did not have an impact on biomass production of the seedlings. In contrast, the Cu uptake by the above ground parts of birch was increased on mulched plots, although there were weak indications of slightly reduced availability of Cu and Ni to roots on mulched plots in case of both species. Since Cu and Ni concentrations of foliage and bark have been shown to be strongly affected by surface deposited metal containing aerosols, only the woody compartments could be used as indicators of root uptake from soil. Keywords: metal contamination, phytoextraction, phytostabilization, remediation, revegetation References: 1.Dickinson, N. M. 2000. Strategies for sustainable woodland on contaminated soils. Chemosphere 41: 259-263. 2.Helmisaari, H.-S., M. Salemaa, J. Derome, O. Kiikkilä, C. Uhlig, and T. Nieminen. 2007. Remediation of heavy metal-contaminated forest soil using recycled organic matter and native woody plants. Journal of Environmental Quality 36: 1145-1153 tiina.nieminen@metla.fi Oral Presentations 16 Flora, biodiversity and conservation – implications for the mining industry Philip ROGERS AMEC, International House, Dover Place, ASHFORD, Kent. TN23 1HU. . The international mining industry continues to grow as the need for mineral and metal resources struggles to meet globaleconomic demands. Despite advances in international environmental and social governance, the industryis stillstruggling to shake off a poor reputation. Such issues often arise in previously unexplored areas as mining companies identify new resources and in areas of complex habitat modifications caused by human activities. As a result, impacts on regional and local biodiversity values may occur. The purpose of this talk isto provide an overview of international laws and standards and review recent changes to habitat types and status, examine environmental and ecological impacts from mining activities especially to plants and plant communities. It will also investigate the advantages to conservation that such developments may bring through the ecological impact assessment process. Mitigation solutions are also discussed and reaffirmed together with enquiring what future tools could assist plant diversity and whether international controls are sufficient. philip.rogers@amec.com Oral Presentations 17 Drought in times of climate change: a major threat for plants and agriculture Alexander CHRISTMANN and Erwin GRILL Technische Universität München, Department of Plant Sciences, Weihenstephan, Germany Climate change is predicted to result in major perturbations of weather conditions with an anticipated acerbation of water shortage in the southern belt of the northern hemisphere. More than 70% of fresh water consumption occurs in agriculture and tremendous amounts of ground water are currently used to irrigate fields. The groundwater withdrawal in many countries such as the US, India, and China are nonsustainableresulting in an alarming decline of the water table in some areas and contributing significantly to the rise of ocean levels. As a consequence, the affected land areas become drier and require more irrigation to sustain agriculture. It is of essential importance for our food security to improve crop production per water input. Biomass production of plants is controlled by the soil water status. Our research group is studying how plants perceive the information of water deficit and how they respond to adjust their physiology to reduced water availability with the prospect to explore the insights for improving water use efficiency. Plants experiencing a limiting water supply respond by inducing biosynthesis of the stress hormone abscisic acid (ABA) and adjusting leaf transpiration. Our analyses reveal a hydraulic signal as a rapid communication device that allows for long-distance relay ofthe information on the water status within the plant, from the root to shoot and vice versa. The hydraulic signal is a physical signal, which is subsequently converted into the chemical signal ABA for short distance signaling. Cytosolic receptors for ABA consist of a heteromeric complex between a protein phosphatase 2C and a regulatory component (RCAR/PYR/PYL) that binds ABA. Binding of ABA to the receptor complex inactivates the PP2Cs, thereby activating downstream signaling components, which mediate the physiological responses regulated by ABA. Crop plants are ferocious consumers of water and the production of 1 kg wheat flour requires approximately 1-2 tons of water. While photosynthesis and hence biomass production is tightly linked to water consumption, crop plants improve the water use efficiency only at water-restricted conditions as, for instance, imposed by water deficit irrigation. Knowledge of the molecular mechanism of plant's control of water consumption provides the tools to enhance water use efficiency of crop plants in the future. Keywords: crop plants, water deficit, abscisic acid, water use eficiency grill@wzw.tum.de Oral Presentations 18 Active ingredients of medicinal plants in changing environment Muhammad IQBAL Department of Botany, Jamia Hamdard, Hamdard Nagar, New Delhi 110062, India Higher plants are the major source of crude drugs that help sizably in maintaining human health. Substitution and adulteration practices in crude-drug trade can be checked by scientific characterization of medicinal plants. However, the conventional application of morphological, anatomical, physiological or genetic parameters for plant standardization is no longer enough, and evaluation of active ingredients has become indispensable. Medicinal efficacy of a plant drug may differ depending on its cultivation or natural growth in areas with different agro-climatic set up. Moreover, the amounts of active ingredients responsible for therapeutic action may vary with plant genotype and with the change of habitat, depending on variation in soil characters and environmental conditions. Even within the same individual, organ-wise distribution of active ingredients may evince huge variations. The overall quantity of bioactive compound(s) also varies with the stage of plant development, plant-nutrition status, and the local environmental conditions. Environmental degradation may affect not only the quantity but, sometimes, even the quality of active ingredients. This situation, under extreme environmental stress, is likely to influence the properties and hence the degree of efficacy of the bioactive compounds. Thus, environmental degradation may have a far–reaching influence on the therapeutic potential of plants known for their medicinal utility, and this may necessitate consideration for re-fixing the drug doses, keeping in view the overall status of active ingredients as influenced by the above-mentioned factors. This presentation produces relevant data collected from different studies of medicinal plants in order to explain the actual situation. Keywords: Active ingredients, environmental stress, herb-drug efficacy, medicinal plants iqbalg5@yahoo.co.in Oral Presentations 19 Recovery of understorey vegetation after forest clear-cut on peatland 1 1 1 Liisa UKONMAANAHO , Tiina M. NIEMINEN , Hannu NOUSIAINEN and 2 Juha - Pekka HOTANEN Finnish Forest Research Institute. P.O. BOX 18, FI-01301 Vantaa, Finland Finnish Forest Research Institute. P.O. BOX 68, FI-80101 Joensuu, Finland One third of Finland's land area is covered by peatlands (ca. 9 milj ha) and nearly half of that area has been drained to ensure sufficient aeration and improve the growth of tree stands. Today many of these peatland forests have reached maturity for final felling. In this study, we compare differences in recovery of understorey vegetation when peatland forest sites have been clear-cut using either conventional stem-only-harvesting (SOH) or whole-tree-harvesting (WTH) method, in which the logging residues (tree tops, branches) and stumps were removed in addition to the stems. The study was carried out on eight drained peatland catchments (< 5 ha) dominated by Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and Norway spruce (Picea abies). In March 2009, two of the catchments were clear-cut using SOH and four using WTH. The remaining two catchments were left nonharvested (controls). The vegetation survey was carried out in 2011. The survey lines consisted of 10 systematically placed vegetation sample quadrats (50x50 cm) at each site representing the understorey vegetation of control area and clear-cut areas (unbroken/broken peat surface). Results showed that there are clear changes in the composition of plant species on the unbroken surfaces of the clearcut areas compared to the vegetation of the corresponding control areas; strongest changes were observed on the most fertile sites. On the broken surfaces, regeneration had just started and therefore coverage of the plant species was still low. There was no clear difference in vegetation between the treatments, more important was the nutrient level of the peat. Keywords: peatland forests, plant species, stem-only harvesting, whole-tree harvesting Oral Presentations 20 Occurrence and detection of some single stranded DNA (ss DNA) plant viruses in Azerbaijan Nargiz F. SULTANOVA, Alamdar Ch. MAMMADOV, Irada M. HUSEYNOVA Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway , Baku, Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan as a region of remarkable flora biodiversity is also of interest in the biodiversity of endemic plant viruses, in particular viruses with a single stranded (ss) DNA genome. DNAviruses are relatively rare in plants, but are responsible for a significant amount of crop damage worldwide. The Geminiviridae and Nanoviridae are the two families of ssDNA viruses known to infect plants. In the present study samples of pea, lentil, tomato, melon, pepper, and chickpea showing symptoms of a potential infection by a geminivirus and/or a nanovirus were collected from fields located in the main crop production provinces of Azerbaijan. ELISA method. RCAand PCR assays were successfully used i obtained by graft propagation. RCA using φ29 DNA polymerase and RFLP analysis suggested the presence of a bipartite begomovirus (TYLCV) in symptomatic plants. The DNA of tomato was restricted into a fragment of 2.7 kb in case of the HindIII and XbaI digests and also was amplified by PCR using specific primer pairs, which yielded PCR products of the expected sizes. PCR analysis of viral DNA also revealed products with close homology to begomovirus (TYLCV). DNA of chickpea and lentil with relevant positive results for nanoviruses was amplified by RCA, restricted by endonucleases AatII or HindIII and analyzed on 1.5% agarose gel. The template DNA of chickpea and lentil samples was also amplified by using specific primer pairs F103/R101 and C5F/C5R for nanoviruses. These samples yielded PCR products of the expected sizes of 770 bp and 660 bp, respectively, and this confirms the presence of nanoviruses. Keywords: plant, single-stranded DNA viruses (ss DNA viruses), E Rolling circle amplification (RCA), Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) 40 AZ1073 huseynova-i@botany-az.org Virus concentration and disease incidence were determined using n order to determine the viruliferous plants nzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), Oral Presentations 21 “Scientific research to support conservation in the Caucasus – the Caucasus Plant Diversity Initiative” Thomas BORSCH Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise Str. 6-8, 14195 Berlin, Germany, The study of plant biodiversity provides an important base for conservation. Research is thereby dealing with three major areas: (1) For assessment and monitoring, questions apply like: What are the species? How are they distributed? And what are patterns of infraspecific diversity? (2) Further, it needs to be asked: How can diversity patterns at species and infraspecific levels be explained and what are factors influencing them? And (3) more applied questions then are: What is the conservation status of species? What are appropriate measures to conserve them? The Caucasian plant diversity initiative was started in 2009 to promote science development and capacity building relevant for plant diversity conservation in the region. The initiative aims at intensifying the collaboration among universities, herbaria and botanic gardens and to network with the international scientific community. Also, results on several of the above mentioned key questions are being generated. One of the approaches is the integrated evolutionary analysis of morphological and molecular data to evaluate alpha-taxonomic treatments and to better understand species limits. Current work focuses on model groups such as Acantholimon, Campanula, Papaver, Pyrus etc. Phylogenies across the Caucasus allow to illuminate the evolution of endemics. Specimen databases of herbaria are developed to be an important source of information but need to be complemented by field work. Based on a revised modern taxonomy this will lead to a dynamic online information source for plant conservation. In Azerbaijan, specific attention is given to understanding the phylogeography and conservation genetics of trees like Zelkova and the endemic Gleditsia caspica, which are studied in the course of PhD and MSc theses Keywords: Global hotspot of Plant diversity; endemism; integrative taxonomy; dynamic information source; phylogeography; conservation genetics; conservation status assessment t.borsch@bgbm.org Oral Presentations 22 The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and the Conservation of Plant Diversity Maurizio SAJEVA and Valentina VAGLICA Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche, Chimiche e Farmaceutiche, University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 18, Palermo I-90123, Italy, Habitat destruction is the main cause of the decline in biodiversity, but trade of wild plants and animals is certainly the second cause. The idea of regulating trade in wildlife arose in the 1960's with a draft resolution approved by the IUCN in 1963. The text of CITES was approved by some 80 countries in 1973, and today 179 contries are part of it. CITES is under the umbrella of the United Nations through the United Nations Environment Programme. CITES aims to control and regulate trade of species whose trade is, or can be in the near future, a threat to their survival in habitat. CITES is based on three Appendices (see http://www. cites.org) which regulate species depending on their level of threat. Despite the fact that the attention of the public and the media is more prominent for animal species, the number of threatened plants is higher. More than 25,000 taxa of plants are included in the CITES Appendices while listed animals are about 5000. Besides monitoring trade in endangered taxa CITES can contribute to limit the trade of Invasive Alien Species (IAS), which are a major threat to the conservation of biodiversity. The change of using CITES to control trade in IAS has been overlooked but some member states and the Eurpean Union are now issuing appropriate legislations linked to CITES in order to fight this further threat to biodiversity. CITES, CBD and the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation play a strong synergic role in conservation of plant diversity. maurizio.sajeva@unipa.it Oral Presentations 23 The Millennium Seed Bank Partnership: conserving and enabling the use of plant diversity for innovation and adaptation Paul SMITH Head of the Seed Conservation Department and Millennium Seed Bank, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Dr Paul Smith, leader of Kew's Millennium Seed Bank Partnership, will outline the role of seed banks in enabling human innovation and adaptation. The st major environmental challenges of the 21 century – food security, water scarcity, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, energy and climate change – all require plantbased solutions. Seed banks are an efficient way of storing plant diversity as an insurance against species loss in the wild but they are also a source of seed and knowledge for human development. We need new food crops that use less water or resistant to pests and diseases. We need to restore our forests to provide essential ecosystem services and we need to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change. Drawing on the experience of the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership, a global network of 170 plant science organisations in 80 countries worldwide, Dr Smith will give examples of how seed banks underpin and support agriculture, horticulture, forestry and habitat restoration in a changing world. p.smith@kew.org Oral Presentations 24 Millennium Seed Bank Partnership: Saving the Flora of the Caucasus Clare TRIVEDI Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK. Home to over 7000 species of vascular plants, the Caucasus are widely recognised as one of the most biodiverse regions on earth. This floral diversity has direct economic importance for food, timber, forage and fodder, medicine, and oils. Plants are also vital as part of ecosystems to provide ecosystem services. At least one quarter of the plants found in the Caucasus are endemic to the region. However, this flora is under threat from construction of large-scale infrastructures, unsustainable logging of forests, overgrazing of pastures, pollution and climate change. A recent project found around 700 of the regional endemic species to be threatened. In recent years the protection of biodiversity in situ has been vastly improved, but very little attention has been paid to ex situ conservation. The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Millennium Seed Bank Partnership has developed a regional programme to address threats, provide an insurance policy for the flora, and provide opportunities for innovation and adaption in the face of environmental change. This programme, 'MSBP: Saving the Flora of the Caucasus' started with a collecting programme in Georgia (National Botanic Garden of Georgia and Institute of Botany), and has now grown into Armenia (Institute of Botany) and Azerbaijan (Institute of Botany and Institute of Genetic Resources). The programme has already conserved over 1100 plant species. The collections are available for research and conservation use. The Programme has also provided a range of training opportunities to local scientists and improved facilities for conserving seed of wild species. We are currently developing plans to continue and expand the Programme. Ultimately the aim is to conserve seed from the whole of the flora of the Caucasus, with the endemic and threatened plants conserved and studied as a priority. We will also engage better with those organisations working on in situ conservation to improve use of the collections and associated data and knowledge to restore landscapes and ecosystems. References: National Report on the State of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture in Georgia.FAO. 2008. Ecoregion Conservation Plan for the Caucaus. 2012 Revised and Updated Edition Ecoregion Conservation Plan for the Caucaus. 2012 Revised and Updated Edition CEPF Final Project Completion Report for the Project 'Co-ordination and Development of Plant Red List Assessments for Caucasus Biodiversity Hotspot. http://www.cepf.net/resources/publications/project_reports/Pages/final_reports_caucasus.aspx c.trivedi@kew.org Oral Presentations 25 Benefits, trade-offs and conservation of plant diversity in novel ecosystems and changed environments in New Zealand Nicholas DICKINSON Department of Ecology, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, Christchurch, New Zealand Endemism is high in the native flora of New Zealand, due to a uniquely long period of geographical and evolutionary isolation; more than 80% of New Zealand's native plants are found nowhere else. Human settlement by Polynesians (700 years ago) and Europeans (200 years ago) was relatively recent, bringing rapid environmental change and profound ecological impacts. Approximately one-third of the country is protected for conservation, although vegetation in these areas is highly vulnerable to mammals, to which native plants have little natural protection. However, this paper is concerned withlandscapes impacted by agricultureand mining, where native vegetation only exists in small remnants and is marginal to the main land use.It is tempting to consider that native plant diversity is less important in these production lands that drive the nation's economy. It is known that protecting and restoring indigenous plant communitiesprovide measurable benefits that include increased provision of a range of ecosystems services, such as improved crop pollination, disease and pest control, riparian zone protection of water quaility and contributing to New Zealand's commitment to offset greenhouse gas emissions. Tourism and biodiversity, biodiversity offset, added value and future proofing of the environment and economy provide a strong rationale for protection of plant diversity. Two case studies of ecological restoration are described where research has focused on the relationship plant diversity and soil quality. Keywords: Agriculture, ecological restoration, biodiversity offsets, endemism, future proofing Nicholas.dickinson@lincoln.ac.nz Oral Presentations 26 Conservation of Plant Diversity: A Case Study from Kayseri-Turkey Ahmet AKSOY Erciyes University, Science Faculty, Department of Biology, 38039, Kayseri, Turkey Plants are a vital part of the world's bioeconomy and for human well-being. In addition to the crop plants that provide our basic food and fibres, thousands of plants in the wild have great economic and cultural importance and potential, providing food, medicine, fuel, clothing, shelter and a reservoir of vast gene pool for the well being global population. There are more than 300,000 known plant species on Earth. Two thirds of the world's plant species are threatened by population growth, deforestation, habitat loss, destructive development, over consumption of resources, the spread of alien invasive species and agricultural expansion.Conservation biology has emerged in order to protect the world's biological diversity, manage and prevent extinction. Turkey has three distinct plant geographical divisions; Euro-Siberian, Mediterranean, Irano-Turanian. The country has an extremely rich flora. Total number of plant taxa is around 11707 plant taxa, 3649 being endemics.The endemism ratio is 31.82%. Investigations were carried out on the conservation biology of Astragalus argaeus Boiss and Centaurea amaena Boiss. &Balansa. Both these species are endemics distributed in the Kayseri province. Astragalus argaeus (Fabaceae) is found on Erciyes Mountain located in Kayseri and only known from type locality. C.amaena is known from a single locality in Kayseri. Both these species were observed to be under a threat of extinction. Conservation status of A.argaeus has been renovated according to IUCN criteria as CR B2b(ii) (previously EN). Conservation status of C. amaena has been updated according to IUCN criteria as CR B2ab(i,iii) (previously EN). In this paper an attempt will be made to discuss the results obtained concerning the protection of these narrowly distributed endemics and their bioprospection. Keywords: Conservation biology, Astragalus argaeus, Centaurea amaena, Kayseri, Turkey aksoy@erciyes.edu.tr Oral Presentations 27 Plant Diversity of Ayer Hitam Forest in Malaysia and Conservation in Urban Settings I. Faridah-Hanum Faculty of Forestry, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia Ayer Hitam Forest has some 430 species of seed plants belonging to 203 genera and 72 families. For tree taxa alone, this forest houses a third of the total number of tree species and almost 50% of the tree families known from Peninsular Malaysia. There are 127 timber producing species, 30 wild fruit species and 100 medicinal plant species. We also find 33 species of ferns and their allies, and 43 species of moss in this forest. The area of Ayer Hitam Forest is 1176 hectares. It is the largest green lung in the Klang Valley, an industrial and commercial hub in Malaysia with a population of 5.2 million. With the declining forest size, the fauna seems to be more affected than the plants especially the larger mammals. Animal species require a certain range or population size in order to persist. The conservation of Ayer Hitam Forest's biodiversity is a great challenge that needs to be approached with pragmatism as it involves not only the UPM academic fraternity but also the local community who have a forest in their backyard; and hence demand usage of the forest which can distress and damage it. Some 100 indigenous people from the Temuan tribe also live here. Realizing the importance of conserving this forest, UPM gears its conservation efforts towards making this forest a centre for forestry and environmental education, research and extension in both the Klang Valley and Malaysia, with international linkages in the Asia Pacific region. Keywords: Forest, Diversity, Conservation, Ayer Hitam, Malaysia References: 1.Faridah-Hanum, I. 2008. Ayer Hitam Forest: the green lung of Klang Valley. Universiti Putra Malaysia Press, Serdang. 100 pp. ISBN 978-967-5026-72-0 2.Faridah-Hanum, I. 1999. Plant Diversity and Conservation Value of Ayer Hitam Forest, Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia. Pertanika Journal Tropical Agricultural Science 22(2): 73 – 83. 3.Faridah-Hanum, I. and Nurulhuda Hamzah. 1999. The Use of Medicinal Plant Species by the Temuan Tribe of Ayer Hitam Forest, Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia. Pertanika Journal Tropical Agricultural Science 22(2): 85 – 94. 4.Awang Noor Abd. Ghani, Paiman Bawon, Mohd. Shahwahid Hj. Othman, Rusli Mohd., Shukri Mohd, I. Faridah -Hanum and Mohd. Zakaria Hussin. 1999. Direct Uses of Ayer Hitam Forest, Puchong, Selangor. Pertanika Journal Tropical Agricultural Science 22(2):203 – 206 dean.forr@upm.my Oral Presentations 28 Rare genefound and peculiarities of biodiversity of Northen Caucasus under changing enviroment Svetlana LITVINSKAYA Kuban State University, Russia, The Russian part of the Caucasus has the unique ecosystems with high biological importance, possessing huge resource potential. The nature protection status of biodiversity of the region is extremely high. High level of a floristic variety and an endemism of certain regions of the North Caucasus should be noted. The high percent of the rare and endangered species for the region which are subject to protection at level of the state and republics is itself the indicator of ecological intensity. About 4000 species of vascular plants grow in the North Caucasus. High level of an endemism and floristic biodiversity is connected with difficult florogenesis, unity with flora of the Crimea, the Ancient Mediterranean, Eastern Europe, and Southwest Asia. There are many causes of native flora's transformations. The main negative impact are caused by: high population density; traditional forms of farm management; development of territory (melioration, using of fertilizer and chemicals in agrolandscapes); shore protective measures; artificial reservoirs; eutrophication of reservoirs; elimination of ornamental and medicinal plants; open extraction of the treasures, uncontrolled flow of the tourists; health resort's building, construction of pipe lines, power line; wildfire; oil pollution; rent of forest territory; chopping of mountain forest; cattle grazing and its quitting in subnival zone. All of these inevitable eliminate life environment of the species on large areas, lead to the negative transformation of variety and decrease of the biological productiveness of natural biocenosis. In the region forest formations lose their specifity and close to each other on their structures and composition, formational flora are simplified due to its synantropization. Biological variety on specific level in regions is impossible to save without ecosystematic approach, ecosystem's inventory and consideration of ecotope and landscape. But all is necessary to take action for the reduction of anthropogenic pressing. Litvisky@yandex.ru Oral Presentations 29 Glyphosate and the challenge of an ecological risk assessment Günter NEUMANN, Sebastian BOTT, Tsehaye TESFAMARİAM, Joshua AFZAL, Volker RÖMHELD Institute of Crop science (340h). Universität Hohenheim, 70593 Stuttgart, Germany Due to low production costs, high efficiency, paired with comparatively low environmental toxicity and the availability of transgenic glyphosate-resistant crops, on a global scale, glyphosate is currently the most widely used herbicide. However, in the recent past, increasing evidence suggests that the current practice of glyphosate use is associated with various yet underestimated or overlooked risk factors at the ecological, agronomic and toxicological level (e.g. Bott et al.2011; Johal and Huber, 2009; Kremer and Means, 2009; Tesfamariam et al,. 2009). Based on case studies, the talk summarizes the herbicidal function, advantages and the current ecological risk assessment of glyphosate application. On the other hand, also the discussion of problems related with the massive, longterm agricultural and non-agricultural use of glyphosate is covered in context with effects on non-target organisms, changes in soil microbiology, herbicide resistance, pollution of surface waters and toxicological aspects. A scenario of ecological and economic consequences of a glyphosate ban, as well as potential alternatives towards a more sustainable use of a “once in a century herbicide” are discussed. 315: 2- 11. Johal, G.S., Huber, D.M. (2009): Glyphosate effects on diseases of plants. Europ. J. Agronomy 31: 144–152. Kremer, R.J., Means, N.E. (2009): Glyphosate and glyphosate-resistant crop interactions with rhizosphere microorganisms. Europ. J. Agronomy 31: 153–161. Tesfamariam, T., Bott, S., Cakmak, I. Römheld, V, Neumann G. (2009): Glyphosate in the rhizosphere—Role of waiting times and different glyphosate binding forms in soils for phytotoxicity to non-target plants Europ. J. Agronomy 31: 126–132 guenter.neumann@uni-hohenheim.de Keywords: References: Bott, S., Tesfamariam T., Kania, A., Eman, B. Aslan, N., Römheld, V., Neumann, G. (2011): Phytotoxicity of glyphosate soil residues re-mobilised by phosphate fertilisation. Plant Soil, Glyphosate, ecological risk assessment, herbicides Oral Presentations 30 Plant diversity services to ecosystem in the era of environmental changes Majeti Narasimha VARAPRASAD Development and destruction are hand in glove. Inorder to achieve high GDP consumption of natural resources is inevitable which results in enoromous waste generation (non-hazardous and hazardous). Nature's cure using plant diversity ( = Phytoremediation) is a sustainable solution for environmental cleanup. There has been a knowledge explosion in this field in the last 3 decades. As of now about 18000 articles have been published on various aspects of using biodiversity for environmental cleanup starting with only 11 in 1989 [1]. Large amounts of toxic waste have been dispersed in thousands of sites spread across the globe. Thus, every one of us are being exposed to contaminants of past and present. The risk to human and environmental health is rising and there is evidence that this cocktail of pollutants is a contributor to the global environmental changes and epidemics. These pollutants belong to two main classes: inorganic and organic. The challenge is to develop innovative and cost-effective solutions to decontaminate polluted environments. Therefore, conservation of biological diversity which aims to preserve, maintain, sustainably utilize, restore, protect, and enhance the variety of life in an area so that the abundance and distribution of species and communities provide for the continued existence and normal ecological functioning. This presentation will also focus on “metallophytes” and some specific field studies which include terminology, ecology, rhizosphere biology, need for conservation of metallophytes, applications in phytoremediation, e . Keywords: ecosystem services, Nature's cure, sustainable management, regenerable resources Department of Plant Sciences University of Hyderabad Hyderabad 500 046, Andhra Pradesh prasad_mnv@yahoo.com, mnvsl@uohyd.ernet.in nzymes, proteins, and genes and finally the emerging field of nature's cure with plant diversity for human welfare [2] Oral Presentations 31 Symbiotic action of plants and microorganisms as detoxificators of organic pollutants G. KVESITADZE, T.SADUNISHVILI, E.KVESITADZE Durmishidze Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Agricultural University of Georgia, David Agmasheneblis Kheivani, 13th km, 0159, Tbilisi, Georgia Due to the great power of natural detoxification processes, interest in the ecological potential of microorganisms and plants has increased in the last two decades. Microorganisms that transform organics play an important role in maintaining the ecological balance in various ecosystems and, due to their high degradation and transformation power, are successfully used for sewage and soil purification. Plants actively participate in soil and air remediation processes. Based on our investigations it was shown that plants and microorganisms together are more efficient in degradation of most of organic contaminants, like oil hydrocarbons, pesticides and explosives. Screening of plants and microorganisms according to their potential to assimilate TNT and RDX was carried out. As a result, 3 plant species (soybean, alfalfa and ryegrass), 41 bacterial cultures, 14 strains of microscopic fungi, 3 strains of yeast were selected. Two bacterial consortia for bioconversion of TNT were composed. It has been shown that selected microorganisms are distinguished by high TNT-nitroreductase activity. It is supposed that the nitroreductase participates in the first stage of TNT degradation in microorganisms, and formed reduced metabolites undergo destruction by laccases or other oxidases. Activation of enzymes, responsible for reduction, oxidation and conjugation of TNT in plants, such as nitroreductase, peroxidase, phenoloxidase and glutathione S-transferase has been demonstrated. Schemes of TNTtransformation in microorganisms and plants are suggested. Keywords: organic pollutants, TNT, RDX, nitroreductase, microorganisms and plants combined detoxificators kvesitadzei@hotmail.com Oral Presentations 32 Multiple tolerances of Artemisia fragrans to environmental stress factors 1 2 Esmira ALIRZAYEVA , Gunter NEUMANN 1 Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, AZ1073, Baku, Azerbaijan, 2 Institute of Crop Science, University of Hohenheim, Fruwirthstrasse 20, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany, Artemisia L. species are plants tolerant to a wide range of different stress factors. A number of species/ecotypes are widespread and vigorously growing at various locations of Azerbaijan heavily exposed to environmental pollutants (Alirzayeva et al., 2010). To characterise potential adaptations, seeds of Artemisia fragrans ecotypes collected from different contaminated locations of Azerbaijan were germinated on heavy metal (HM) and petroleum contaminated soils. All ecotypes demonstrated high tolerance to excess of HM in soils. But only the ecotype from a petroleum contaminated site displayed tolerance to both petroleum and HM contaminations. Ecotypes collected around various industrial units emitting HM demonstrated differences in their development. While the ecotype collected around the Aluminum plant (AP), continued its growth without any toxicity symptoms on HM contaminated soil, the ecotype collected around a Steel plant (SP) was not able to develop shoots carrying inflorescences. Mobility of HM in control soils with low available metal fraction was increased in 2 mm rhizosphere (close to roots) part of AP ecotype, whereas HM concentrations remained unchanged in different parts of rhizosphere of SP ecotype. All Artemisia ecotypes tested accumulated Cd in their shoots close to the toxicity level or even higher (about 5 mg/kg), but accumulation of Zn was in the normal range. Altered root morphology was observed under petroleum contamination. With the increase of contamination level the number and size of lateral roots were decreased. Petroleum hydrocarbons cause alteration in soil physical-chemical properties which results in coarser root growth, consequently, in increased root diameter (Merkl et al., 2005). Acknowledgment: This work is supported by the fellowship of the President of Azerbaijan Republic for young scientists of ANAS. Keywords: Artemisia fragrans, heavy metals, petroleum contamination, tolerance mechanism References: 1.Alirzayeva E., Shirvani T., Ali-zade V., Römheld V., Cakmak I. Genetic capacity of some medicinal plants to accumulate heavy metals. Eds, A.Ahmad, T.O.Siddiqi, M.Iqbal. Medicinal plants in Changing Environment. Capital Publ. Company, New Delhi, Kolkata, India, 2011, Chapter 6, 72-98 2.Merkl N., Schultze-Kraft R., Infante C. Phytoremediation in the tropics e influence of heavy crude oil on root morphological characteristics of graminoids. Environmental Pollution, 2005, 138, 86-91 hh.esmal@hotmail.com guenter.neumann@uni-hohenheim.de Oral Presentations 33 Global Plants Initiative: Collaborative community built database Deirdre RYAN th JSTOR, Director of Primary Sources, 2 Rector Street, 18 Floor, New York, New York 10006, U.S.A, The Global Plants Initiative (GPI) is an international partnership of more than 270 herbaria in 70 countries with the goal to digitize, unite, and provide access to type specimens of plants, fungi and algae. These specimens are available through a community contributed database ( ). To date, over 1,700,000 plant type specimens are available for viewing, which is by far the largest online database of biological type specimens. We are only now beginning to understand the power of aggregating materials from such a broad array of sources and making them easily accessible online. The wide interest and strong support for GPI from a variety of communities such as anthropology, cultural history, economic development, colonialism, chemistry, medicine, and forensics shows thepower of large collaborations. In fact, the GPI project is the largest international collaboration to date for the digitization of herbarium specimens, its success has made it clear that differences in curatorial standards and traditions aswell as national background, language and funding streams for institutions can all be overcome when the objectives and methodsare clearly outlined, and when a sense of trust among participants has been achieved. Keywords: type specimens, digitization, herbaria References: The African Plants Initiative: A Big Step for Continental Taxonomy Gideon F. Smith,Taxon, Vol. 53, No. 4 (Nov., 2004), pp. 1023-1025; Floristics of the Angiosperm Flora of Sub-Saharan Africa: An Analysis of the African Plant Checklist and Database, Ronell R. Klopper, Laurent Gautier, CyrilleChatelain, Gideon F. Smith and Rodolphe Spichiger, Taxon, Vol. 56, No. 1 (Feb., 2007), pp. 201-208; AFRICAN HERBARIA SUPPORT TRANSFORMATION ON THE CONTINENT, Gideon F. Smith, Jacobus P. (Koos) Roux, Peter Raven and Estrela Figueiredo, Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, Vol. 98, No. 2 (July 2011) (pp. 272-276); Typification of Names Based on the Angolan Collections of Friedrich Welwitsch, Sara Albuquerque, R. K. Brummitt, Estrela Figueiredo, Taxon, Vol. 58, No. 2 (May, 2009), pp. 641-646; ANew Combination in Stillingia (Euphorbiaceae) for Bolivia and Argentina Hans-Joachim Esser, Novon, Vol. 20, No. 2 (June 2010), pp. 147-148; Triebel D, Hagedorn G, Rambold G (2012) An appraisal of megascience platforms for biodiversity information. MycoKeys 5: 45–63. doi: 10.3897/mycokeys.5.4302; deirdre.ryan@jstor.org http://plants.jstor.org Big hitting collectors make massive and disproportionate contribution to the discovery of plant species Proc. R. Soc. B June 7, 2012 279 17362269-2274; published ahead of print February 1, 2012, 1471-2954 Oral Presentations 34 The conservation of Calligonumbakuense – a workshop report 1 2 3 Gerald PAROLLY , Janette BARBY and Vugar KERIMOV 1 Botanischer Garten & Botanisches Museum Berlin-Dahlem, ZE Freie Universität Berlin, 2 Königin-Luise-Straße 6-8, D-14191 Berlin, Germany. Gemeinschaftbetrieb 3 der ZE BGBM,Am Fichtenberg 17, D-12165 Berlin, Germany. Institute of Botany ANAS, 40 Badamdar Highway Baku-AZ1073, Azerbaijan. Calligonum bakuense Litw. (Polygonaceae) is an extremely rare and localized shrub, growing in coastal places in the semi-desert of the Absheron Peninsula, Azerbaijan. Urban sprawl and other anthropogenic factors have caused dramatic habitat loss in the last decades, leaving only a few scattered individuals known to occur in the wild. Based on recent own field observations and seed collection, the present contribution reviews the knowledge ofthe distribution and site ecology of Calligonum bakuense. It suggests a catalogue of urgently necessary steps towards a sustainable conservation strategy, combining in-situ conservation measures with the need for establishing a conservation collection at the Botanical Garden in Baku (ex-situ conservation). The first promising experiences in cultivating Calligonum bakuense in the Botanical Garden BerlinDahlem are reported. The significance of further field work and the set-up of a monitoring program and population genetic studies are pointed out. Therole of botanical gardens in conservation programs is discussed. Keywords: Azerbaijan, Botanical gardens, endangered species, ex-situ conservation, in-situ conservation, local endemic, population genetics, site-ecology g.parolly@bgbm.org j.barby@bgbm.org vugarkerimov@mail.ru Oral Presentations 35 Conservation Phylogenetics – setting priority based on lineage uniqueness 1,2 Gábor SRAMKÓ 1MTA-ELTE-MTM Ecology Research Group, Pázmány Pétersétány 1/C., Budapest, H-1117, Hungary, 2Department of Botany, University of Debrecen, Egyetemtér1., Debrecen, H-4010, Hungary In the last two decades, conservation genetics has emerged as an important discipline providing information on endangered species' population genetic variability, resolving fragmented population structure, resolving taxonomic uncertainties, defining management units, etc. Although most of the issues covered by conservation genetics target detection of infraspecific (usually population) level genetic variability, a portion deals with genetic variation at or above the species level. Such studies can provide a historical perspective on genetic variability through the glass of phylogenetics, since the phylogeny of a given taxa represents the "outcome" of those genetic processes that we study when looking at contemporary genetic processes at the population level. These studies can be termed "conservation phylogenetic" studies defined as: "genetic study [of taxa with conservation importance] dealing with issues at and above the species level" [with focus on] "phylogenetic distinctiveness as a measure of taxon „worth” when priority decisions [are to be] made regarding investment of finite time and conservation resources".Such studies have well-established practise though they are rare in the literature. The first step is to resolve the phylogeny of the taxa of conservation importance by means of either molecular or more traditional (e.g. morphology) approach. We have to note here that molecular genetics offer a very powerful tool to reconstruct the phylogeny of virtually any taxa considered. The second work-phase is to provide a measure of "phylogenetic diversity" of within each monophyletic group recovered, in order to provide an objective measure to conservation on the "phylogenetic uniqueness" a monophyletic group (usually a species) represents. In our presentation, we provide a case study using the endangered Eurasian genus Himantoglossum L. whit a region of origin in the Caucasus Mts., and one of the most unique lineage is represented by the Azerbaijani endemic H. formosum(Steven) K. Koch. Keywords: Caucasian endemic, conservation genetics, lizard orchid, phylogenetic distinctiveness, phylogenetic diversity,phylogenetics sramko.gabor@science.unideb.hu Oral Presentations 36 Conversation of plant diversity in desert and semi-desert habitats in Azerbaijan Eldar SHUKUROV Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, AZ1073, Baku, Azerbaijan, The phytorestoration methodology and programme were developed and implemented in order to increase efficiency of vegetation cover and plant diversity restoration in the disturbed desert and semi-desert habitat in Azerbaijan. The phytorestoration trial programme established for two different habitats in two different regions: a) Salsoletum nodulosae clayey desert in Gobustan region and b) Artemisetum botriochloasum semi-desert in Tovuz region. During the past twenty years biodiversity of desert and semi-desert habitats have been impacted by construction of new oil, gas and water pipelines, roads and other industrial and nonindustrial buildings. Inefficiently using natural habitats for agricultural purposes has also major impact on habitat and consequently on plant diversity. The aim of phytorestoration study was to understand the naturally changes in the plant communities and intervening into the restoration process by developing, implementing, monitoring and conducting trend analysis on the vegetation cover and plant diversity in the disturbed areas of these different habitats in comparison with undisturbed areas. Restoration of the vegetation cover and species diversity in the desert habitat takes long time to restore regardless of collecting and sowing of seeds collected from the same habitats in an adequate proportion. As a result of this study, a disturbance of the desert habitat should be avoided as much as possible. Keywords: plant diversity, vegetation cover, phytorestoration eldar1972@live.com Oral Presentations 37 Priority rare and endangered plant species of Azerbaijan: assessment of conservation status Aida DADASHOVA, Rena ABDIYEVA and Valida ALI-ZADE Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, AZ1073, Baku, Azerbaijan, Successful development of populations in the new environment characterized by fast climate changes is the extremely important for conservation of their genetic variety. It is obvious, that the most priority species and populations for conservation are in group of the greatest risk. The risk is defined as product of influence of site. Influence depends on value of species, population, including value for society and for ecological integrity of ecosystem. Possibility of loss of genetic variety depends on the human factor, natural processes and their interaction. Thus, we can name priority economically important plants, or what possess unique genetic characteristics and can be of value for the future generations. Species and populations which are rare and disappearing or widespread, but rare on all range of distributions, also are very important. Assessment of rare, endangered and endemic plant species of Azerbaijan was possible by means of monitoring for obtaining information such as geographical map of species distribution, size of their areal, number and condition of populations, past and further threats for them. Based on electronic Database using the GIS system the collected coordinates was applied to produce distribution maps of selected species. As a result of this work the priority list and areas of rare and endangered plant species spread in Azerbaijan was defined; 50 species were assessed according to international standards of IUCN, ensure that taxonomic status of the questionable species were clarified by international experts, electronically quick and easy accessible database were created. This information allows us to identify which species from this list are most threatened, and should therefore be the focus of protection and conservation monitoring. This work was supported by Science Development Foundation under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan- Grant № EİF-2010-1(1)-40/26-3 Keywords: rare and endangered species, GIS system, assessment, database aida_dadashova@mail.ru Poster 38 Identification of new allele component blocks in bread wheat (T. aestivum L.) accessions using protein markers and their use in breeding Akbar KARİMOV, Hamlet SADİGOV Institute of Genetic Resources, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Azadliq ave., 155, Baku, Azerbaijan, Electrophoresis analysis of gliadin storage proteins which form the basis of endosperm in the 33 local and introduced varieties of bread wheat belonging to Triticum aestivum L. was carried out using A-PAGE method and allele component blocks of gliadincoding loci were identified. There is a need for stable protein markers able to characterize a grain quality and other parameters during the breeding process. The use of genetically determined protein markers in the assessment of wheat polymorphism meets the today's scientific requirements. So, an assessment of wheat genetic diversity using the electrophoretic patterns of storage gliadin proteins still remains the one of the successful approachable methods. For the first time, in this study of Gld 1B locus in local variety Gobustan a new allele component block Gld 1B22, in Bol-bugda Gld 1B21, in Sheki-1 Gld 1B20 and in Beyaz Gld 1B19 were identified and the relationship of these alleles with the technological features of grain was analyzed. In addition, in Beyaz variety Gld 6B12 allele component block of Gld 6B locus was determined. It was identified that one group of allele component blocks (Gld 1A5, Gld 1A4) had a higher frequency of occurrence than other ones. The frequency of Gld 1A5 was 42.4%, Gld 1A4 - 33.3%, Gld 1A10 – 15.7% , Gld 1A6 and Gld 1A2 – 3.03%. Apart from, a relation of the some newly established allele component blocks with the grain quality indicators was studied. The relationship of Gld 1A4 with the sedimentation, Gld 1A5 with the vitreousness of grain and Gld 1B1 with the deformation of gluten was determined. A significant positive correlation with the grain quality indicators was also found. Acknowledgment: This work was supported by Science Development Foundation under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan- Grant № EİF-2010- (1)-40/21-M-19 Keywords: bread wheat, gliadin, protein, locus, allele, component, marker akber_xocali@yahoo.com Poster 39 Influence of oil pollution on morphological characteristics and ecology of gray-brown soils Ali İBRAHİMOV, Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, 5 M.Arif str., AZ 10073, Baku, Azerbaijan, Absheron peninsula is the mainly polluted with oil and oil products area in our Republic. Two-thirds of industrial potential and one-thirds of population of the country is concentrated here, therefore is under anthropogenic influence. Incorrect exploitation of oil wells here, not following of the simplest rules of environment protection during oil extraction and other violations cause pollution of separate landscape areas on Absheron peninsula. It should be noted that soils of peninsula are polluted in the form of blot, the area of which can be from 2-3 ars up to 5-10 hectares or more. Crude oil, poured out on the soil, negatively affects its morphology, physical and physical-chemical, chemical and biological characteristic and waters, destroys and changes plant communities, soil respiration, activity and compositions of microorganisms and enzymes. Light fraction of oil partly evaporates when poured down and remained part penetrates deep into the light granular soils and reaches ground waters. Heavy fraction of oil is accumulated on the surface of soil and disturbs its aeration causing the completely loss of soil productivity. Pollution of Absheron soils finds its reflection in deterioration of soil-ecological condition, structural change of biocoenosis and intensity of soil-forming procedures in the peninsula. As a result, mechanical destruction of soil surface and lack of plants on productive soils polluted widely and deep with oil wastes are observed. Thus it is necessary to restore the abovementioned parameters of oil-polluted soils and to determine acceptable range of oil soil pollution for agricultural plants. Keywords: Absheron peninsula, oil pollution, soil morphology and physical-chemical characteristic Maharram BABAYEV ibrahimli_ali@mail.ru Poster 40 Economical improtance and conservation of some Centaurea L. species Arzu Y. HUSEYNOVA, Parvana Kh. GARAKHANI Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, AZ1073, Baku, Azerbaijan, Asteraceae is one of the largest and evolutionary developed family which includes more than 1620 genera and about 23600 species (1, 2). In Azerbaijan, one of the less studied and largely spread genus of Asteraceae family is Centaurea L. Centaurea species bloom from late June till late August. But mass blooming happens in July. Blooming lasts 40-45 days. Fruiting period is August and September, faded parts of plants should be removed during this period for decorative purpose. Besides of decorative using, Centaurea species also have other applications, they are good nectariferous and are also used as a medicinal plants during many centuries. Most species are applied as a diuretic, analgetic, in heart-vascular, nerve deceases, malyaria, diabet and some oncological illnesses (3, 4). Last decades some species such as Centaurea karabaghensis Sosn., Centaurea grossheimii Sosn., Centaurea hyrcanica Bornm., Centaurea kobstanica Tzvel., Centaurea razdorskyi Karyag. have been threatened and there is a danger of their complitely disappearance in Azerbaijan. These species are included to critical danger group. C.karabaghensis Sosn is endemic species for Garabakh (Azerbaijan) and due to occupation of this region is out of protection last years. C. grossheimii Sosn is spread in Nakhchivan MR Garagut massive, C. hyrcanica Bornm. – in Talısh ( Calilabad, Yardımlı, Lerik, Lankaran, Masallı, Astara regions ); C. kobstanica Tzvel. – in Greater Caucasus (South), Gobustan, Greater Caucasus (East); C. razdorskyi Karyag. – in Aghburun mountains of Gobustan. Anthropogenic impacts caused reasonable decrease in the number of these species. New areals must be found and preservations must be provided to reduce stress factors. Keywords: Asteraceae Dumort., Centaurea L, C. cyanus, C. karabaghensis Sosn., C. grossheimii Sosn., C. hyrcanica Bornm., C. kobstanica Tzvel., C. razdorskyi Karyag References: 1.Jeffrey C. Compositae: Introduction with key to tribes. In: J.W.Kabereit and C.Jeffrey, editors. Families and genera of vascular plants. vol. VIII, Flavering Plants, Endicots, Asterales 2007, Berlin: Springer-Verlaq, p. 61-87 2.Wagenitz G, Hellwig FH. Evolution of characters and phylogeny of the Centaureinae. In: Hind DJN, Beentje HG, editors. Compositae: systematics. Proceedings of the International Compositae Conference, Kew, 1994. Kew, London: Royal Botanic Gardens; 1996. pp. 491–510 3.Карягин И.И. Флора Азербайджана изд-во АН. Азерб.ССР, 1961 VIII, С. 458-478. 4.Ладыгина Е.А., Морозова Р.С. Лекарственные растения в медицине и в быту. – Ставрополь: кн. изд-во. 1989. – С. 52-54 a.huseynova@mail.ru Poster 41 Morphological and physiological changes of urban trees as ecological indicators of heavy metal stress Beyim QAFAROVA, Afet MAMMADOVA Department of Botany, Faculty of Biology, acad. Zahid Khalilov str. 23, AZ 1148, Baku, Azerbaijan, The significance of morphological leaf surface characters of plants in indication and mitigation of auto-exhaust pollution has been investigated. With the purpose of this study, the following plant species growing along roadsides in high traffic density and industrial areas have been selected: Ligustrum japonicum and Olea europea. As compared to control samples, air pollutants, especially, heavy metals have a great deterioration effect on the stability level of the leaves of the investigated species in terms of the fluctuating asymmetry (FA) and fluctuating asymmetry coefficient (FAC). Also, the leaf surface structures changed significantly in the exposed plants. Trichomes lost its original shape; stomata were completely closed by pollutant particles and consequently, are expected to affect the physiological operations within the plant cell. At higher metal concentrations APX and GPX exhibited remarkable induction with increasing the metal concentration, while exposure of plant species to exceeded levels of metals causes inhibition of CAT, SOD activity in comparison to the control. The leaves investigated seem to use as effective ecological bioindicators of environmental quality in Baku city, Azerbaijan. It presents a highly effective method for getting the realistic data on the quality of the environment of these investigated areas. Keywords: air pollution, heavy metals, leaves, fluctuating asymmetry m.afet@mail.ru Poster 42 Content and Spatial Variability of Heavy Metals in the Soils of Gold Mine area in Gadabay Region, Azerbaijan Elton MAMMADOV Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, M.Arif ave.,5, AZ1073, Baku, Azerbaijan, The soil pollution by heavy metals is a growing problem in the areas of the Mines. Gold and copper mining in Gadabay region dates back to over a century and remains one of the oldest viable mines in the Caucasus region. This study deals with the concentrations of heavy metals in the soils and their spatial variability in the area and new construction zones of the Mine. The results of analyses of 100 soil samples found out a significant difference in the concentrations of heavy metals in soil for the different parts of the Mine. The mean values of some heavy metals such as Cu, Cr, Co in the Tailings Management Facility (TMF) are higher than in the Mine site, while the concentrations of Mn and Zn are lower. Heavy metal concentrations in all soil samples taken from the Mine site are in the order of Mn>Zn>Cu>Cr>Ni>Co>Pb>As>Se>Cd>Hg. The same order of heavy metal concentrations for the TMF are MgMn>Cu>Zn>Cr>Ni >Co>Pb>Hg>Cd. Meanwhile, the heavy metal concentrations in some soil samples exceed the levels of regulatory standards. The elements with the highest concentrations are mainly Ni, Co, As and Zn. Keywords: Mine site, heavy metals, soil contamination, soil properties elton-774-e@hotmail.com Poster 43 RAPD Markers Based Genetic Diversity Analysis for Drought Tolerance in Wheat Genotypes Irada M. HUSEYNOVA, Samira M.RUSTAMOVA, Jalal A. ALİYEV Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, Baku, Azerbaijan, The aim of the study is to provide selection criteria for drought tolerance by RAPD-PCR technique. Molecular characterization of the genotypes gives precise information about the extent of genetic diversity which helps in the development of an appropriate breeding program to select the most drought tolerant and sensitive varieties. Ascreening experiment was performed on wheat genotypes using associated with tolerance to drought. Atotal of 266 wheat genotypes collected from GeneBank of Research Institute of Crop Husbandry (Baku, Azerbaijan) and consisted of 220 hexaploids (Triticum aestivum L., AABBDD, 2n=6x=42) and 46 tetraploids (Triticum durum Desf., AABB, 2n=4x=28) including tolerant, semi-tolerant and non-tolerant to drought were used. Different sensitivities of these genotypes to drought were determined during a few years in different regions of Azerbaijan based on grain yield (Aliev, 1998; Aliev, 2001). Total genomic DNA was extracted from leaves using CTAB method (Murray and Thompson, 1980). RAPD-PCR was carried out essentially as described by Williams et al. (1990). Two 10-mer RAPD primers (Eurogentec S.A., Belgium) were used for DNA amplification. Primers P6 (5′ TCGGCGGTTC 3′) and P7 (5′ TCGGCGGTTC 3′) produced a 920 and 750 bp bands, respectively, presented in drought tolerant (absent in others) genotypes. It was found out that a 920 bp fragment was amplified in 234 genotypes and 750 bp band only in 203 genotypes. Results obtained with the use of both P6 and P7 primers match in 74% of analyzed genotypes: in 184 genotypes specific loci amplified by both markers. In 13 genotypes (total 5%) none of the primers amplified specific fragments. Acknowledgment: This work was financially supported by grant from the Science Development Foundation under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan (EIF- 2010-1(1)-40/24-M-20). Keywords drought, wheat genotypes, RAPD markers, PCR References: 1. Aliev J.A. (1998) In: “Photosynthesis: Mechanisms and Effects” (Garab G., ed.). Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Boston, London 5: 3829-3832. 2. Aliev J.A. (2001) In: “Wheat in a Global Environment” (Bedo Z., Lang L., eds.). Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Boston, London 9: 693-698. 3. Murray M.G., Thompson W.F. (1980) Nucleic Acids Res. 8: 4321-4325. 4. Williams J.G., Kubelik K.J., Livak J.A., Tingey S.V. (1990) Nucleic Acids Res.18:6531-6535. Az1073, : huseynova-i@botany-az.org RAPD DNA markers Poster 44 Dendroecological investigation of some juniper species from Turyanchay State Nature Reserve Farid SEYFULLAYEV , Central Botanical Garden, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, AZ1073, Baku, Azerbaijan, , Forest ecosystem protection and sustainable use are remain an actual problem under observed global climate change condition. From this view an evaluation of plant species composition and structure of forests is important. Dendroecological investigation of the arid sparse forests from Turyanchay State Nature Reserve was carried out. The purpose of the study was an investigation of the natural conditions and monitoring of the structure of the juniper forests. For this aim, wood samples in the form of cores and discs were collected from Juniperus polycarpos K.Koch and Juniperus foetidissima Willd. 15 trees were used to determine their ages, growth rates and ring-width characteristics, by means of an increment borer and chain saw. At the same time, height and DBH were evaluated and correlation coefficients between trees was calculated. Tree ringwidths chronologies were developed for these two tree species according to standard dendrochronological techniques. Age and growth rate of trees varied greatly independence on trees and sites even in the same-sized trees lately the radial growth dynamics is slightly declined, but it has no significant influence from environment. It was discovered that there is a high correlation between these parameters. All above-mentioned show that a reserve area is optimal site for development of these two species and they resistant to changes here. Further exploration should be focus on long-term climate change, as well as modeling growth-climate response of different species, especially under future climate condition. Keywords: Juniperus, Turyancay, dendrochronology, radial growth, correlation Vahid FARZALİYEV v.farzaliyev@yahoo.co.uk fseyfullayev@yahoo.com Poster 45 Diversity of tomato cultivars the damage caused by Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) under greenhouse condition 1 1 Gholamhossein GHAREKHANI , Hamideh SALEK-EBRAHIMI , Mohammad 2 3 1 Kazem SOURI , Safar RASTGAR , Naser SABBAGHNIA 1Plant Protection Department, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Maragheh, Maragheh-Iran. 2Plant Protection Department, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tarbiat Modarres, Tehran-Iran. 3Agricultural Research Institute of Iran, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) is the major pest of tomato plant and causes damage on its leaves, buds, flowers, branches and fruits. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the damage caused by Tuta absoluta on different cultivars of tomato under greenhouse condition. Eleven cultivars were tested in four replications. The evaluation was carried out on 45 days-old plants regard to their vegetation characteristics and damage attributes. Sizes of mines on the damaged tissues were considered as the main character of damage, classified into four different groups and compared using cluster analysis. Analysis of data and mean comparison were accomplished using GLM procedure (SAS software) and Duncan test (P< 0.5) respectively, while the cluster analysis and pairwise mean comparison for damaged distal buds were carried out using Kruskal-Wallis Test (SPSS software). Analysis resulted in grouping the examined cultivars into four categories including relatively resistant cultivars (Atabay, Cluse, Servant), midresistant cultivars (Yagmur, Kubra, Super Strain B), mid susceptible cultivars (Milas, Iraz, Prenses, Hazarcentetis) and susceptible cultivar (Y-32-227). Keywords:host diversity, Tuta absoluta, tomato, resistance, susceptibility ghgharakhany@yahoo.com Kazem_sca@yahoo.com Karaj-Iran.safar.rastgar@yahoo.com Poster 46 Red List of the endemic vascular plants of the Caucasus George NAKHUTSRISHVILI Institute of Botany of Ilia State University, 1 Botanikuri st., 0105 Tbilisi, Georgia Aproject Coordination and Development of Plant Red list Assessments for the Caucasus Biodiversity Hotspot was implemented by IUCN SSC in collaboration with Missouri Botanical Garden, USA, WWF Caucasus Programme Office, and botanists from six countries of the Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, Turkey; an Iranian botanist participated on a voluntary basis) in 2006-2009. The work has resulted in a comprehensive overview of distribution and conservation status of the endemic plant species of the Caucasus based on current knowledge. A map of the Caucasus region by WWF Caucasus with a modification (southern border extended in Iran based on local plant cover characteristics) was used for to distinguish endemic plants of the Caucasus.The plant taxa initially suggested as endemic to the Caucasus Biodiversity Hotspot were thoroughly verified with respect to their distribution within the Hotspot borders by the project consultants, which resulted in a comprehensive list of the region's endemic taxa containing up to 2,900 species, subspecies, and varieties. Of these, endemic taxa occurring in 1-3 countries of the Hotspot most likely to fall into one of the threatened categories were evaluated for their conservation status using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria. Taxonomically problematic taxa were assessed as DD. In total up to 1,700 taxa were evaluated.The Caucasus Plant Red List Authority was established under the auspices of the IUCN SSC. The RLA developed the Caucasus Plant Initiative, a regional Plant Conservation Strategy, targets of which correspond to the targets of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. Keywords: Red Lists, the Caucasus, endemic vascular plants References: Schatz, G., Shulkina, T., Nakhutsrishvili, G., Batsatsashvili, K., Tamanyan, K., Ali-zade, V., Kikodze, D., Geltman, D. & Ekim, T. 2009. Development of Plant Red List Assessments for the Caucasus Biodiversity Hotspot. – In: Zazanashvili, N. and Mallon, D. (eds.). Status and Protection of Globally Threatened Species in the Caucasus. Tbilisi: CEPF, WWF.Contour Ltd. Pp. 188-192. Schatz, G., Shulkina, T. & Solomon, J. (eds.) Red List of the Endemic Plants of the Caucasus Region. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Saint Louis (in press). nakgeorg@gmail.com http://assets.panda.org/downloads-/cepf_caucasus_web_1.pdf Poster 47 Current and Future Challenges of Wheat Yield Potential in Consequence of Climate Change Jamala MURSALOVA Institute of Genetic Resources, , Azadlig ave.,155, AZ 1106, Baku, Azerbaijan, Wheat is well-known to be the most important food crop in the world as well as in Azerbaijan. With 21% of the food calories and 20% of the protein wheat provides to more than 4.5 million people in 94 developing countries. More than 1 billion people of the planet suffer from hunger. By 2050 the population is expected to grow to 9.1 billion people, mainly in developing countries (Reynolds et al., 2012). Efforts of wheat breeders are constantly challenged by various biotic and abiotic stress factors that threaten yield stability in many wheat growing regions. In particularly, abiotic stress factors such as drought continue to pose the significant challenges for the wheat breeding community. Elaboration of drought-tolerant varieties is one of the major goals in plant breeding programs. Development of winter wheat varieties capable of maintaining stable yield under moisture stress is an important strategy to mitigate drought effect. Looking in the future, global wheat requirements are expected to increase from around the current 600 million tons to approximately 760 million tons by 2020 (CIMMYT – International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre, 2004). Demand for wheat in the developing world is expected to increase 60% by 2050. Azerbaijan collaborates in the many ways with the international organizations, mainly CIMMYT. Such cooperation has enabled us to develop the new projects and support collecting expeditions, obtain a new knowledge, introduce the new research methods, exchange by germplasm, information and experience, improve the professional skills of young staff members. Keywords: wheat, abiotic stress, drought, breeding References: Reynolds M.P., Warham E., Vaughan S., Braun H. 2012. The Wheat Yield Consortium. An International collaboration to raise the yield potential of wheat by 50% by 2030 Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences m.jamala85@gmail.com Poster 48 Study of Interspecific Hybrids of Durum Wheat and Tetraploid Wheat Species 1 1 2 3 Kh.N. RUSTAMOV , M.A. ABBASOV , M.H. AHMADOV , M.A. AHMADOV 1 Institute of Genetic Resources, , 2Azerbaijan Crop Husbandry Institute, Ministry of Agriculture of Azerbaijan Republic 3 N.I.Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry, Dagestan branch To enrich the gene pool of durum wheat a certain interest represent wheatemmer and other hybrids (F , 49 samples), created as a result of studying the 5 genetics of resistance of tetraploid wheat to fungal diseases. Therefore, the material consisting of T.dicoccoides (Koern. ex Aschers. et Graebn) Schweinf., T.dicoccum (Schrank) Schuebl., T.persicum Vav. and T. turgidum L. was studied in Tartar Experimental Station of Azerbaijan Crop Husbandry Institute. Accessions with phenotype close to durum wheat (var. leucurum, affine, leucomelan, alboprovinciale, erythromelan etc.) were selected. Wheat-emmer which includes both European (subsp. dicoccum var. pseudorufum, var. bispiculatum) and the Asian botanical varieties (subsp. asiaticum Vav convar. transcaucasicum Flaksb. var. haussknechtianum, var. aeruginosum, var. flaksbergeri, var. gunbadi) was selected as well. In addition, T. turgidum L. var. nachitschevanicum was chosen. Genotypes were selected on their high productivity and quality, resistance to abiotic and biotic environmental factors. In this region, the benefits had genotypes with early heading time. It was revealed that 10.2% of samples had early heading time (3-4 days before compared to the standard), while 36.7% had heading time for 5-6 days and 22.5% for 10 (17) days later than the standard. The rest accessions had same heading time with standard. In genotypes with early heading visual assessment of grain was higher than in late heading. In total, 12.2% of the samples had large grains (1000 grains <55,0 g.). Selected genotypes were sown in the breeding nursery in Tartar Experimental Station for a comparative study of morphological-biological, technological and biochemical parameters. Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences mehraj_genetic@yahoo.com Poster 49 Anatomical Research Method in Taxonomy and Bioecology Maftun. M. ALASGAROV Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, AZ1073, Baku, Azerbaijan, Anatomical research is one of the important methods in botany which can be applied not only for determining the structural elements, also for determination of the exact taxonomical status of the species which are still an object of argument in taxonomy. Anatomical research gives very useful information about structure of the species which is feed for plant ecology and physiology. Anatomical research in parallel with taxonomical determination was carried out for study of Centaurea macrocephala. C.macrocephala is included to Centaurea genus by most authors. But there are many other authors not agreeing with this and include this species to different genuses. We studied the stem and leaf of C.macrocephala in cross section with purpose of its status definition. It was found that the structural features of this species as a location of the transport bundles, collenchyma, sclerenchyma, their relation to parenchyma, location of the xylem and phloem, types of the bundlesare typical for Centaurea genus. As it is clear from this example, anatomical method is reliable especially when the morphological features are not strong enough to identify to which genus a certain species belongs. The above mentioned demonstrate that research of structural features helps to study ecology of plants as the structural elements which can give more information about the ecological traits. Anatomical research of Festuca pratensis and Festuca rupicola species showed that their structural elements are very conservative, just very necessary elements are kept in a small amount, due to these elements plant could dominate through billions years till now. Small leaf area, cuticle on it, special location of stomata, location of the support tissue, sclerenchyma, collenchymas and fixation of transport bundles, structure of the parenchyma etc. give information on ecological features of plants. Beside the morphological research, anatomical research is always useful and helps to learn the object in detail; to develop anatomical research method in parallel with all taxonomical works is desired. Keywords:anatomical method, Centaurea macrocephala, Festuca pratensis, Festuca rupicola alesmm2@mail.ru Poster 50 The wetland vegetation biodiversity of Azerbaijan 1 2 1 3 Murad MUSAYEV , Vagif ATAMOV , Vakil KHALILOV , Musa JABBAROV 1 Baku, Azerbaijan 2RTE University, Faculty Art and Science, Dept. of Biology, Rize, Turkey 3Baku State University, Faculty of Biology, Botany Chair, Baku, Azerbaijan Wetland ecosystems are distributed in Azerbaijan starting from the above sea level up to high mountain sections. These ecosystems cover larger areas in plains. In particular, they are found in large areas of Kur-Araz lowland, Absheron, Samur-Devechi, Alazan-Eyrichay, Mil, Mughan, Shirvan, Ceyranchol, Gobustan and Nakichevan plains. Wetland ecosystems are widely distributed in the Sarisu, Aghzibirchala, Akgol, Jandargol, Great Alagol, Goygol, Hajıgabul, Boyuk-Shor, Ashık Kara, Karachug lakes and Gızılaghaj gulf regions. As the form of spoils in the background of different vegetation types (steppe, semi-steppe, forest, sub-alpine and alpine meadow) they are distributed in coastal areas of a large number of lakes and especially in the coast of the Caspian Sea. 502 taxa belonging to 62 families and 208 genera are identified in the wetland flora. This is 11.2% of the total number of species in the flora of Azerbaijan. Poaceae, Cyperaceae, Ranunculaceae, Fabaceae, Potamogetonaceae, Juncaceae, Salicaceae, Chenopodiaceae, and Brassicaseae families are more diverse in the wetland flora. 12 trees and 412 herbaceous water-loving plants were found here. 6.6% (33 taxa) of the total number of taxa are endemic. 68 taxa in total are in the different danger categories of IUCN, the majority (25 taxa) of which are VU. As the ecological assessment dominant plants are distributed: hidrofit, higrofit and hidatofit in and around of freshwater lakes; hidrohalofit, psammohalofit, xerohalofit in salty lakes and surrounding marshes; mezofite, xeromezofite around rivers, freshwater lakes and marshes. Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, Az1073, ekomerkez@ru.az, vhatemov@yahoo.com Poster 51 Importance database of medicinal plants for plant biodiversity conservation in Azerbaijan Naiba Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, AZ1073, Baku, Azerbaijan, Information systems of biodiversity are base tool for effective conservation of the nature. The availability of such information is the central part of "Convention of biological diversity», generated on the basis of actions on the rational use, legal protection and transfer of knowledge. A work on creation of database of medicinal plants of the Azerbaijan (178 families, 740 genus, 1547 species) was carried out. Aanalysis of the database information revealed that from 4500 plant species distributed in Azerbaijan 34.3% are medicinal plants. Passport for the each species includes 24 parameters which reflects the whole taxonomic characteristics, ecology, area of distribution, contents of the biological active compounds, application forms, medicinal properties, species status as endemics, relicts, rarity, references, their photographs in natural cenosis. Among herbs of Republic flora the 5 species are national endemics (Euphorbia marschalliana Boiss., Pinus eldarica Medw., Scutellaria karjaginii Grossh., Rosa azerbaidzhanica Novopokr. et Rzazade, Th. karamarjanicus Klok.et Shost.), 77 species are Caucasian endemics (Aconitum nasutum Fisch.ex Reichenb., Betula raddeana Trautv., Hylotelephium caucasicum (Grossh.) H.Ohba, Rhododendron caucasicum Pall. etc.), 44 species are relicts (Albizia julibrissin Durazz., Buxus hyrcana Pojark., Hypericum androsaemum L., Zelkova carpinifolia (Pall.) C.Koch etc.). 112 species from 90 genus and 55 families belong to rare and endangered species of herbs. According to IUCN Category and criteria (2001) 5 species concern to CR (0.32%), 23 – to EN (1.49%), 61 – to VU (3.94%), 21 – to NT (1.36%), 2 – to DD (0.13%). The accumulated data on various herbs provide reliable information on its high diversity and endemism, as well as data on rare and engangered plant species in the certain key regions of country. It allows to correctly create a manage system to define the distribution and concentration of biodiversity places of herbs and to allocate the areas, especially important for protection. Keywords: medicinal plants, database, rare, endangered and endemic species MEHDIYEVA naiba_m@mail.ru Poster 52 3+ Clearing of water from Fe ions with polymeric sorbent Naila JAFAROVA, Sevinj HAJIYEVA and Sura MAMMADOVA Department of Ecological Chemistry, Baku State University, acad. Zahid Khalilov str. 23, AZ 1148, Baku, Azerbaijan, Determination of heavy metals in the nature and biological systems is one of the urgent problems of environmental protection. Sorbents modified by different groups are widely used for the group absorption of trace metal ions. The present work is devoted to a studying of sorption properties of a sorbent on the basis of 3+ maleic anhydride with ions of Fe and its further application for the clearing of ecological objects polluted by heavy metals. Copolymers of maleic anhydride with vinyl acetate (МА-VA) were obtained by the heterogeneous copolymerization of these monomers in a solution. Constructed insoluble sorbents were obtained by the sewing together copolymers of maleic anhydride with vinyl acetate by means of paraphenylendiamine (Ph). The adsorption of metal ions by sorbent (MA-VA-Ph), independence of the nature of the solution, pH, concentration of the complex forming ions, phase contact time has been systematically investigated. A sorption isotherm of metal ions has been obtained. The results show that this polymer has a fairly wide range of sorption pH, high capacity and high rate of reach equilibrium. Therefore, it can be widely used in various industrial processes, in waste water clearance, as well as in ecological control of a state of the environment. Keywords: clearingof water, heavy metals, sorption, polymeric sorbents sura93@rambler.ru Poster 53 Tree leaves as bioindicator of trace metal pollution in the atmosphere of Absheron peninsula Naglaa YOUSSEF Department of Botany, Faculty of Biology, Baku State University, acad. Z.Khalilov str. 23, AZ1148, Baku, Azerbaijan, The aim of the present study is to reveal the pollution levels of Pb, Cd, Cr, Cu and Fe in three different locations of Baku using Ligustrum japonicum, Olea europea and Pyracantha coccinea as possible bioindicators. The results could be used as preliminary baseline data for trace elements concentrations in the ecosystems for future assessment and monitoring. For this target, leaves of the same age were sampled uniformly from Ligustrum japonicum., Olea europea, (Oleaceae) and Pyracantha coccinea (Rosaceae) from three locations with different degrees of metal pollution: the first one is located in the industrial zone of Baku (Absheron peninsula), the second is characterized by high traffic (Airport) and the third zone represents a rural area (Botanical Garden of National Academy of Science of Azerbaijan). After drying, pulverizing and digestion concentrations of Pb, Cd, Cr, Cu and Fe were determined by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The highest element concentrations have been found on sites of high traffic following by industrial site, with exception of Cr which has its peak on industrial site. The results give an impression that the correlation between the degree of contamination and the concentration in the leaves of Ligustrum japonicum and Olea europea reflect the environmental trace metal diversity. The exhaust gases of motor vehicles, metalworking industries and other anthropogenic impacts are the main sources of air pollution in Baku. Olea europea and Ligustrum japonicum have been used for the first time as possible and cheap bioindicators of air pollution in Baku. naglaaysf@yahoo.com Poster 54 Conservation problems of Lake Hajigabul Narmina SADIGOVA and Shahin ISAYEV Baku State University, Department of Bioecology of faculty of Ecology and Soil Science acad. Z.Khalilov str. 23, AZ 1148, Baku, Azerbaijan, Conservation of wetland systems is considered to be one of the high priority topics in the world due to their environmental services. Unfortunately, unsustainable or even lack of management causes the damages and even loss of such important ecosystems. Due to the anthropogenic impact Lake Hajigabul is one of the most damaged wetland systems in Azerbaijan. Importance of Hajigabul Lake is not limited only with its economic, agricultural and natural benefits. It is also included into the international list of Important Bird Areas and identified as potential Ramsar site. New approaches and the comprehensive study of the lake allowed us to analyze the decrease in number of fauna and flora species as well as to find out the limiting factors, existing and potential threats to the lake. Researches showed that the sharp increase of the salinity (up to 30-32 ppm) does not allow any fishes to live there and accordingly it reduces the food base fo birds and other animals. The number of birds decreased from 75 in 1996 to 59 in 2007 and to 43 in 2012. Among them number of Globally Threatened White-headed Duck (Oxyura leucocephala) decreased dramatically from 1367 in 2006 to 582 in 2007 and to 35 in 2012. All together 20 species of higher plants have been identified. 15 of them found on the coast line whereas 8 species were registered middle in the water. The possible ways of solutions and recommendations following the international experiences to improve the conservation of the lake has been identified and discussed. Keywords: wetland, lake Hajigabul,Important Bird Area, Ramsar is_shain@mail.ru Poster 55 Investigation of possibilities of water basins purification, contaminated by oily emulsion type petroleum products, using the sorption and extraction methods Nigar MAHARRAMOVA, Sevinj HAJIYEVA and Gulmammad SULEYMANOV Ecological Chemistry, Faculty of Ecology and Soil Science, Baku State University, acad. Zahid Khalilov, str.23, AZ1148, Baku, Azerbaijan, Returning in the technological process of purified water masses from petroleum products with hydrophilic and hydrophobic composition is an important environmental and economic task which requires new, more efficient technologies for the extraction of harmful substances from these water masses or neutralization of harmful substances through decomposing them. Water basins contaminated by oily emulsion type petroleum products which were taken as the research object consist of: 16-18% of hydroxyl, carboxyl and ketone groups, 1-2% of amine group compounds, 3-5% of sulpha compounds, 75- 80% mixture of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons. In order to determine the effectiveness of purification, it was decided to conduct the research in two directions. First direction considers water purification using sorbents of different nature, second one - water treatment using Insoluble in water extractants with different composition and structure. The natural zeolites such as bentonite, mordonite, klynoptolite were used for the first one. The percentages of water mass purification with 8.5 g/l contamination level using 50 g of sorbent were 68%, 73%, and 82%. Different extractants with various properties and structure such as diethyl, diisobutyl, diisopropyl and simple ethers were used in the second direction. Results obtained on water basins purification, contaminated up to 8.5 g/l by oily emulsion type petroleum products revealed that these waters were purified up to 88-92%. Keywords: contamination, petroleum hydrocarbons, water basins, extraction nigar.mammadova87@gmail.com Poster 56 Current state of the flora and vegetation of Duzdagh Nuri V. MOVSUMOVA, Sayyara J. IBADULLAYEVA Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, Az1073, Baku, Azerbaijan,movsumovanuri@yahoo.com Study of flora and vegetation of different ecosystems formed as the result of the mainly geo-morphological structure of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (Azerbaijan) including rare and endemic species of special status is very important. Duzdagh area with the height 800-1200 m above sea level has been originated on the result of: flora formation of xerophyte type in released from sea areas at the end of the Pont Period; and steppe flora formation at the beginning of the Alluvion Period. Presence of xerophyte elements (Аnаbаsis еugеniае İljin, Thlаspi arvense L. etc.) remained from that period up to now proves that the ecosystem has been established just at the end of the Pont Period. 13 Caucasian and 6 Azerbaijanian endemics are found in the area. Comprehensive study of flora of the Duzdagh area revealed of 318 species, 189 genera belonging to 61 families. 31 species of them are Gymnosperms, 287 species are Angyosperms including: 36 Monocotyledonous and 249 Dicotyledons species. It was determined that 34 species, 27 genus belonging to 18 families were rare and threatened ones. Control on the existing biotopes was strengthened to collect genepool of these species with protection status (the planned seed stocking up without causing biological reduce). Indication of the soil and ecological conditions in flora of Duzdagh provides to define indixes of its vital forms. There are of the flora 32.9% annual plants, 3.5% - biennial, 49.4% - perennial, 1.6% -small subshrub, 3.5% - small bushes, 3.8% - subshrub and 5.37% - bushes. In general, on the result of the geobotanical study of the Duzdagh area 5 vegetation types being formed by presence of 7 formation classes; 13 formation groups; 24 formations; and 46 associasions were revealed. Poster 57 The problem of plant conservation in the protected areas of the Eastern Caucasus (Russian Federation) Ramazan A. Mountain Botanical Garden, Dagestan Scientific Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Dagestan ,Russia Conservation of all the components of wildlife at the present stage of society development is one of the main problems in the field of environmental protection. In this regard, the protected areas play a key role. One of the original districts of the Caucasus is its eastern part, where grow more than 900 endemic plants for the Caucasus. But rare plants in the Eastern Caucasus are not really provided with conservation measures in situ. There are only two Reserves and four Federal sanctuaries here. The majority of the rare plants populations in nature is subject to increasing anthropogenic pressure and under threat of extinction. On the territory of the Eastern Caucasus there are 104 species of plants included in the Red data book of the Russian Federation. 65 of them are observed in the Protected Areas (62.5%) and only 12 species - in the Reserves (11.5%), in federal sanctuaries – 26 (25%). In the Reserves, located in the territory of the Russian part of the Caucasus, 39 species (37.5%) of the plants, listed in the Red data book, are no longer found. 17 of them were endemic for the Eastern Caucasus. Botanical gardens are of special importance for plant conservation. So, in 85 Russian botanical gardens 252 plats from the Red Book are currently cultivated. In the Mountain Botanical Garden of Dagestan scientific center of RAS about 120 rare and endangered plant species from 38 families are cultivated. The collection features 47 endemics of the Eastern Caucasus and Dagestan, 11 of which are registered in the Red Book of Russia. Keywords: Eastern Caucasus, protected areas, rare plants, protection MURTAZALIEV pibreklab@yahoo.com Poster 58 Sustainable Mobilization of the Morus Species as Potential Sources of the Food Additives with Protective Properties Rena AGHABEYLI Institute of Botany, Badamdar highway 40, Az1073, Baku, Azerbaijan, Plant extracts and biological active compounds obtained from different wild plants negatively influence in some cases on their conservation. Therefore, the mobilization of the cultivated plants as sources of the biological active compounds is more promising for food additives manufacturing. The extracts from leaves of Morus alba, Morus nigra and their compositions were evaluated by assessing their effects on animal (Vistar rats) and plant (Arabidopsis thaliana, Vicia faba) testobjects. The results of experiment show that all biological active substances studied demonstrated the lack of genotoxic properties and displayed gene protecting activities. Results of experiments reveal that all studied extracts, their components and mixtures possesses protective effects against natural ageing processes as well as influence of the chemical and physical environmental xenobiotics. The efficiency of the tested biological active compounds is very high. These compounds decreased the level of the induced mutability of chromosome more than 60 percent in different experiments. Keywords: plant extracts, Morus alba, Morus nigra, antimutagen, environmental xenobiotics, Arabidopsis thaliana, Vicia faba, Vistar rats Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, renaagabey1@rambler.ru Poster 59 To ex situ Conservation Strategy for Some Rare and Endemic Plant Species in Azerbaijan 1 1 2 Reshad SALIMOV , Oruj IBADLI, Valida ALI-ZADE 1Central Botanical Garden, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, AZ1073, Baku, Azerbaijan 2 Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, AZ1073, Baku, Azerbaijan Botanical gardens with their long activities in the areas of study, research and work with the public do make an important contribution to the conservation of plant diversity. To perform these tasks the collections of botanical gardens have special value. Over many years, many plant species are passed through introduction test by scientists of the Central Botanical Garden (CBG) of Azerbaijan. According to our researches, from 163 species geophytes of Lankaran-Lerik region of Azerbaijan 21 species are Caucasian and 20 national endemics. By means of monitoring for obtaining of information such as geographic map of species, distribution size of their areal, number and condition of populations, past and future threats for them and assessment of these data according to modern standards the new list and distribution maps of selected species were produced and included to easy accessible database. Perspective species are introduced in the CBG and practical recommendations are offered for the preservation, restoration methods and their rational use. It is established that 12 species such as Ornithogalum hyrcanum Grossh., Orchis schelkownikowii Woronow, Iris musulmanica Fomin, Scorzonera grossheimii Lipsch. & Vass., Fritillaria grandiflora Grossh., Merendera сandidissima Miscz. ex Grossh. etc. are rare and endangered geophytes. Prioritization of species for future ex situ conservation based primarily on the level of threat and economic usage is started. Anew ex situ approach such as seed bank will provide a long-term infrastructure for the region to safeguard precious native species and to help restore degraded habitats. The growing collections will be used to support reintroduction of lost species, habitat restoration and scientific research and collaboration. Keywords: Azerbaijan, CBG, geophytes, ex situ conservation, endemic species, restoration Poster 60 Use of plants in assessing and alleviating pollution 1 1 2 S. A. OSTROUMOV , S. V. KOTELEVTSEV , M. E. JOHNSON , S. C. 3 1 1 2 McCUTCHEON , V. A.POKLONOV , E. A.SOLOMONOVA ,J. F. TYSON , V. 4 1 2 L.SHELEYKOVSKY , T.V.SHESTAKOVA and B. XİNG 1.M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University, Lengory, 119991, Moscow, Russia 2. University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, U.S.A. 3.University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, U.S.A. 4.The Main Botanical Garden of Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia Important environmental change includes hazardous chemical pollution of the biosphere.The authors' interdisciplinary research on environmental chemicobiotic and ecotoxicological interactions involves various species of plants. This poster reports on the investigation of: (1) the concentration of the chemicals in plant tissues;(2) the effects of chemicals on the selected plants; (3) the effects of the selected plants on concentrations of chemicals in the aquatic environment; (4) the role of the selected plants in mitigation of chemical stresses; and (5) the practical use of this new knowledge to improve water quality. This research exposed environmental pollutants to a variety of species of aquatic and terrestrial plants. These numerous tests defined the phytotoxicity of synthetic surfactants, detergents, and heavy metals, to the plants investigated.The investigations of phytoremediation potential tested the selected plant species in aquatic microcosms (e.g., Potamogeton sp.) and using plant seedling bioassays (e.g., Fagopyrum esculentum). Other investigations determined the phytotoxicity of metal oxide nanoparticles to Myriophyllum aquaticum, Pistia stratiotes, Ludwigia sp., and other plant species. During these incubations in aquatic medium with CuO nanoparticles, Cu accumulated in the biomass and mortmass (decomposing plant detritus) of Elodea. Additional investigations found analogous accumulation in the biomass and mortmass of Ludwigia sp., Myriophyllum aquaticum, and Typha sp. Further study defined the phytoremediation potential of these and several other aquatic plants provide prospect of developing new technologies for water purification.The current advancement shelp to understand better, chemico-biotic interactions in the modern biosphere and to alleviate consequences from environmental change, especially chemical pollution. Keywords: Phytoremediation, water purification, hazardous chemicals, phytotoxicity, accumulation, cooper, nanoparticles, Elodea, Fagopyrum esculentum, Ludwigia sp., Myriophyllum aquaticum, Potamogeton sp., Pistiastratiotes, Typha sp. ar55@yandex.ru Steven.C.McCutcheon@gmail.com Poster 61 The vegetation of winter pastures of Jeyranchol-Ajinohur arrays of Azerbaijan at the beginning of XXI century Sevda AKHMEDOVA Ganja State University, Shah Ismayil Khatai 187, AZ 2001 Ganja, Azerbaijan, At the present stage of human development on the issues on interaction between society and nature, the environmental protection, rational use of natural resources and the prevention of the adverse effects on the environment have given increased attention. Jeyranchol-Ajinohur is the biggest winter pastures of Azerbaijan, where cattle graze for 7-8 months a year [1]. Aconservation of a certain degree of biodiversity in these arrays and pass them to the next generation is very important. Jeyranchol-Ajinohur arrays located between Alazan-Aghrichay basin and the valleys of the rivers Kur and Iori, in the borders with Georgia [5]. The main goal of the present research was to study the vegetation of Jeyranchol-Ajinohur winter pastures for today and compare these pastures with the Grossheim`s data from 1930 [4]. It was revealed that the flora Jeyranchol-Ajinohur vegetation includes 403 species belonging to 263 genera and 63 families. Compared to previous years it was found that there were cataclimatic changes related primarily to the negative impact of anthropogenic factors during eighty years [2]. In this regard, representatives of weed species are increased and Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, Poaceae families worsened by 50% their species composition. New identified weed species Urtica dioica L. and Amaranthus blitum L., are well adapted and even pushed the species that were there before. Today, desert vegetation has increased the area and a new deserted type of vegetation is appeared [3]. As a result of nonsystematic grazing and cultivation of winter pastures their vegetation is deteriorated. To partially restore the natural phytocenosis, we propose these pastures for reserve for 6-7 years, and offer the use of surface and radical improvement. Keywords: Jeyranchol-Ajinohur pastures, vegetation, composition of flora, desert vegetation, anthropogenic factors References: 1. Ахмедова С.З. Биоэкологические основы рационального использования пустынных пастбищ Джейранчель-Аджиноурского массивa Азербайджана. Школа-семинар молодых ученых «Динамика восстановительных процессов в степных экосистемах», Саратов 2001 2. Ахмедова С.З. Пути управления превращения природных фитоценозов в культурные агроценозы. Тезисы докладов Научные основы Гос.Аграрного университета, Ташкент 2001, 58-159 3. Ахмедова С.З. Пустынная экосистема Джейранчеля. Труды Института Ботаники НАНА, XXV. Баку, 2004, 373-375 4. Гроссгейм А.А. Растительный покров пастбищ Азербайджана и его кормовое значение. Наркомзем, Баку, 1932.-71 5. Прилипко Л.И. Карта геоботанического районирования. Атлас Азерб. ССР, Баку: Гл. упр. геодезии и картографии, 1967 sevda_axmedova@inbox.ru Poster 62 Introduction of some endangered Allium L. species and their chemical composition Sevinj GULIYEVA, Adil GULIYEV, Oruj IBADLI Central Botanical Garden, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, AZ1073, Baku, Azerbaijan Allium L. species are the widely cultivated plants and due to their rich content of various biological active substances they find application for various purposes. Many Allium plants are of great importance due to their uses as antioxidants and therapeutics. This genus comprises 52 species in Azerbaijan 39 species from which are distributed in Nakhchivan Autonomic Republic (Azerbaijan) (Grossheim, 1934). Some of them such as Allium akaka S.G.Gmel.ex Schult.et Schult.fil., A.materculae Bordz., A.woronowii Miscz. ex Grossh. are recognized as rare and endangered species for Azerbaijan and need in conservation measures. In this purpose, introduction of these species growing around the Ayrinj and Guney villages of Shahbuz region of Nakhchivan AR to the Central Botanical Garden of ANAS (Absheron peninsula) was carried out. All these species successfully adapted to new condition and plant development progressed through all distinct phases. Flowering period lasted 35 days for A.akaka, 23 days for A.materculae and 39 days for A.woronowii. The chemical composition of Allium species was also analyzed. The pattern of main components of lipids - hydrocarbons, triacylglycerols, free fatty acids, free sterols found in their flowers and bulbs varied between the Allium species which can be used as potential taxonomic markers in order to distinguish the plants (Vlase et al., 2013). The results showed that all intorduced Allium species are perspective for dry subtropic zones. Keywords: Allium sp., introduction, chemical composition References: 1.Grossheim A.A. Flora of Azerbaijan. Publ. Azerb. Acad. of Sci., Baku, 1934, V.1 2.Vlase L., Parvu M., Parvu E.A., Toiu A. Chemical Constituents of Three Allium Species from Romania. Molecules, 2013, 18, 114-127 sevff@mail.ru 63 Poster The reasons of reduction of endemic and rare plants Distributed on the Absheron peninsula Shahla N. MIRZAYEVA, Aleksandr S. ZERNOV Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, AZ1073, Baku, Azerbaijan, Department of Higher plants, faculty of Biology, Moscow State University, 119991, Moscow, Russia On the territory of the Absheron peninsula, due to arid climatic conditions the natural vegetation possesses the semiarid and partially desert features. The flora of peninsula consists of five endemic species and 31 species of higher plants which are in danger of extinction (1). The limiting factors for these plants generally have anthropogenic nature. Man-made pollution connected with the nonobservance by industry of ecological standards of ISO, the areal of the endemic for Azerbaijan Astragalus bakuensis Bunge. (Fabaceae L.) drastically reduced, besides Ophrys caucasica Woronow et Grossh. and Iris acutiloba C.A.Mey became rare here (4). Due to the development of quarries a number of Lasiopogon muscoides (Desf.) DC. has reduced to a critical level (2). An enlargement in the number of recreational zones and a construction in the coastal areas increase the danger of annihilation of the Linaria albifrons (Smith) Spreng. By the same reason the reduction in a number of such litoral psammofital species as Ammochloa palaestina Boiss.,Stipa pellita (Trin. et Rupr.) Tzvel.,S.capensis Thunb has happened (3). The rare plants such as Linium spicatum (Lam.) Pers., L.corrugata Karjag., Calligonum bakuense Litw., Polygonum capsicum Kom., Galium apscheronicum Pobed. became more rare due to soil erosion on the pastures caused by the their intensive exploitation, overgrazing and trampling, the construction of roads and other reasons (3). To protect the rare and endemic plants of our flora and generally of biodiversity it is necessary to apply serious measures to enhance an ecological literacy of the population and to involve the local population to the environment protection, to systemize the treatment of lands and pastures, to manage the construction in accordance with the standards. Keywords: endemic, rare, limiting factors, ecological standards, Astragalus bakuensis Bunge, Ophrys caucasica Woronow et Grossh, Iris acutiloba C.A.Mey, Lasiopogon muscoides (Desf.) DC References: 1. Əsgərov A.M. Azərbaycan florasınınendemləri. Az EA Xəbərləri biol.e.b. 2011, №3-4 2. Məmmədov T.S. Abşeronun ağac vəkolları.«Elm və təhsil», Bakı, 2010, 6-10 3. Гроссгейм А.А. Реликты восточного Закавказья. 1940 4. Карягин И.И. Флора Апшерона, изд-во АН. Азерб.ССР, Баку, 1952, 43-45 shehla.mirzeyeva@mail.ru a_zernov@rambler.ru Lengory, Poster 64 Evaluation of Wild Halophytes for the Soil Restoration in Kur-Araz Lowland of Azerbaijan 1 1 Tamilla SHIRVANI , Esmira ALIRZAYEVA , 2 1 Kristina TODERICH , Valida ALI-ZADE 1 Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Baku, Azerbaijan, 2 International Center for Biosaline Agriculture for Central Asia and Caucasus (ICBA-CAC), Tashkent, Uzbekistan Salinization of soil is one of the most significant and strength edaphic stresses limiting the plant growth and development and declining the crop productivity thereby represents a threat for sustainable development of agriculture. Salinization becomes more dangerous, when plants simultaneously undergo metal toxicity. The problem of soil salinization and heavy metal (HM) contamination in Azerbaijan increases each year. Salt-affected soils here occupy over 1,5 million ha constituting a significant proportion of agro-ecosystems in a number irrigated agricultural regions. 46,7% of all irrigated lands of the Republic belong to Kur-Araz lowland. 60% of this territory suffers fromlight (153 ths. ha), moderate (146.2 ths. ha) and strong (224 ths. ha) levels of salinity (Mamedov et al., 2010). Kur-Araz lowland with an area of 2,6 th. sq. km is the typical arid zone with some signs of extra aridity (coefficient of aridity is 3-3.5) (Nabiyeva, 2004), where surplus of HM is also occurred (Alirzayeva et al., 2006). The application of various agro-technical and meliorative approaches for removal of salt and other pollutants in this lowland being very costly and time-consuming is not always acquitted under local conditions. There is a critical necessity in development of the economically reasonable, environmental-friendly and socially accepted effective biological technologies of a soil restoration and removal of pollutants. An innovative strategy is based on the appropriate selection of plants, successfully growing and reproducing under strained environment, possessing a great metal/salt removal potential. These metallohalophytes (Artemisia sp., Suaeda sp., Salsola sp., Tamarix sp. etc.) can be applied for the restoration of the root zone using them as companion plants to enhance the economic productivities of crops. This work is supported by the Science Development Foundation under the President of Azerbaijan Republic (EİF-2012-2(6). Keywords: Kur-Araz lowland, salinization, heavy metals, halophytes, soil restoration References: 1.Alirzayeva E.G., Shirvani T.S., Alverdiyeva S., Yazici M.A., Ali-zade V.M., Cakmak I. Heavy metal accumulation in Artemisia and foliaceous lichen species from the Azerbaijan flora. Forest, Snow and Landscape Res., 2006, v. 80, N 3, p. 339-348 2.Mamedov G., Khalilov M and Mamedova S. Agroecology. Baku, Elm, 2010, 551 p. (in Azerbaijani) 3.NabiyevaF.Kh. Climatic factors of desertification of Kur-Araz lowland. Transactions of Institute of Botany, ANAS, XXV, 2004, 337-339 (in Russian) Badamdar highway 40, AZ1073, shirvani_ts@hotmail.com Poster 65 Some Ranunculus species and their conservation actions Tarana AKPERLİ Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, AZ 1073 Baku, Azerbaijan, Ranunculaceae is one of the large families of dicotyledonous flowering plants, that includes about 1200-1500 species belonging to 30 genera. They are annuals, biennials or perennials with five free-petals per flower. Among them Ranunculus L. is the widespread genus. This genus comprises 33 species. The species are distinguished by content of alkaloids, ash substances, essential oils etc. Their seeds are oily. The species of genus are annual and perennials widespread in the water on the land. The flowers are bright yellow. They are used in medicine for treatment of wounds, burns, rheumatism, headaches, tuberculosis. They are also widely used as ornamental plants. Some species are considered to be the endemic plants of Azerbaijan. Many species are in a danger of extinction. One of these species, R.arachnoideus C.A.M. is included in the Red Book of Azerbaijan. The number of this species has declined considerably, they become vulnerable to extinction, and there is a need of their conservation. This species refers to the category as critically endangered species. R.arachnoideus blooms in July, fruiting in August. It is found seldomly in Guba region, eastern and western parts of Greater Caucasus, at the height of 2700-3500 m in the alpine zone. It was described for the first time from Tufan Mountain in Azerbaijan. Anthropogenic and zoogenic factors cause a great reduction in a number of plants. Therefore, some actions should be taken to protect this species, new areas of distribution have to be found, a sanctuaries should be organized. Keywords: Ranunculaceae, Ranunculus L., R.arachnoideus, alkaloid References: 1. Карягин И.И. Флора Азербайджана. Изд-во АН Азерб. ССР, 1953, IV, 72-99 2. Андреева И. И., Родман Л.С. Ботаника. 3-е изд. М., Колос, 2005, 396-528 3. Барабанов Е.И. Ботаника: учебник для студ. высш. учеб. заведений. М., Академия, 2006, 237- 448 akberli.tarana@yandex.ru Poster 66 Rare and Threatened Species of Dendroflora of Nakhchivan Autonomic Republic (Azerbaijan) Tariyel TALIBOV and Anvar IBRAHIMOV Institute of Bioresources of Nakhchivan branch, Sciences, As a result of the drastic change in environmental conditions and influence of anthropogenic factors, besides with other plants, several valuable species of dendroflora genofond are also under the danger of extinction in Nakhchivan Autonomic Republic (Azerbaijan). Analysis the distribution zones, a mapping, ascertainment of the reasons of disappearance of 53 rare and endangered species of trees and bushes belonging to 34 genus 21 families were carried out and they were included to the “Red Book” of Nakhchivan AR. For the first time, the conservation status of the following species has been assessed according to the IUCN categories: Pinus kochiana Klotzsch ex C. Koch, Juniperus communis L., J.excelsa Bieb., J.foetidissima Willd., J.sabina L., Ephedra aurantiaca Takht. et Pachom., Anabasis brachiata Fisch. et C.A. Mey. ex Kar. et Kir., Anabasis eugeniae Iljin, Camphorosma lessingii Litv., Salsola futilis Iljin, Atraphaxis angustifolia Jaub. et Srach, Calligonum polygonoides L., Acantholimon araxanum Bunge, Betula pendula Roth, Populus euphratica Oliver, Ficus carica L., Celtis caucasica Willd., Daphne transcaucasica Pobed., Amelanchier ovalis Medik., Cotoneaster integerrimus Medik., Crataegus orientalis Pall. ex Bieb., C.pontica C.Koch, Padellus mahaleb (L.) Vass., Pyrus medvedevii Rubtz., P. megrica Gladkova, P.raddeana Woronow, P.syriaca Boiss., P.voronovii Rubtz., P.zangezura Maleev, Rosa foetida Bicolor Herrm., R.karjaginii Sosn., R.nisami Sosn., R.sosnovskyana Tamamsch., R.rapinii Boiss. et Bal., R.pimpinellifolia L., R.tuschetica Boiss., Rubus ibericus Juz., Punica granatum L., Astracantha flavirubens (Al.Theod., Fed. et Rzazade) Podlech, A. karjaginii (Boriss.) Podlech, Colutea komarovii Takht., Onobrychis cornuta (L.) Desv., Pistacia mutica Fisch. et C.A.Mey., Rhus coriaria L., Zygophyllum atriplicoides Fisch. et C.A.Mey., Euonymus latifolia (L.) Mill., Ziziphus jujuba Mill., Hippophae rhamnoides L., Artemisia abrotanum DC., Pyrethrum komarovii D.Sosn., P.kotschyi Boiss., P.ordubadense Manden., Thymus migricus Klok. et Shost. Taking into account that the majority of rare species play a role in the formation of forests as subdominant plants their protection is of important. Thus, considering the reduction of areal of these species due to intensive and inefficient use, cutting of plants and their collection for different purposes should be prohibited and their propagation in the relevant biotopes should be organized. Keywords: Nakhchivan Autonomic Republic, dendroflora, rare and endangered species, Red Book Azerbaijan National Academy of t_talibov@mail.ru Poster 67 Novel phytoremediation technology for cleaning of oil-polluted soils T.SADUNISHVILI, G.KHATISASHVILI, L.KUTATELADZE, N.GAGELIDZE, L.AMIRANASHVILI, E.KVESITADZE Durmishidze Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Agricultural University of Georgia,David AgmasheneblisKheivani, 13th km, 0159, Tbilisi, Georgia Soil pollution by oil hydrocarbons is one of the most widely spread environmental contaminations which takes place in all oil producing, refinery and oil transporting countries. For solution of this problem we have developed the biotechnology, which combines application of selected plants and microorganisms guaranteeing complete remediation of oil polluted sites and long term protection of environment. Lipophilic molecules of oil hydrocarbons are difficultly absorbed by plants and undergo microbial degradation in soil. As a result formation of intermediates that are more toxic than initial hydrocarbons takes place. Plants are capable of quick extraction of such compounds from soil. Final products of degradation in plants are non-toxic compounds, typical for living organisms. Main stages of the novel technology include: preliminary characterization of polluted site for assessment of type, level and depth of soil pollution, and of existing microflora; In situ treatment of polluted site by introduction of selected microorganisms in soil; planting of preliminary selected plants for further remediation of contaminated soil. The effectiveness of developed method is verified by several model experiments. For example, total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), in amount 50000, 100000 and 144000ppm in different polluted soils decreased by 60-70% as a result of application of developed bacterial consortia and preliminary selected plants after 1.5 months of application. Advantages of the novel phytoremediation method are: ecological safety, maintaining of soil structure in natural conditions, landscape management and carbon dioxide assimilation. Keywords: oil pollution, phytoremediation, bacterial consortia, plants tinisadunishvili@gmail.com Poster 68 Limiting factors for some endagered plant species of Azerbaijan Vugar KERIMOV and Aida DADASHOVA Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, AZ1073, Baku, Azerbaijan, There are more than 300 endangered plant species identified in Azerbaijan, the status of some of which are more critical. For this purpose, to clarify the reasons of their dissappearance the monitoring of 10 endangered plant species was carried out. Himantoglossum formosum (Stev.) C.Koch is recorded in 3 localities in a very few number. Limiting factors (LF): requires special habitat, reduction in areal due to strong anthropogenic impacts. Convolvulus fruticosus Pall. is shrub, described for the first time for Azerbaijan flora only in one area. LF: Intensive grazing of the areas, strong anthropogenic impacts. İris camillae Crosssh. is endem of Azerbaijan with very small area. LF: intensive grazing, collection as decorative plant, demanding for special habitat. Nitraria komarovii İljin is very rare shrub found in one locality. LF: strong tecnogenic impact. Astragalus bakuensis Bunge is rare endem of Absheron. LF: intensive grazing, strong anthropogenic impacts. Ranunculus arachnoideus C.A.Mey. is rare species found in high mountain zone. LF: distribution in extremal climate areas, sensitivity to climatic factors, sharp fragmentation of localities. Pseudoversicaria digitata (C.A.Mey.) Rupr. is rare endemic of Caucasus found in high mountain zone. LF: distribution in extremal climate areas, sensitivity to climatic factors, sharp fragmentation of localities. Paeonia mlokosewitschii Lomak is very rare species with limited area. LF: requirement special habitat, cutting down plants under which they grow. Sternbergia colchiciflora Waldst. et Kit. is rare species. LF: intensive grazing, collection as decorative and medicinal plants. Rhododendron caucasicum Pall. is very rare species with limited area. LF: intensive grazing, collection as decorative plant. Keywords: rare, endangered and endemic species, anthropogenic impacts, climate factors vuqarkerimov@mail.ru; aida_dadashova@mail.ru Poster 69 Tugay forests and current status in the middle of the river Kur Yelena TAGHIYEVA Institute of Geography, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, H. Javid Avenue 31, AZ 10143, Baku, Azerbaijan, The value of forests cannot be overstated, but underestimation leads to irreversible negative processes. Over the past two hundred years, forested land has been halved. The meaning and value of forests growing in arid and semi-arid regions, where the lack of atmospheric moisture allows forests to grow only along rivers - so-called Tugay forests. This is a unique symbiosis of forests and rivers, where one, in fact, cannot exist without the other. In the middle reaches of the Kur River the Tugay forests are preserved only in the reserve Karayazy where they are in an almost constant state located along the border with Georgia. The main tree species are Populus alba, Ulmus minor, Quercus longipes, Salix australior, Morus, Elaeagnus, and a variety of shrubs and vines. Human activity is in most cases not only violates this zoning, but also leads to the degradation of forests and to change them with other phytocoenoses. Human activity was partially allowed in Karayazy reserve before its inclusion in reserve (2003). As a result of grazing there was a replacement timber tree species by shrubby forms - mostly Crataegus. The degradation of Tugay forests and replacing them with thickets of shrubs and semi-arid steppe and desert vegetation has led to the predominance in phytocoenose Ceratocarpus arenarius. This species settle on a heavily trampled place where soil is absent, and form new typological unit of vegetation. Such areas we highlighted along the river and the coast of Shamkir and Yenikend reservoirs. In connection with the construction of reservoirs, Tugay forests in this region is almost destroyed, the remaining sites violated by grazing and logging, the resumption in them not exist. It is recommended to avoid grazing and implement reforestation in Tugay forests along the Kur River. Keywords: Tugay forests, degradation,dry steppe, semi-desert sagebrush, sagebrush desert tagelena@rambler.ru Poster 70 Determination of plant species belonging to Asteraceae L. family on Aghri mountain, Turkey 1 1 Yusif ZEYNALOV , Ahmet Metin KUMLAY 1 Igdir University, Faculty of Agriculture Igdir-TURKEY In this research, flora of Aghri mountain were determined. Study was carried out from 2010 until now. Astereaceae family was the highest species and genus containing family on Aghri mountain. 360 plant species were determined and 32 of them was from Astereaceae family. 18 genus belonging to Astereaceae family was as followed: Achillea biebersteine Afan, Achillea tenuifolia Lam., Achillea millefolium L., Achillea wilhelmsii C. Koch., Artemisia austriaca Jacq., Anthemis cotula L., Anthemis tinctoria L. var. tinctoria., Senecio vernalis Waldst. Et Kit., Scorzonera crocifolia, Scorzonera mollis Bieb. subsp. mollis Bieb., Scorzonera hieraciifolia (endemic), Scorzonera rigida Aucher., Carduus collinus subsp. cylindricus, Carduus pycnocephalus L. subsp. albidus (Bieb.) Kazmi. , Carduus nigrescens Vill., Centaurea cheiranthifolia Willd. var. purpurascens (DC.) Waagenitz M.Bieb., Centaurea cyanoides, Centaurea depressa L., Centaurea pseudoscabiosa Boiss.& Buche., Centaurea iberica, Crupina crupinastrum (Moris) Vis., Cnicus benedictus L. var. benedictusL., Helichrysum arenarium (L.)Moench subsp. rubicundum (C.Koch) Davis & Kupich, Cichorum intybus L., Cirsium canum (L.) All., Taraxacum officinale L.,Tanacetum abrotanifolium (L.) Druce, Tanacetum chiliophyllum (Ficsh.& Meyer) Schultz Bip.var. chiliophyllum, Tanacetum nitens (Boiss.& Noe) Grierson, Tragopogon bubhthalmoides (DC.) Boiss. var. latifolius, Jurinella moschus (Habl.) ssp. pinnatisecta (Boiss.) Danina & Davis var. ağrıdağensis Y.Z., (New Species and endemic), Xeranthemum longipapposum Fisch. et Mey. Among the plant species, one species was endemic for Aghri Mountain and one species was new for scientific world. Flora determination studies on Aghri mountain have been continued. Keywords: Aghri Mountain, endemic, new species, Astereaceae, flora of Aghri zeynalovyusuf@hotmail.com Poster 71 abiotic stress, 48 abscisic acid, 18 Absheron peninsula, 40 accumulation, 61 active ingredients, 19 adaptation, 24 agriculture, 26 Aghri Mountain, 71 air pollution, 42, 54 alkaloid, 66 allele, 39 aluminium, 15 anatomical method, 50 anthropogenic impacts, 69 anthropogenic factors, 62 antimutagen, 59 Arabidopsis thaliana, 59 Artemisia fragrans, 33 assessment, 38 Astereaceae, 71 Asteraceae Dumort, 41 Astragalusargaeus, 27 Astragalus bakuensis Bunge, 64 Ayer Hitam, 28 Azerbaijan, 7, 35, 60 bacterial consortia, 68 biodiversity, 7, 9, 17, 51 biodiversity conservation, 14 biodiversity offsets, 26 Botanical gardens, 35 breeding, 48 bread wheat, 39 buckwheat, 15 caucasus, 25, 29 caucasian endemic, 36 CBG, 60 C. cyanus, 41 C. grossheimii Sosn, 41 C. hyrcanica Bornm, 41 C. karabaghensis Sosn, 41 C. kobstanica Tzvel, 41 climate change, 12 Centaurea L, 41 Centaureaamaena, 27 Centaureamacrocephala, 50 cites, 23 clearing of water, 53 climate change, 12 climate factors, 69 component, 39 composition of flora, 62 conservation, 7, 8, 9, 12, 17, 22, 24, 28 conservation biology, 27 conservation dendrology, 13 conservation genetics, 22, 36 conservation status assessment, 22 contamination, 56 cooper, 61 correlation, 45 convention, 8, 23, 37, 53 C. razdorskyi Karyag, 41 Critical, 68 crop plants, 18 database, 38, 52 degradation, 70 dendrochronology, 45 dendroflora, 67 desert, 37 desert vegetation, 62 digitization, 34 diversity, 7, 8, 23, 24, 28, 37 DNA, 8 drought, 44, 48 dry steppe, 70 Duzdagh, 57 dynamic information source, 22 Eastern Caucasus, 58 ecological restoration, 26 ecological standards, 64 ecosystems, 12, 51, 57 ecosystem services, 31 Elodea, 61 endangered species ,35,23 endangered and endemic species, 52, 69 endemism, 7, 22, 26 endemic, 64,69,71 endemic species, 60 endemic vascular plants, 47 environmental stress, 19 environmental xenobiotics, 59 enzymes, 8 E Europe, 9 ex situ conservation, 13, 25, 35, 60 extraction, 56 Fagopyrum esculentum, 15, 61 Festuca pratensis, 50 Festuca rupicola, 50 forest, 28 flora, 7, 17, 22, 25, 57 flora of Aghrı,71 fluctuating asymmetry, 42 fungal diseases, 49 future proofing, 26 Galligonium, 55 genetics, 7, 8 genefound, 29 genophytes, 60 GIS Mapping, 43 GIS system, 38 gliadin, 39 global hotspot of Plant diversity, 22 global strategies, 12 Hajigabul lake, 55 halophytes, 65 hazardous chemicals, 61 heavy metals, 10, 33, 42, 43, 53, 65 herbaria, 34 herb-drug efficacy, 19 host diversity, 46 hybrid, 49 Hyrcanian forests, 13 hyperaccumulator, 10 identification, 39 Important Bird Area, 55 ecological risk assessment, 30 glyphosate, 30 herbicides, 30 nzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), 21 Keywords index 72 Integrative taxonomy, 22 in-situ, 25 in-situ conservation, 35 Iris acutiloba C.A.Mey, 64 Jeyranchol-Ajinohur pastures, 62 Juniperus, 45 Kayseri, 27 Kur-Araz Lowland, 65 Lasiopogon muscoides (Desf.) DC, 65 lateral root formation, 11 leaves, 42, 54 limiting factors, 64 lizard orchid, 36 local endemic, 35 locus, 39 Ludwigia sp, 61 Malaysia, 28 marker, 39 metabolism, 8 metal contamination,16 metallophyte, 14 medicinal plants, 19, 52 mine site, 43 mine waste restoration, 14 mining industry,17 microorganisms and plants combined detoxificators, 32 Morus alba, 59 Morus nigra, 59 Myriophyllum aquaticum, 61 Nakhchivan Autonomic Republic, 67 nanoparticles, 61 Nature's cure, 31 new species, 71 nutrient deficiency, 11 nutrient disorders, 11 nitroreductase, 32 oil pollution, 40, 60, 68 organic pollutants, 32 Ophrys caucasica Woronow et Grossh, 64 PCR, 44 peatland forests, 20 petroleum contamination, 33 petroleum hydrocarbons, 56 phylogenetics, 36 phylogenetic distinctiveness, 36 phylogenetic diversity, 36 phylogeography, 13, 22 phytoextraction, 14, 16 phytoremediation, 8, 61, 68 phytotoxicity, 61 phytomining, 14 phytorestoration, 37 phytostabilization, 14, 16 Pistiastratiotes, 61 plant extracts, 59 plant diversity, 37 plant species, 7, 12, 20, 49 Potamogeton sp, 61 polymeric sorbents, 53 proteomics, 8 population genetics, 35 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), 21 protected areas, 58 protection, 58 protein, 39 radial growth, 45 Ramsar, 55 Ranunculaceae, 66 Ranunculus. L, 66 RAPD markers, 44 rare and endangered species, 7, 38, 52, 67 rare plants, 58, 64, 69 R.archinoides, 66 RDX, 32 Red Book , 7, 67 Red Lists, 13, 47 refugia, 13 regenerable resources, 31 resistance, 15, 46 Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), 21 restoration, 60 remediation, 16 revegetation, 16 rhizosphere processes,10 Rolling circle amplification (RCA), 21 root development, 11, 15 root exudation, 15 sagebrush desert, 70 salinization, 65 Seed Bank, 24, 25 semi desert, 37 semi-desert sagebrush, 70 single-stranded DNA viruses (ss DNA viruses), 21 site-ecology, 35 soil contamination, 43 soil morphology and physical-chemical characteristic, 40 soil properties, 43 soil restoration, 65 sorption, 53, 56 stem-only harvesting, 20 susceptibility, 46 sustainable management, 31 tetraploid, 49 the Caucasus, 47 threatened tree species, 13 tolerance mechanism, 33 TNT, 32 tomato, 46 trace metals, 54 Tugay forests, 70 Turkey, 9, 27 Turyancay, 45 Tuta absoluta, 46 type specimens, 34 Typha sp., 61 vegetation, 37, 57, 62, Vicia faba, 59 Vistar rats, 59 water basins, 56 water deficit, 18 water purification, 61 water use efficiency, 18 wetland, 51, 55 wheat, 44, 48, 49 whole-tree harvesting, 20 xenobiotic, 8 73 Abbasov M.A., 49 Abdiyeva Rena, 38 Afzal Joshua, 30 Aghabeyli Rena, 59 Ahmadov M.A., 49 Ahmadov M.H., 49 Akhmedova Sevda, 62 Akperli Tarana, 66 Aksoy Ahmet, 27 Alasgarov Maftun, 50 Alirzayeva Esmira, 33, 65 Aliyev Jalal, 44 Ali-zade Valida, 7, 38, 60, 65 Amiranashvili L, 68 Atamov Vagif, 51 Babayev Maharram, 40 Baker Alan J.M., 14 Barby Janette, 35 Betrisey Sebastien, 13 Borsch Thomas, 22 Bott Sebastian, 30 Christmann Alexandr, 18 Dadashova Aida, 38, 69 Dickinson Nicholas, 26 Farzaliyev Vahid, 45 Fazan Laurence, 13 Gafarova Beyim, 42 Gagelidze N., 68 Garakhani Parvana, 41 Garfi Giuseppe, 13 Gharekhani Gholamhossein, 46 Giehl Ricardo, 11 Gratzfeld Joachim, 13 Grill Erwin, 18 Gruber Ben, 11 Guliyev Adil, 63 Guliyeva Sevinj, 63 Hajiyeva Sevinj, 53, 56 Horst Walter J., 15 Hotanen Juha-Pekka, 20 Huseynova Arzu, 41 Huseynova Irada, 21, 44 I. Faridah-Hanum, 28 Ibadli Oruj, 60, 63 Ibadullayeva Sayyara, 57 Ibrahimov Ali, 40 Ibrahimov Anvar, 67 Iqbal Muhammad, 19 Isayev Shahin, 55 Jabbarov Musa, 51 Jafarova Naila, 53 Johnson M.E., 61 Kerimov Akper, 39 Kerimov Vugar, 35, 69 Khalilov Vakil, 51 Khatisashvili G., 68 Kirchner Thomas, 15 Klug Benjamin, 15 Kotelevtsev S.V., 61 Kozlowski Evelyne, 13 Kozlowski Gregor, 13 Kumlay A.M., 71 Kutateladze L., 68 Kvesitadze E., 32, 68 Kvesitadze G., 32 Litvinskaya Svetlana, 29 Maharramova Nigar, 56 Mammadov Elton, 43 Mammadova Afet, 42 Mammadova Alamdar, 21 Mammadova Sura, 53 Mehdiyeva Naiba, 52 Mccutcheon Steven C., 8, 61 Mirzayeva Shahla, 64 Movsumova Nuri, 57 Mursalova Jamala, 48 Murtazaliev Ramazan, 58 Musayev Murad, 51 Nakhutsrishvili George, 47 Neumann Günter, 30, 33 Nieminen Tiina M., 16,20 Nousiainen Hannu 20 Ostroumov S.A., 61 Öztürk Münir, 9 Parolly Gerald, 35 Poklonov V.A., 61 Rastgar Safar, 46 Rogers Philip, 17 Römheld Volker, 10 Rustamov Kh.N., 49 Rustamova Samira, 44 Ryan Deirdre 34 Sabbaghnia Naser, 46 Sadigov Hamlet, 39 Sadigova Narmina, 55 Sadunishvili Tinatin, 32, 68 Sajeva Maurizio, 23 Salek-Ebrahimi H., 46 Salimov Rashad, 60 Seyfullayev Farid, 45 Sharrock Suzanne, 12 Sheleykovsky V.L., 61 Shestakova T.V., 61 Shirvani Tamilla 65 Shukurov Eldar, 37 Smith Paul, 24 Solomonova E.A., 61 Souri Mohammad Kazim, 46 Sramko Gabor, 36 Suleymanov Gulmammad, 56 Sultanova Nargiz, 21 Taghiyeva Yelena, 70 Talibov Tariel, 67 Tesfamariam Tsehaye, 30 Toderich Kristina, 65 Trivedi Clare, 25 Tyson J.F., 61 Ukonmaanaho Liisa, 20 Vaglica Valentina, 23 Varaprasad Majeti Narasimha, 31 Wiren Nicolaus Von, 11 Xing B., 61 Youssef Naglaa, 54 Zernov Aleksandr, 64 Zeynalov Yusif, 71 Author Index 74 Status of plant diversity conservation in Azerbaijan V.M.Ali-zade……………………………………………………………………………………………………….... 7 Genetic and Proteomic Diversity of Plants Used in Phytoremediation Steven C. MCCUTCHEON………………………………………………………………………………………… 8 Biodiversity and Conservation-ACase Study from Europe and Turkey Münir ÖZTÜRK……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 9 Rhizosphere processes as determinants for heavy metal uptake in plants Volker RÖMHELD…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 10 Morphological responses of roots to changing nutrient availabilities Ben GRUBER, Ricardo GIEHL, Nicolaus von WIREN………………………………………………………. 11 The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation – a framework for conservation action from local to global Suzanne SHARROCK……………………………………………………………………………………………. 12 Conservation of Tertiary relict trees with specific reference to the genus Zelkova (Ulmaceae) Gregor KOZLOWSKI, Joachim GRATZFELD, Giuseppe GARFÌ, Laurence FAZAN, Evelyne KOZLOWSKI, Sébastien BÉTRISEY…………………………………………………………………. 13 Metallophytes:a biodiversity and phytotechnological resource for soil clean-up, phytomining and mine site restoration Alan J M, BAKER………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 14 Aluminium exclusion and Al accumulation are not alternative Al resistance mechanisms – the example of buckwheat (Fagopyrumesculentum) Walter J. HORST, Benjamin KLUG and Thomas KIRCHNER……………………………………………….. 15 Response of Downy birch and Scots pine seedlings to soil heavy metals Tiina M. NIEMINEN……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 16 Flora, biodiversity and conservation – implications for the mining industry Philip ROGERS……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 17 Drought in times of climate change: a major threat for plants and agriculture Alexander CHRISTMANN and Erwin GRILL…………………………………………………………………… 18 Active ingredients of medicinal plants in changing environment Muhammad IQBAL……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 19 Recovery of understorey vegetation after forest clear-cut on peatland Liisa UKONMAANAHO, Tiina M. NIEMINEN, Hannu NOUSIAINEN and Juha-Pekka HOTANEN……………………………………………………………………………………… 20 Occurrence and detection of some single stranded DNA (ss DNA) plant viruses in Azerbaijan Nargiz F. SULTANOVA, Alamdar Ch. MAMMADOV, Irada M. HUSEYNOVA.............................................................................................................................. 21 Scientific research to support conservation in the Caucasus – the Caucasus Plant Diversity Initiative Thomas Borsch…………………………………………………………………………………………………….22 The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and the Conservation of Plant Diversity Maurizio SAJEVA and Valentina VAGLİCA……………………………………………………………………. 23 Content 75 The Millennium Seed Bank Partnership: conserving and enabling the use of plant diversity for innovation and adaptation Dr Paul SMİTH…………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 24 Millennium Seed Bank Partnership: Saving the Flora of the Caucasus Clare TRIVEDI………………………………………………………………………………………..…………… 25 Benefits, trade-offs and conservation of plant diversity in novel ecosystems and changed environments in New Zealand Nicholas DICKINSON…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 26 Conservation of Plant Diversity: A Case Study from Kayseri-Turkey Ahmet AKSOY......................................................................................................................................... 27 Plant Diversity of Ayer Hitam Forest in Malaysia and Conservation in Urban Settings I. Faridah-Hanum………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 28 Rare genefound and peculiarities of biodiversity of Northen Caucasus under changing enviroment Svetlana LITVINSKAYA…………………………………………………………………………………….…….. 29 Glyphosate and the challenge of an ecological risk assessment Günter Neumann, Sebastian Bott, Tsehaye Tesfamariam, Joshua Afzal, Volker Römheld……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 30 Plant diversity services to ecosystem in the era of environmental changes MAJETI NARASIMHA VARAPRASAD…………………………………………………………….…………... 31 Symbiotic action of plants and microorganismas as detoxificators of organic pollutants G. KVESITADZE, T.SADUNISHVILI, E.KVESITADZE.................................................................................. 32 Multiple tolerances of Artemisia fragrans to environmental stress factors Esmira ALIRZAYEVA, Gunter NEUMANN…………………………………………….....…………………….... 33 Global Plants Initiative: Collaborative community built database Deirdre RYAN............................................................................................................................................... 34 The conservation of Calligonumbakuense– a workshop report Gerald PAROLLY, Janette BARBYand Vugar KƏRIMOV……………………………………………..……….. 35 Conservation Phylogenetics – setting priority based on lineage uniqueness Gábor SRAMKO……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 36 Conversation of plant diversity in desert and semi desert habitats in Azerbaijan Eldar SHUKUROV………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 37 Priority rare and endangered plant species of Azerbaijan: assessment of conservation status Aida DADASHOVA, Rena ABDIYEVA and Valida ALI-ZADE................................................................... 38 Identification of new allele component blocks in bread wheat (T. aestivum L.) accessions using protein markers and their use in breeding Akbar KARİMOV, Hamlet SADİGOV…………………………………………………………..………….…….. 39 Influence of oil pollution on morphological characteristics and ecology o gray-brown soils Ali İBRAHİMOV, Maharram BABAYEV..................................................................................................... 40 76 Economical Improtance and Conservation of Some Centaurea L. Species Arzu Y. HUSEYNOVA, Parvana Kh. GARAKHANI................................................................................... 41 Morphological and physiological changes of urban trees as ecological indicators of heavy metal stress Beyim GAFAROVA, Afet MAMMADOVA ................................................................................................. 42 Content and Spatial Variability of Heavy Metals in the Soils of Gold Mine area in Gadabay Region, Azerbaijan Elton MAMMADOV.................................................................................................................................... 43 RAPD Markers Based Genetic Diversity Analysis for Drought Tolerance in Wheat Genotypes Irada M. HUSEYNOVA, Samira M. RUSTAMOVA, Jalal A. ALİYEV.......................................................................................................................................... 44 Dendroecological investigation of some juniper species from Turyanchay State Nature Reserve Farid S.SEYFULLAYEV, Vahid S.FARZALİYEV........................................................................................ 45 Diversity of tomato cultivars the damage caused by Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) under greenhouse condition Gholamhossein GHAREKHANI, Hamideh SALEK-EBRAHIMI, Mohammad Kazem SOURI, Safar RASTGAR, Naser SABBAGHNIA........................................................ 46 Red List of the endemic vascular plants of the Caucasus George NAKHUTSRISHVILI…...…………………………………………………………………………..……… 47 Current and Future Challenges of Wheat Yield Potential In Consequence Of Climate Change Jamala MURSALOVA…………..………………………………………………………………………………….. 48 Study of Interspecific Hybrids Of Durum Wheat and Tetraploid Wheat Species Kh.N. Rustamov, M.A. Abbasov, M.H. Ahmadov, M.A. Ahmadov…………………………..…………………. 49 Anatomical Research Method in Taxonomy and Bioecology Maftun. M. ALASGAROV................................................................. ......................................................... 50 The wetland vegetation biodiversity of Azerbaijan Murad MUSAYEV, Vagif ATAMOV, Vakil KHALILOV, Musa JABBAROV............ .................................... 51 Importance data base of medicinal plants for plant biodiversity conservation in Azerbaijan Naiba MEHDIYEVA.................................................................................................................................. 52 Clearing of water from Fe3+ ions with polymeric sorbent Naila JAFAROVA, Sevinj HAJIYEVA and Sura MAMMADOVA................................................................ 53 Tree leaves as bioindicator of trace metal pollution in the atmosphere of Absheron peninsula Naglaa YOUSSEF..................................................................................................................................... 54 Conservation problems of Lake Hajigabul Narmina SADIGOVA and Shahin ISAYEV………………………………….………………………………….. 55 Investigation of possibilities of water basins purification, contaminated by oily emulsion type petroleum products, using of sorption and extraction methods Nigar MAHARRAMOVA, Sevinj HAJIYEVA, Gulmammad SULEYMANOV…………………………………………………………………...……………….. 56 Current state of the flora and vegetation of Duzdagh Nuri V. Movsumova, Sayyara J. Ibadullayeva............................................................................................ 57 77 The problem of plant conservation in the protected areas of the Eastern Caucasus (Russian Federation) R.A.MURTAZALIEV………………………………………………………………………………………………. 58 Sustainable Mobilization of the Morus Species as Potential Sources of the Food Additives with Protective Properties Rena AGABEYLI …………………………………………………………………………………………….….. 59 To ex situ Conservation Strategy for Some Rare and Endemic Plant Species in Azerbaijan Reshad SALIMOV, Oruj IBADLI, Valida ALI-ZADE………………………………………………….……….. 60 Use of plants in assessing and alleviating pollution S. A. Ostroumov, S. V. Kotelevtsev, M. E. Johnson, S. C. McCutcheon, V. A.Poklonov, E. A.Solomonova,J. F. Tyson, V. L.Sheleykovsky, T.V.Shestakova,and B. Xing……………………………………………………………………………………... 61 The vegetation of winter pastures of Jeyranchol-Ajinohur arrays of Azerbaijan at the beginning of XXI century Sevda AKHMEDOVA................................................................................................................................. 62 Introduction of some endangered Allium L. species and their chemical composition Sevinj GULIYEVA, Adil GULIYEV, Oruj IBADLI............................................................................................ 63 The reasons of reduction of endemic and rare plants Distributed on the Absheron peninsula Shahla N. MIRZAYEVA, Aleksandr S. ZERNOV …………………………………………………….…………..64 Evaluation of Wild Halophytes for the Soil Restoration in Kur-Araz Lowland of Azerbaijan Tamilla SHIRVANI, Esmira ALIRZAYEVA, Kristina TODERICH, Valida ALI-ZADE…………………………………...……………………………..……….. 65 Some Ranunculus species and their conservation actions Tarana AKPERLİ........................................................................................................................................ 66 Rare and Threatened Species of Dendroflora of Nakhchivan Autonomic Republic (Azerbaijan) Tariyel TALIBOV and Anvar IBRAHIMOV.................................................................................................. 67 Novel phytoremediation technology for cleaning of oil-polluted soils T.SADUNISHVILI, G.KHATISASHVILI, L.KUTATELADZE, N.GAGELIDZE, L.AMIRANASHVILI, E.KVESITADZE…………………………………………………………………………….. 68 Limiting factors for some endagered plant species of Azerbaijan Vugar KERIMOV and Aida DADASHOVA................................................................................................. 69 Tugay forests and current status in the middle of the river Kur Yelena TAGHIYEVA.................................................................................................................................. ....70 Determination of plant species belonging to Asteraceae L. Family on Aghri mountain, Turkey Yusif ZEYNALOV, Ahmet Metin KUMLAY.................................................................................................. 71 Keywords index............................................................................................................................................ 72 Author index................................................................................................................................................. 74 78
**
Poster presentation.
Title:
Use of plants in assessing and alleviating pollution.
Authors:S. A. OSTROUMOV , S. V. KOTELEVTSEV , M. E. JOHNSON , S. C. McCUTCHEON , V. A.POKLONOV , E. A.SOLOMONOVA ,J. F. TYSON , V. L.SHELEYKOVSKY , T.V.SHESTAKOVA and B. XİNG.
.M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University, Lengory, 119991, Moscow, Russia 2. University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, U.S.A. 3.University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, U.S.A. 4.The Main Botanical Garden of Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia;
http://5bio5.blogspot.com/2015/03/12032015-poster-presentation-title-use.html;
http://5bio5.blogspot.ru/2015/03/12032015-poster-presentation-title-use.html;
**
http://www.botany.az/uploads/Work_shop_jurnal.pdf;
This was published on page 61,in the book:
International conference Environmental changes and conservation of plant diversity.
Conference program and abstract book;
21-23 April 2013;
Baku, Azerbaijan;
Important environmental change includes hazardous chemical pollution of the biosphere.The authors' interdisciplinary research on environmental chemicobiotic and ecotoxicological interactions involves various species of plants. This poster reports on the investigation of: (1) the concentration of the chemicals in plant tissues;(2) the effects of chemicals on the selected plants; (3) the effects of the selected plants on concentrations of chemicals in the aquatic environment; (4) the role of the selected plants in mitigation of chemical stresses; and (5) the practical use of this new knowledge to improve water quality. This research exposed environmental pollutants to a variety of species of aquatic and terrestrial plants. These numerous tests defined the phytotoxicity of synthetic surfactants, detergents, and heavy metals, to the plants investigated.The investigations of phytoremediation potential tested the selected plant species in aquatic microcosms (e.g., Potamogeton sp.) and using plant seedling bioassays (e.g., Fagopyrum esculentum). Other investigations determined the phytotoxicity of metal oxide nanoparticles to Myriophyllum aquaticum, Pistia stratiotes, Ludwigia sp., and other plant species. During these incubations in aquatic medium with CuO nanoparticles, Cu accumulated in the biomass and mortmass (decomposing plant detritus) of Elodea. Additional investigations found analogous accumulation in the biomass and mortmass of Ludwigia sp., Myriophyllum aquaticum, and Typha sp. Further study defined the phytoremediation potential of these and several other aquatic plants provide prospect of developing new technologies for water purification.The current advancement shelp to understand better, chemico-biotic interactions in the modern biosphere and to alleviate consequences from environmental change, especially chemical pollution.
Keywords: Phytoremediation, water purification, hazardous chemicals, phytotoxicity, accumulation, copper, nanoparticles, Elodea, Fagopyrum esculentum, Ludwigia sp., Myriophyllum aquaticum, Potamogeton sp., Pistiastratiotes, Typha sp.
**
http://www.botany.az/uploads/Work_shop_jurnal.pdf
This was published on page 61,in the book:
International conference Environmental changes and conservation of plant diversity
Conference program and abstract book
21-23 April 2013;
Baku, Azerbaijan;
Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences,İnstitute of Botany,
International conference Environmental changes and conservation of plant diversity,
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
International conference Environmental changes and conservation of plant diversity
Honorable Chairman Scientific Committee Members: Program Committee Members: Organizing Committee Members: International Advisory Committee Members: Project manager: Collaborating project manager:
Coordinated by Academician Ahliman Amiraslanov
Prof. Dr. Valida Ali-zade – Head of Committee
Prof. Dr. Gregor Kozlowski Prof. Dr. Munir Ozturk Prof. Dr. Volker Roemheld Prof. Dr. Irada Huseynova – Head of Committee Prof. Steven McCutcheon Prof. Prof. Thomas Borsch Dr. Vahid Farzaliyev Dr. Esmira Alirzayeva – Head of Committee Dr. Tamilla Shirvani Dr. Vugar Kerimov Rena Rehimli Malahat Huseynova Aida Dadashova Prof. Alan Baker Prof. Nicolas Dickinson Prof. Walter Horst Prof. Erwin Grill Prof. Nicolaus von Wiren Prof. Thomas Borsch Dr. Esmira Alirzayeva Dr.Gregor Kozlowski
the Institute of Botany of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences
Saturday, 20 – Arrival Sunday, April 21 10.00-11.00 – Registration 11.00-12.00 – Opening Ceremony Academician Ahliman Amiraslanov – Honorable chairman Prof. Novruz Guliyev - Vise-Minister of Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources Mr. Azer Aliyev - Chief of Ecological Department of SOCAR Prof. Valida Ali-zade – Director of the Institute of Botany, ANAS Status of plant diversity conservation in Azerbaijan 12.00-12.30 – Break 12.30-13.05 – Prof. Steven McCutcheon – University of Georgia, USA Genetic and Proteomic Diversity of Plants Used in Phytoremediation 13.05-13.40 – Prof. Munir Ozturk – Ege University, Turkey Biodiversity, Conservation and Climate Change (Chairs – Prof. A.Baker and Prof. W.Horst) 13.40-14.40 – Lunch 14.40-15.15 – Prof. Volker Römheld – University of Hohenheim, Germany Rhizosphere processes as determinants for heavy metal uptake in plants 15.15-15.50 – Prof. Nicolaus von Wiren – IPK, Germany Root morphological changes under variable nutrient availabilities (Chairs – Prof. E.Grill and Prof. N.Dickinson) 15.50-16.05 – Break 16.05-16.40 – Prof. Suzanne Sharrock – BGCI, UK The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation – a framework for conservation action from local to global 16.40-17.15– Prof. Gregor Kozlowski – University of Fribourg, Switzerland Conservation of Tertiary relict trees with specific reference to the genus Zelkova (Ulmaceae) (Chairs – Prof. T.Borsch and Dr. P.Smith) 17.20 – City tour 19.00 – Banquet in the city center April PROGRAM 4 Monday, April 22 09.00-09.35 – Prof. Alan Baker – Honorary Professorial Fellow, UK Metallophytes: a biodiversity and phytotechnological resource for soil clean-up, phytomining and mine waste restoration 09.35-10.10 – Prof. Walter Horst – University of Hannover, Germany Aluminium exclusion and Al accumulation are not alternative Al resistance mechanisms – the example of buckwheat 10.10-10.35 – Dr. Tiina Nieminen – Metla, Finland Response of birch (Betula pubescens) and pine (Pinus sylvestris) seedlings to elevated soil heavy metal concentrations 10.35-11.00 – Dr. Philip Rogers – AMEC, UK Flora, biodiversity and conservation – implications for the global mining industry (Chairs – Prof. V.Römheld and Prof. S.McCutcheon) 11.00-11.15 – Break 11.15-11.50 – Prof. Erwin Grill – Technical University of Munich, Germany Drought in times of climate change: a major threat for plants and agriculture 11.50-12.25 – Prof. Muhammad Igbal – Jamia Hamdard University, India Active ingredients of medicinal plants in changing environment 12.25-12.50 – Dr. Liisa Ukonmaanaho – Metla, Finland Recovery of understorey vegetation after forest clear-cut on peatland 12.50-13.10 – Nargiz Sultanova – Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan Occurrence and detection of some single stranded DNA (ss DNA) plant viruses in Azerbaijan (Chairs – Prof. M.Ozturk and Prof. N.von Wiren) 13.10-14.10 – Lunch 14.10-14.45 – Prof. Thomas Borsch – Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin,Germany Scientific research to support conservation in the Caucasus – the Caucasus plant Diversity Initiative 14.45-15.20 – Prof. Sajeva Maurizio -European Regional Representative, CITES Plants Committee, University Palermo, Italy The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and the Conservation of Plant Diversity 15.20-15.55 – Dr. Paul Smith – Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, UK The Millennium Seed Bank Partnership: conserving and enabling the use of plant diversity for innovation and adaptation 15.55-16.20 – Dr. Clare Tiverdi – Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, UK Millennium Seed Bank Partnership: Saving the Flora of the Caucasus (Chairs – Prof. V.Ali-zade and Dr. S.Scharrock) 16.20-16.35 – Break 16.35-17.10 – Prof. Nicolaus Dickinson – Lincoln University, New Zealand Benefits, trade-offs and conservation of plant diversity in novel ecosystems and changed environments in New Zealand 17.10-17.35 – Prof. Ahmad Aksoy – Erciyes University, Turkey Conservation of plant diversity: A Case study from Kayseri - Turkey 5 17.35-18.00 – Prof. Faridah Hanum Ibrahim – University Putra, Malaysia Plant Diversity of Ayar Hitam Forest Reserve-Malaysia 18.00-18.20 – Prof. Svetlana Litvinskaya – Kuban State University, Russia Rare genofound and peculiarities of biodiversity of Northern Caucasus under changing environment Diversity (Chairs – Prof. M.Sajeva and Dr. G.Parolly) 18.20-18.50 – Poster session 19.00 – Dinner Tuesday, April 23 09.30-10.05 – Prof. Gunter Neumann – University of Hohenheim, Germany Glyphosate and the challenge of an ecological risk assessment 10.05-10.40 – Prof. M.N.V. Prasad – University of Hyderabad, India Water security for sustainable development - search for natural products for the treatment of waste water 10.40-11.05 – Prof. Giorgi Kvesitadze – Georgian Academy of Sciences, Georgia Symbiotic action of plants and microorganisms as detoxificators of organic pollutants 11.05-11.25 – Dr. Esmira Alirzayeva – Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan Multiple tolerances to environmental stress factors in Artemisia plants (Chairs – Prof. M.Iqbal and Dr. L.Ukonmaanaho) 11.25-11.40 – Break 11.40-12.15 – Dr. Deirdre Ryan - JSTOR, USA Global Plants Initiative: Collaborative community built database 12.15-12.40 – Dr. Gerald Parolly – Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin, Germany The conservation of Calligonum bakuense – A workshop report 12.40-13.05 – Dr. Gabor Sramko – University of Debrecen, Hungary Conservation phylogenetics – setting priority based on lineage uniqueness 13.05-13.25 – Dr. Eldar Shukurov - Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan Phytorestoration of disturbed desert habitats in Qobustan Region of Azerbaijan (Chairs – Dr. C.Trivedi and Prof. Faridah Hanum) 13.25-14.25 – Lunch 14.25-15.00 – Round table 15.00-15.30 – Discussion and preparation of action plan 15.30-15.45 – Break 15.50 – Excursion 19.00 – Dinner and Closing ceremony Wednesday, April 24 - Departure 6 Status of plant diversity conservation in Azerbaijan Valida M. ALI-ZADE Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, AZ1073, Baku, Azerbaijan, An environmental change, including biotic and abiotic factors, environmental pollution, climate change etc. is a critical factor limiting the productivity and nutritional quality of plants. This problem is especially important for Azerbaijan, which is considered as the oldest oil-producing country of the world and oil production and other industrial fields connected with it have here almost 160 years of history. Azerbaijan is one of the geographic-botanically richest regions of the Caucasus. The territory and landscape of Azerbaijan is distinguished by a high level of biodiversity. There are 4500 higher plants, including 200 Azerbaijanian and 950 Caucasian endemics. The species diversity and high endemism of Azerbaijan's flora is, in first place, the result of the manifold ecological conditions for plants and the historical development of ecosystems during different periods. According to the Global Strategy of Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, the protection of endangered species is a major task of today. The biodiversity of Azerbaijan and their natural habitats are under the affect of increasing anthropogenic activity and global climate change, which result in the decreasing of number of populations of most species, the destruction and fragmentation of plant cover structure. These and/or other casual factors could lead to the critic condition or vanishing of the rare and endemic plant species. Therefore, there is a serious need to protect rare ecosystems and unique genetic resources. The proportion of protected areas increased from 4.5 % to 10.3 % of the country's total area. At present, there are 9 national parks and 11 nature reserves. Development of modern scientific directions and initiation of the biodiversity conservation in the Republic belong to Academician Jalal Aliyev. International programs directed to the study and conservation of flora of Azerbaijan started to function in the mid- 90s. The second edition of the “Red Book of Azerbaijan” including 300 rare and endangered plant (266 higher and 20 lower plants) and fungi (14) species is prepared. Assessment according to IUCN criteria (IUCN, 2001) are: CR – 27 species, EN – 53 species, VU – 158 species, NT– 50 species, DD - 12 species. For the past more than 20 years of independence of the country classical botanical disciplines were enriched with new, more advanced representations and have poured out in new interdisciplinary directions of a science, such as «gene engineering», "bioinformatics", «molecular systematics», «molecular genetics», «conservation genetics» etc. The success in the field of molecular genetics and biochemical mechanisms of plant resistance to effect of environmental stress factors such as drought, salinization and pollution typical for Azerbaijan is achieved. Identification of different viruses and pathogenic fungi is carried out based on modern molecular biological approach. These findings in the territory of the Republic are of value in recognizing host ranges of the pathogens and the management of the plant disease they cause. Ecological researches of our scientists have found out existence of specific vegetative communities, various ecotypes of endemic flora which are adapted for environmental contamination. The innovative strategy of the Institute of Botany in this area is based on the appropriate selection of plants successfully growing and produced seeds under dry and saline environments, possessing a great metal/salt removal potential. vm_alizade@yahoo.com Oral Presentations 7 Genetic and proteomic diversity of plants used in phytoremediation Steven C. MCCUTCHEON University of Georgia, Faculty of Engineering and Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, Athens, Georgia, 30602 United States of America Compared to monoculture applications, phytoremediation involves few applications of ecosystems. Thus, practitioners have not optimized the use of plant diversity except in a few field studies that allowed plant and rhizosphere communities to self-engineer the habitat. Self-engineering allows more sustainable use of energy, nutrients, and landscape modification. Applications using wetland communities have more sustainably removed explosives from groundwater to establish ecosystem proof-of-practice. Guiding conservation of plant diversity using genetics and proteomics is also at a nascent stage. The hundreds of enzymes proven useful in phytoremediation compared to tens of thousands of natural plant proteins indicate many more plants express enzymatic activity. Metabolic pathways seem more numerous that the tens of thousands of plant proteins. Yet the limited exploration of metabolism establishes that phytoremediationmore sustainably treats pollutants similar to natural molecules. The less similarity, the more likely xenobiotic molecules may require metabolic or transgenic engineering despite the great plant proteomic diversity yet to be explored. Plant genetic diversity (110,000 DNA base pairs versusmammals with 32,000 and bacteria with 2500 base pairs) may explain phytoremediation being significantly more sustainable than bioremediation or other remediation. If the longer DNA strands express greater enzymatic activity than other kingdoms, then genetic diversity favors plant conservation and use in waste management. Unable to move and fewer compared to microorganisms, greater plant enzymatic activity seems likely. Until ecological engineers use plant ecosystems more, and scientists explore genetic and proteomic diversity, prioritizing plant conservation and understanding succession due to climate change apparently will remain ad hoc. Keywords: Phytoremediation, proteomics, genetics, metabolism, enzymes, xenobiotic, DNA, diversity, conservation Steven.C.McCutcheon@gmail.com Oral Presentations 8 Biodiversity and Conservation- A Case Study from Europe and Turkey Münir ÖZTÜRK Faculty of Forestry, Univ. Putra Malaysia, Selangor-Malaysia&Botany Dept., Ege Univ., Izmir, Turkey, Total number of recorded living species is said to be around 1.75 million.Life on earth depends on the components of these living systemscalled biodiversity, as they maintainessential ecosystem functions including primary production. An unsustainable use of natural resources has damaged biodiversity so severely that this situation now threatens human life. More than 12000 species are known to be threatened with extinction.Nearly 5000 taxa of plants are said to have become extinct since the year 1700 and 17 plants are lost per year.The rate at which species are becoming extinct is higher than the natural one due to both biotic / abiotic interferences.The extinctions of biodiversity can have a direct impact on human society.Thousands of compounds that could cure diseases or be of great economic and ecological importance may be lost on a daily basis togeher with the destruction of plant cover.There is a great need to reverse this process. One of the most effected areas is the world'slargestlandmass the Eurasia, the most urbanised and the densely populated continent in the world. An attempt is made here to present the latest situation in Europe and Turkey. Keywords: Biodiversity, Conservation, Europe, Turkey References:1. Celik A, Baslar S, Guvensen A, Ozturk M (2003) Role of National Parks in TURKEYA Case Study from Dilek Peninsula-Great Menderes Delta National Park. Pakistan Journal of Botany 35(5): 641-658. 2. Davis SD, Heywood VH, Hamilton AC (1994) Centres of Plant Diversity. Vol. I, WWFPublication, Information Press, U.K., pp:354. 3. Efe R, Cravens R, Ozturk M, Atalay I (2008) Natural Environment and Culture in the Mediterranean Region. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, UK, 496 pp. 4. Nurlu E, Erdem U, Ozturk M, Guvensen A, Turk T (2005) Biodiversity and Land Use in the Coastal Zone of Izmir. Xth EURECO- European Ecological Congress, 8-13 November, Kusadasi, pp.78. 5. Ozturk M, Gucel S (2009) Garden Culture Among Turks & Botanical Gardens of Anatolia. First MEDOMED, First International Seminar: The Andalusi Experience: An Example for Biodiversity Conservation, Alhambra-Granada, 7-9 October,2009,Spain. 6. Ozturk M, Gucel S, Küçük M, Sakçalı S (2010) Forests,Climate Change & Forest Fires in the Mediterranean Region of Turkey. Journal of Environmental Biology-Special Issue,31,1-9. 7.Ozturk M, Yucel E, Yarci C, Celik A, Aksoy A (1998) Plant diversity in the Turkish black sea region and strategies for its conservation. NATO-ARW, Batumi-Georgia, Kluwer Acad. Publ., (Eds. V.Kotlyakov,M. Uppenbrink, V.Metreveli) pp:155-173. 8. Ozturk MA (1995) Recovery and rehabilitation of mediterranean type ecosystem- A case study from Turkish maquis. In: Evaluating and Monitoring the Health of Large-Scale Ecosystems, NATO-ARW (Eds. D.Rapport, C .L. Gaudet, P.Calow), Springer- Verlag, pp: 319-332 munirozturk@gmail.com Oral Presentations 9 Rhizosphere processes as determinants for heavy metal uptake in plants Volker RÖMHELD Plant Nutrition, Institute of Crop Science, University Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany Azerbaijan has a very nice, unpolluted country side. In contrast to this unpolluted mountainous area in the area of Baku soils highly polluted by organic contaminants as well as by heavy metals. For clean-up purpose rhizosphere processes have to be considered. In particular, in hyperaccumulator plant species such as some Artemisa species rhizosphere processes affect mobility and uptake of heavy metals by plant roots. Thus, these rhizosphere processes are of high importance for heavy metal mobilization and uptake by plant roots. Keywords: Rhizosphere processes, heavy metal, Hyperaccumulator v.roemheld@uni-hohenheim.de Oral Presentations 10 Morphological responses of roots to changing nutrient availabilities Ben GRUBER, Ricardo GİEHL, Nicolaus von WİREN Leibniz-Institute for Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, Dept. Physiology & Cell Biology, Molecular Plant Nutrition group, Corrensstr. 3, 06466 Gatersleben, Germany Nutrients have a profound effect on plant growth and development. Thereby roots show a particularly high plasticity in their morphological response to changing nutrient availabilities. Although such changes are often associated with an increase the foraging capacity of plants, root morphological responses to the deficiency of different nutrients remain poorly characterised. After establishing growth conditions and characterizing the effect of the deficiency of a particular nutrient on the root system architecture of Arabidopsis thaliana, we observed that root traits describing the initiation or elongation of roots of different orders respond specifically to various nutrient deficiencies. Investigating the lateral root response to localized supplies of different nitrogen forms, we observed a stimulation of lateral root initiation under localized ammonium supply, whereas nitrate rather stimulated the elongation (Lima et al., 2010). With regard to localized supplies of micronutrients, we found a particularly strong, dose-dependent stimulation of lateral root length by Fe. Using different Arabidopsis mutants affected in Fe acquisition or transport and the Fe supplementation via shoots in tetrapartite agar plates, we found that Fe-dependent lateral root elongation responds to symplastic root Fe rather than to external Fe and this is largely independent of the Fe nutritional signals from the shoot. We further identified the auxin importer AUX1 as a major Fe-responsive signaling step required for the observed in the elongation of lateral root cells (Giehl et al., 2012). Taken together, our results allow describing root plasticity in response to different nutritional conditions. Keywords: root development, nutrient disorders, nutrient deficiency, lateral root formation References: Lima J.E., Kojima S., Takahashi H. and von Wirén N. (2010) Ammonium triggers lateral root branching in Arabidopsis in an AMMONIUM TRANSPORTER1;3-dependent manner. Plant Cell 22: 3621-3633 Giehl R.F.H., Lima J.E., and von Wirén N. (2012) Local iron supply triggers lateral root elongation in Arabidopsis by altering the AUX1-mediated auxin distribution. Plant Cell 24: 33-49 vonwiren@ipk-gatersleben.de Oral Presentations 11 The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation – a framework for conservation action from local to global Suzanne SHARROCK Botanic Gardens Conservation International, 199 Kew Road, Richmond, TW9 3BW, UK. There is unequivocal evidence that the Earth's climate is warming at an unprecedented rate and the effects of this are geographically inequitable, varied and unpredictable, with potentially devastating consequences for global plant diversity. The adoption of a Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 2002 marked an important advance in raising awareness of the threats faced by plants worldwide, as well providing a coherent framework for policy and action. The GSPC includes 16 plant conservation targets to be achieved by 2020. Implementation of the GSPC requires a unique combination of actions at both national and international levels and involves a wide range of stakeholders. The GSPC addresses issues such as maintaining ecosystems as carbon sinks, providing reservoirs of genetic and species resources as a safeguard for the future, developing a better understanding of species most at risk, and reducing the stresses on plant diversity caused by land use change, over-harvesting and invasive alien species. This presentation will provide an introduction to the GSPC, review progress to date towards the targets of the GSPC and discuss how implementation of the GSPC will help to both mitigate the effects of climate change and support adaptation strategies. Keywords: plant conservation, global strategies, climate change, ecosystems, species suzanne.sharrock@bgci.org Oral Presentations 12 Conservation of Tertiary relict trees with specific reference to the genus Zelkova (Ulmaceae) 1,2 3 4 Gregor KOZLOWSKI , Joachim GRATZFELD , Giuseppe GARFÌ , Laurence 1 1 1 FAZAN , Evelyne KOZLOWSKI , Sébastien BÉTRISEY 1 Department of Biology and Botanic Garden of the University of Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 10, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland 2 Natural History Museum Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 6, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland 3 Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), 199 Kew Road, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3BW, United Kingdom 4 National Research Council (CNR), Institute of Plant Genetics, Corso Calatafimi 414, I-90129 Palermo, Italy Tertiary relict trees represent ancient organisms that have been able to outlast changing environmental conditions for millions of years. They provide a unique opportunity to understand past and recent biogeographical and evolutionary processes (1, 2). For many relict species, however, only a few highly threatened populations remain (3).Zelkova, a member of the Ulmaceae family, represents one of the most emblematic relict tree genera (4).Today, the rarity of Zelkova in the wild, especially of the three westernmost species (Z. sicula, Z. abeliceaand Z. carpinifolia) calls for swift conservation action (5, 6, 7). In 2010, the Botanic Garden of the University of Fribourg (Switzerland), in collaboration with the Natural History Museum in Fribourg (Switzerland) and Botanic Gardens Conservation International (United Kingdom), initiated an interdisciplinary project to undertake a scientific review of the relict tree Zelkova. Following main objectives were addressed: (a) Review of existing conservation status assessments and global survey of ex situ collections; (b) Basic and applied research, including molecular phylogeny, phylogeography, population genetics and structure, and genetic analyses of wild Zelkova populations compared with ex situ collections; (c) Public awareness and outreach, including development of exhibitions and organisation of national and international seminars to exchange knowledge and share individual conservation expertise. Besides the most recentscientific results of the Zelkova project, two upcoming exhibitions in Fribourg (Switzerland) and in Baku (Azerbaijan) will be presented. Their main topic will be the importance of the Hyrcanian forests of Azerbaijan– one of the richest floristic areas of Western Eurasia. Keywords: Conservation dendrology, ex situ conservation, Hyrcanian forests, phylogeography, refugia, threatened tree species References: 1.Milne RI, Abbott RJ. 2002. The origin and evolution of Tertiary relict floras. Advances in Botanical Research 38: 281-314. 2.Milne RI. 2006. Northern Hemisphere plant disjunctions: a window on tertiary land bridges and climate change? Annals of Botany 98: 465-472. 3.Connor SE. 2009. Human impact – the last nail in the coffin for ancient plants? Journal of Biogeography 36: 485-486. 4.Denk T, Grimm GW. 2005. Phylogeny and biogeography of Zelkova (Ulmaceaesensustricto) as inferred from leaf morphology, ITS sequence data and the fossil record. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 147: 129-157. 5.Fazan L, Stoffel M, Frey DJ, Pirintsos S, Kozlowski G. 2012. Small does not mean young: Age estimation of severely browsed trees in anthropogenic Mediterranean landscapes. Biological Conservation 153: 97-100. 6.Kozlowski G, Gibbs D, Huan F, Frey D, Gratzfeld J. 2012. Conservation of threatened relict trees through living ex situ collections: lessons from the global survey of the genus Zelkova(Ulmaceae). Biodiversity and Conservation 21: 671-685. 7.Kozlowski G, Frey D, Fazan L, Egli B, Bétrisey S, Gratzfeld J, Garfì G, Pirintsos S. 2013. Tertiary relict tree Zelkovaabelicea (Ulmaceae): distribution, population structure and conservation status. Oryx (in press) gregor.kozlowski@unifr.ch Oral Presentations 13 Metallophytes: a biodiversity and phytotechnological resource for soil clean-up, phytomining and mine site restoration Alan J.M. School of Botany, The University of Melbourne, Australia; Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation, The University of Queensland, Australia; Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, The University of Sheffield, Contact address: 9 Victoria Road, Felixstowe, Suffolk, IP11 7PT, UK. Metallophytes - plants that have evolved on metal-enriched soils – have key 'values' that must drive research on their unique properties, and ultimately their conservation. The ability of metallophytes to tolerate extreme metal concentrations commends them as the optimal choice for ecological restoration of mineral wastes and metal-contaminated sites. Metallophytes, and in particular metalhyperaccumulating plants, have also spawned several novel phytotechnologies, including phytoremediation, phytoextraction and phytomining. Other new potentials for exploiting their unique properties are emerging. Action towards conserving the global metallophyte resource base is imperative because many species are under threat of extinction primarily through mineral exploration and mining activities. This concern has been identified as a priority in the Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development (MMSD) Project of the Global Mining Initiative in 2002, but positive responses from the minerals industry have been slow. The last decade has however seen an ever-increasing interest in metaltolerant and metal-accumulating plants both from an academic standpoint and their use in restoration and phytostabilization. Few studies have highlighted the need to conserve these species. This presentation identifies future research needs for the conservation and utilization of the global metallophyte biodiversity. Keywords: metallophyte, phytoextraction, phytomining, phytostabilization, biodiversity conservation, mine waste restoration BAKER ajmb@unimelb.edu.au Oral Presentations 14 Aluminium exclusion and Al accumulation are not alternative Al resistance mechanisms – the example of buckwheat(Fagopyrum esculentum) Walter J. HORST, Benjamin KLUG and Thomas KIRCHNER Institute for Plant Nutrition, Leibniz University Hannover, Aluminium (Al) toxicity is one of the most important factors limiting plant growth on acid mineral soils. Whereas most plant species adapt to Al-toxic soils by exclusion of Al from uptake and transport to the shoots, buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) is characterized by accumulation of Al in the leaves and exclusion of Al from root uptake by the exudation of oxalate. The use of a minirhizotron differentiating between spatial responses to Al along the root apex suggested that the Al-induced release of oxalate, and Al uptake as well as Al accumulation are spatially not separated in the root apex (Klug and Horst, 2010a). The effect of Al and oxalate supply and the application of the anionchannel blocker phenylglyoxal(PG) allowed deriving a hypothesis with an Al + oxalate (Ox) plasma-membrane transporter in the root cortex and a xylem-loading n Al citrate (Cit) ) transporter in the xylem parenchyma cells as key elements of Al accumulation in buckwheat (Klug and Horst, 2010b). Localization ofAl in root tips by fluorescent dyes and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma massspectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) support the view that the 10 mm apical root tip is the main site of Al uptake into the symplast ofthe cortex, while the subapical 10–20 mm zone is the main site of xylem loading through the pericycle and xylemparenchyma cells (Klug et al., 2011. The transcription of selected genes and metabolic profiling confirm a major role of oxalate in the root cortex for the detoxification of Al in the root apoplast by root exudation and transport of Al into the central cylinder and of citrate in the central cylinder for the xylem transport of Al to the shoots particularly in distal segments of the root apex (Kirchner et al., 2012). References: 1.Kirchner, T.W.; Klug, B.; Erban, A.; Kopka, J.; Horst, W.J. (2012): Physiological and molecular analysis ofthe spatial characteristics of aluminium uptake and translocation in roots of buckwheat th (Fagopyrum esculentum). Compendium of Abstracts, edsPrakash, N.B. et al., 8 International Symposium on Plant-Soil Interactions at Low pH, October 18-22. 2012, Bengaluru, India, 98-99 2.Klug, B.; Horst, W.J. (2010a): Spatial characteristics of aluminum uptake and translocation in roots of buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum). Physiologia Plantarum 139, 181–191. 3.Klug, B.; Horst, W.J. (2010b): Oxalate exudation into the root-tip water free space confers protection from aluminum toxicity and allows aluminum accumulation in the symplast in buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum). New Phytologist 187, 380–391. 4.Klug, B.; Specht, A.; Horst, W.J. (2011): Aluminium localisation in root tips of the aluminium-accumulating plant species buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench). Journal of Experimental Botany 62, 5453–5462 horst@pflern.uni-hannover.de Oral Presentations 15 Response of Downy birch and Scots pine seedlings to soil heavy metals Tiina M. NIEMINEN Finnish Forest Research Institute. P.O. BOX 18, FI-01301 Vantaa, Finland Trees have been suggested as a low-cost and ecologically sound solution to remediation of heavy metal-contaminated land (Dickinson 2000). Benefits arise from stabilization of eroded land, but trees may also provide clean-up of the soil. The aim of this study was to determine growth and metal (Cu and Ni) uptake by tree seedlings (Pinus sylvestris L. and Betula pubescens Ehrh.) from smelter-polluted forest soil in West Finland. Two-year-old containerized tree seedlings were planted in soil pockets (depth about 20 cm) containing mulch (2 L) at a distance of 500 2 meters from a large Cu-Ni smelter complex on six replicate plots (5 x 5 m ) of both species. Half of the plots were covered with a 5 cm-thick layer of mulch. After a 10 year period, 3 seedlings from each experimental plot were harvested.The overall survival rate of pine seedlings was ca. 90% and that of birch over 50% after the tenyear study period (Helmisaari et al. 2007). The mulch cover did not have an impact on biomass production of the seedlings. In contrast, the Cu uptake by the above ground parts of birch was increased on mulched plots, although there were weak indications of slightly reduced availability of Cu and Ni to roots on mulched plots in case of both species. Since Cu and Ni concentrations of foliage and bark have been shown to be strongly affected by surface deposited metal containing aerosols, only the woody compartments could be used as indicators of root uptake from soil. Keywords: metal contamination, phytoextraction, phytostabilization, remediation, revegetation References: 1.Dickinson, N. M. 2000. Strategies for sustainable woodland on contaminated soils. Chemosphere 41: 259-263. 2.Helmisaari, H.-S., M. Salemaa, J. Derome, O. Kiikkilä, C. Uhlig, and T. Nieminen. 2007. Remediation of heavy metal-contaminated forest soil using recycled organic matter and native woody plants. Journal of Environmental Quality 36: 1145-1153 tiina.nieminen@metla.fi Oral Presentations 16 Flora, biodiversity and conservation – implications for the mining industry Philip ROGERS AMEC, International House, Dover Place, ASHFORD, Kent. TN23 1HU. . The international mining industry continues to grow as the need for mineral and metal resources struggles to meet globaleconomic demands. Despite advances in international environmental and social governance, the industryis stillstruggling to shake off a poor reputation. Such issues often arise in previously unexplored areas as mining companies identify new resources and in areas of complex habitat modifications caused by human activities. As a result, impacts on regional and local biodiversity values may occur. The purpose of this talk isto provide an overview of international laws and standards and review recent changes to habitat types and status, examine environmental and ecological impacts from mining activities especially to plants and plant communities. It will also investigate the advantages to conservation that such developments may bring through the ecological impact assessment process. Mitigation solutions are also discussed and reaffirmed together with enquiring what future tools could assist plant diversity and whether international controls are sufficient. philip.rogers@amec.com Oral Presentations 17 Drought in times of climate change: a major threat for plants and agriculture Alexander CHRISTMANN and Erwin GRILL Technische Universität München, Department of Plant Sciences, Weihenstephan, Germany Climate change is predicted to result in major perturbations of weather conditions with an anticipated acerbation of water shortage in the southern belt of the northern hemisphere. More than 70% of fresh water consumption occurs in agriculture and tremendous amounts of ground water are currently used to irrigate fields. The groundwater withdrawal in many countries such as the US, India, and China are nonsustainableresulting in an alarming decline of the water table in some areas and contributing significantly to the rise of ocean levels. As a consequence, the affected land areas become drier and require more irrigation to sustain agriculture. It is of essential importance for our food security to improve crop production per water input. Biomass production of plants is controlled by the soil water status. Our research group is studying how plants perceive the information of water deficit and how they respond to adjust their physiology to reduced water availability with the prospect to explore the insights for improving water use efficiency. Plants experiencing a limiting water supply respond by inducing biosynthesis of the stress hormone abscisic acid (ABA) and adjusting leaf transpiration. Our analyses reveal a hydraulic signal as a rapid communication device that allows for long-distance relay ofthe information on the water status within the plant, from the root to shoot and vice versa. The hydraulic signal is a physical signal, which is subsequently converted into the chemical signal ABA for short distance signaling. Cytosolic receptors for ABA consist of a heteromeric complex between a protein phosphatase 2C and a regulatory component (RCAR/PYR/PYL) that binds ABA. Binding of ABA to the receptor complex inactivates the PP2Cs, thereby activating downstream signaling components, which mediate the physiological responses regulated by ABA. Crop plants are ferocious consumers of water and the production of 1 kg wheat flour requires approximately 1-2 tons of water. While photosynthesis and hence biomass production is tightly linked to water consumption, crop plants improve the water use efficiency only at water-restricted conditions as, for instance, imposed by water deficit irrigation. Knowledge of the molecular mechanism of plant's control of water consumption provides the tools to enhance water use efficiency of crop plants in the future. Keywords: crop plants, water deficit, abscisic acid, water use eficiency grill@wzw.tum.de Oral Presentations 18 Active ingredients of medicinal plants in changing environment Muhammad IQBAL Department of Botany, Jamia Hamdard, Hamdard Nagar, New Delhi 110062, India Higher plants are the major source of crude drugs that help sizably in maintaining human health. Substitution and adulteration practices in crude-drug trade can be checked by scientific characterization of medicinal plants. However, the conventional application of morphological, anatomical, physiological or genetic parameters for plant standardization is no longer enough, and evaluation of active ingredients has become indispensable. Medicinal efficacy of a plant drug may differ depending on its cultivation or natural growth in areas with different agro-climatic set up. Moreover, the amounts of active ingredients responsible for therapeutic action may vary with plant genotype and with the change of habitat, depending on variation in soil characters and environmental conditions. Even within the same individual, organ-wise distribution of active ingredients may evince huge variations. The overall quantity of bioactive compound(s) also varies with the stage of plant development, plant-nutrition status, and the local environmental conditions. Environmental degradation may affect not only the quantity but, sometimes, even the quality of active ingredients. This situation, under extreme environmental stress, is likely to influence the properties and hence the degree of efficacy of the bioactive compounds. Thus, environmental degradation may have a far–reaching influence on the therapeutic potential of plants known for their medicinal utility, and this may necessitate consideration for re-fixing the drug doses, keeping in view the overall status of active ingredients as influenced by the above-mentioned factors. This presentation produces relevant data collected from different studies of medicinal plants in order to explain the actual situation. Keywords: Active ingredients, environmental stress, herb-drug efficacy, medicinal plants iqbalg5@yahoo.co.in Oral Presentations 19 Recovery of understorey vegetation after forest clear-cut on peatland 1 1 1 Liisa UKONMAANAHO , Tiina M. NIEMINEN , Hannu NOUSIAINEN and 2 Juha - Pekka HOTANEN Finnish Forest Research Institute. P.O. BOX 18, FI-01301 Vantaa, Finland Finnish Forest Research Institute. P.O. BOX 68, FI-80101 Joensuu, Finland One third of Finland's land area is covered by peatlands (ca. 9 milj ha) and nearly half of that area has been drained to ensure sufficient aeration and improve the growth of tree stands. Today many of these peatland forests have reached maturity for final felling. In this study, we compare differences in recovery of understorey vegetation when peatland forest sites have been clear-cut using either conventional stem-only-harvesting (SOH) or whole-tree-harvesting (WTH) method, in which the logging residues (tree tops, branches) and stumps were removed in addition to the stems. The study was carried out on eight drained peatland catchments (< 5 ha) dominated by Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and Norway spruce (Picea abies). In March 2009, two of the catchments were clear-cut using SOH and four using WTH. The remaining two catchments were left nonharvested (controls). The vegetation survey was carried out in 2011. The survey lines consisted of 10 systematically placed vegetation sample quadrats (50x50 cm) at each site representing the understorey vegetation of control area and clear-cut areas (unbroken/broken peat surface). Results showed that there are clear changes in the composition of plant species on the unbroken surfaces of the clearcut areas compared to the vegetation of the corresponding control areas; strongest changes were observed on the most fertile sites. On the broken surfaces, regeneration had just started and therefore coverage of the plant species was still low. There was no clear difference in vegetation between the treatments, more important was the nutrient level of the peat. Keywords: peatland forests, plant species, stem-only harvesting, whole-tree harvesting Oral Presentations 20 Occurrence and detection of some single stranded DNA (ss DNA) plant viruses in Azerbaijan Nargiz F. SULTANOVA, Alamdar Ch. MAMMADOV, Irada M. HUSEYNOVA Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway , Baku, Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan as a region of remarkable flora biodiversity is also of interest in the biodiversity of endemic plant viruses, in particular viruses with a single stranded (ss) DNA genome. DNAviruses are relatively rare in plants, but are responsible for a significant amount of crop damage worldwide. The Geminiviridae and Nanoviridae are the two families of ssDNA viruses known to infect plants. In the present study samples of pea, lentil, tomato, melon, pepper, and chickpea showing symptoms of a potential infection by a geminivirus and/or a nanovirus were collected from fields located in the main crop production provinces of Azerbaijan. ELISA method. RCAand PCR assays were successfully used i obtained by graft propagation. RCA using φ29 DNA polymerase and RFLP analysis suggested the presence of a bipartite begomovirus (TYLCV) in symptomatic plants. The DNA of tomato was restricted into a fragment of 2.7 kb in case of the HindIII and XbaI digests and also was amplified by PCR using specific primer pairs, which yielded PCR products of the expected sizes. PCR analysis of viral DNA also revealed products with close homology to begomovirus (TYLCV). DNA of chickpea and lentil with relevant positive results for nanoviruses was amplified by RCA, restricted by endonucleases AatII or HindIII and analyzed on 1.5% agarose gel. The template DNA of chickpea and lentil samples was also amplified by using specific primer pairs F103/R101 and C5F/C5R for nanoviruses. These samples yielded PCR products of the expected sizes of 770 bp and 660 bp, respectively, and this confirms the presence of nanoviruses. Keywords: plant, single-stranded DNA viruses (ss DNA viruses), E Rolling circle amplification (RCA), Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) 40 AZ1073 huseynova-i@botany-az.org Virus concentration and disease incidence were determined using n order to determine the viruliferous plants nzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), Oral Presentations 21 “Scientific research to support conservation in the Caucasus – the Caucasus Plant Diversity Initiative” Thomas BORSCH Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise Str. 6-8, 14195 Berlin, Germany, The study of plant biodiversity provides an important base for conservation. Research is thereby dealing with three major areas: (1) For assessment and monitoring, questions apply like: What are the species? How are they distributed? And what are patterns of infraspecific diversity? (2) Further, it needs to be asked: How can diversity patterns at species and infraspecific levels be explained and what are factors influencing them? And (3) more applied questions then are: What is the conservation status of species? What are appropriate measures to conserve them? The Caucasian plant diversity initiative was started in 2009 to promote science development and capacity building relevant for plant diversity conservation in the region. The initiative aims at intensifying the collaboration among universities, herbaria and botanic gardens and to network with the international scientific community. Also, results on several of the above mentioned key questions are being generated. One of the approaches is the integrated evolutionary analysis of morphological and molecular data to evaluate alpha-taxonomic treatments and to better understand species limits. Current work focuses on model groups such as Acantholimon, Campanula, Papaver, Pyrus etc. Phylogenies across the Caucasus allow to illuminate the evolution of endemics. Specimen databases of herbaria are developed to be an important source of information but need to be complemented by field work. Based on a revised modern taxonomy this will lead to a dynamic online information source for plant conservation. In Azerbaijan, specific attention is given to understanding the phylogeography and conservation genetics of trees like Zelkova and the endemic Gleditsia caspica, which are studied in the course of PhD and MSc theses Keywords: Global hotspot of Plant diversity; endemism; integrative taxonomy; dynamic information source; phylogeography; conservation genetics; conservation status assessment t.borsch@bgbm.org Oral Presentations 22 The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and the Conservation of Plant Diversity Maurizio SAJEVA and Valentina VAGLICA Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche, Chimiche e Farmaceutiche, University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 18, Palermo I-90123, Italy, Habitat destruction is the main cause of the decline in biodiversity, but trade of wild plants and animals is certainly the second cause. The idea of regulating trade in wildlife arose in the 1960's with a draft resolution approved by the IUCN in 1963. The text of CITES was approved by some 80 countries in 1973, and today 179 contries are part of it. CITES is under the umbrella of the United Nations through the United Nations Environment Programme. CITES aims to control and regulate trade of species whose trade is, or can be in the near future, a threat to their survival in habitat. CITES is based on three Appendices (see http://www. cites.org) which regulate species depending on their level of threat. Despite the fact that the attention of the public and the media is more prominent for animal species, the number of threatened plants is higher. More than 25,000 taxa of plants are included in the CITES Appendices while listed animals are about 5000. Besides monitoring trade in endangered taxa CITES can contribute to limit the trade of Invasive Alien Species (IAS), which are a major threat to the conservation of biodiversity. The change of using CITES to control trade in IAS has been overlooked but some member states and the Eurpean Union are now issuing appropriate legislations linked to CITES in order to fight this further threat to biodiversity. CITES, CBD and the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation play a strong synergic role in conservation of plant diversity. maurizio.sajeva@unipa.it Oral Presentations 23 The Millennium Seed Bank Partnership: conserving and enabling the use of plant diversity for innovation and adaptation Paul SMITH Head of the Seed Conservation Department and Millennium Seed Bank, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Dr Paul Smith, leader of Kew's Millennium Seed Bank Partnership, will outline the role of seed banks in enabling human innovation and adaptation. The st major environmental challenges of the 21 century – food security, water scarcity, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, energy and climate change – all require plantbased solutions. Seed banks are an efficient way of storing plant diversity as an insurance against species loss in the wild but they are also a source of seed and knowledge for human development. We need new food crops that use less water or resistant to pests and diseases. We need to restore our forests to provide essential ecosystem services and we need to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change. Drawing on the experience of the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership, a global network of 170 plant science organisations in 80 countries worldwide, Dr Smith will give examples of how seed banks underpin and support agriculture, horticulture, forestry and habitat restoration in a changing world. p.smith@kew.org Oral Presentations 24 Millennium Seed Bank Partnership: Saving the Flora of the Caucasus Clare TRIVEDI Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK. Home to over 7000 species of vascular plants, the Caucasus are widely recognised as one of the most biodiverse regions on earth. This floral diversity has direct economic importance for food, timber, forage and fodder, medicine, and oils. Plants are also vital as part of ecosystems to provide ecosystem services. At least one quarter of the plants found in the Caucasus are endemic to the region. However, this flora is under threat from construction of large-scale infrastructures, unsustainable logging of forests, overgrazing of pastures, pollution and climate change. A recent project found around 700 of the regional endemic species to be threatened. In recent years the protection of biodiversity in situ has been vastly improved, but very little attention has been paid to ex situ conservation. The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Millennium Seed Bank Partnership has developed a regional programme to address threats, provide an insurance policy for the flora, and provide opportunities for innovation and adaption in the face of environmental change. This programme, 'MSBP: Saving the Flora of the Caucasus' started with a collecting programme in Georgia (National Botanic Garden of Georgia and Institute of Botany), and has now grown into Armenia (Institute of Botany) and Azerbaijan (Institute of Botany and Institute of Genetic Resources). The programme has already conserved over 1100 plant species. The collections are available for research and conservation use. The Programme has also provided a range of training opportunities to local scientists and improved facilities for conserving seed of wild species. We are currently developing plans to continue and expand the Programme. Ultimately the aim is to conserve seed from the whole of the flora of the Caucasus, with the endemic and threatened plants conserved and studied as a priority. We will also engage better with those organisations working on in situ conservation to improve use of the collections and associated data and knowledge to restore landscapes and ecosystems. References: National Report on the State of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture in Georgia.FAO. 2008. Ecoregion Conservation Plan for the Caucaus. 2012 Revised and Updated Edition Ecoregion Conservation Plan for the Caucaus. 2012 Revised and Updated Edition CEPF Final Project Completion Report for the Project 'Co-ordination and Development of Plant Red List Assessments for Caucasus Biodiversity Hotspot. http://www.cepf.net/resources/publications/project_reports/Pages/final_reports_caucasus.aspx c.trivedi@kew.org Oral Presentations 25 Benefits, trade-offs and conservation of plant diversity in novel ecosystems and changed environments in New Zealand Nicholas DICKINSON Department of Ecology, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, Christchurch, New Zealand Endemism is high in the native flora of New Zealand, due to a uniquely long period of geographical and evolutionary isolation; more than 80% of New Zealand's native plants are found nowhere else. Human settlement by Polynesians (700 years ago) and Europeans (200 years ago) was relatively recent, bringing rapid environmental change and profound ecological impacts. Approximately one-third of the country is protected for conservation, although vegetation in these areas is highly vulnerable to mammals, to which native plants have little natural protection. However, this paper is concerned withlandscapes impacted by agricultureand mining, where native vegetation only exists in small remnants and is marginal to the main land use.It is tempting to consider that native plant diversity is less important in these production lands that drive the nation's economy. It is known that protecting and restoring indigenous plant communitiesprovide measurable benefits that include increased provision of a range of ecosystems services, such as improved crop pollination, disease and pest control, riparian zone protection of water quaility and contributing to New Zealand's commitment to offset greenhouse gas emissions. Tourism and biodiversity, biodiversity offset, added value and future proofing of the environment and economy provide a strong rationale for protection of plant diversity. Two case studies of ecological restoration are described where research has focused on the relationship plant diversity and soil quality. Keywords: Agriculture, ecological restoration, biodiversity offsets, endemism, future proofing Nicholas.dickinson@lincoln.ac.nz Oral Presentations 26 Conservation of Plant Diversity: A Case Study from Kayseri-Turkey Ahmet AKSOY Erciyes University, Science Faculty, Department of Biology, 38039, Kayseri, Turkey Plants are a vital part of the world's bioeconomy and for human well-being. In addition to the crop plants that provide our basic food and fibres, thousands of plants in the wild have great economic and cultural importance and potential, providing food, medicine, fuel, clothing, shelter and a reservoir of vast gene pool for the well being global population. There are more than 300,000 known plant species on Earth. Two thirds of the world's plant species are threatened by population growth, deforestation, habitat loss, destructive development, over consumption of resources, the spread of alien invasive species and agricultural expansion.Conservation biology has emerged in order to protect the world's biological diversity, manage and prevent extinction. Turkey has three distinct plant geographical divisions; Euro-Siberian, Mediterranean, Irano-Turanian. The country has an extremely rich flora. Total number of plant taxa is around 11707 plant taxa, 3649 being endemics.The endemism ratio is 31.82%. Investigations were carried out on the conservation biology of Astragalus argaeus Boiss and Centaurea amaena Boiss. &Balansa. Both these species are endemics distributed in the Kayseri province. Astragalus argaeus (Fabaceae) is found on Erciyes Mountain located in Kayseri and only known from type locality. C.amaena is known from a single locality in Kayseri. Both these species were observed to be under a threat of extinction. Conservation status of A.argaeus has been renovated according to IUCN criteria as CR B2b(ii) (previously EN). Conservation status of C. amaena has been updated according to IUCN criteria as CR B2ab(i,iii) (previously EN). In this paper an attempt will be made to discuss the results obtained concerning the protection of these narrowly distributed endemics and their bioprospection. Keywords: Conservation biology, Astragalus argaeus, Centaurea amaena, Kayseri, Turkey aksoy@erciyes.edu.tr Oral Presentations 27 Plant Diversity of Ayer Hitam Forest in Malaysia and Conservation in Urban Settings I. Faridah-Hanum Faculty of Forestry, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia Ayer Hitam Forest has some 430 species of seed plants belonging to 203 genera and 72 families. For tree taxa alone, this forest houses a third of the total number of tree species and almost 50% of the tree families known from Peninsular Malaysia. There are 127 timber producing species, 30 wild fruit species and 100 medicinal plant species. We also find 33 species of ferns and their allies, and 43 species of moss in this forest. The area of Ayer Hitam Forest is 1176 hectares. It is the largest green lung in the Klang Valley, an industrial and commercial hub in Malaysia with a population of 5.2 million. With the declining forest size, the fauna seems to be more affected than the plants especially the larger mammals. Animal species require a certain range or population size in order to persist. The conservation of Ayer Hitam Forest's biodiversity is a great challenge that needs to be approached with pragmatism as it involves not only the UPM academic fraternity but also the local community who have a forest in their backyard; and hence demand usage of the forest which can distress and damage it. Some 100 indigenous people from the Temuan tribe also live here. Realizing the importance of conserving this forest, UPM gears its conservation efforts towards making this forest a centre for forestry and environmental education, research and extension in both the Klang Valley and Malaysia, with international linkages in the Asia Pacific region. Keywords: Forest, Diversity, Conservation, Ayer Hitam, Malaysia References: 1.Faridah-Hanum, I. 2008. Ayer Hitam Forest: the green lung of Klang Valley. Universiti Putra Malaysia Press, Serdang. 100 pp. ISBN 978-967-5026-72-0 2.Faridah-Hanum, I. 1999. Plant Diversity and Conservation Value of Ayer Hitam Forest, Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia. Pertanika Journal Tropical Agricultural Science 22(2): 73 – 83. 3.Faridah-Hanum, I. and Nurulhuda Hamzah. 1999. The Use of Medicinal Plant Species by the Temuan Tribe of Ayer Hitam Forest, Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia. Pertanika Journal Tropical Agricultural Science 22(2): 85 – 94. 4.Awang Noor Abd. Ghani, Paiman Bawon, Mohd. Shahwahid Hj. Othman, Rusli Mohd., Shukri Mohd, I. Faridah -Hanum and Mohd. Zakaria Hussin. 1999. Direct Uses of Ayer Hitam Forest, Puchong, Selangor. Pertanika Journal Tropical Agricultural Science 22(2):203 – 206 dean.forr@upm.my Oral Presentations 28 Rare genefound and peculiarities of biodiversity of Northen Caucasus under changing enviroment Svetlana LITVINSKAYA Kuban State University, Russia, The Russian part of the Caucasus has the unique ecosystems with high biological importance, possessing huge resource potential. The nature protection status of biodiversity of the region is extremely high. High level of a floristic variety and an endemism of certain regions of the North Caucasus should be noted. The high percent of the rare and endangered species for the region which are subject to protection at level of the state and republics is itself the indicator of ecological intensity. About 4000 species of vascular plants grow in the North Caucasus. High level of an endemism and floristic biodiversity is connected with difficult florogenesis, unity with flora of the Crimea, the Ancient Mediterranean, Eastern Europe, and Southwest Asia. There are many causes of native flora's transformations. The main negative impact are caused by: high population density; traditional forms of farm management; development of territory (melioration, using of fertilizer and chemicals in agrolandscapes); shore protective measures; artificial reservoirs; eutrophication of reservoirs; elimination of ornamental and medicinal plants; open extraction of the treasures, uncontrolled flow of the tourists; health resort's building, construction of pipe lines, power line; wildfire; oil pollution; rent of forest territory; chopping of mountain forest; cattle grazing and its quitting in subnival zone. All of these inevitable eliminate life environment of the species on large areas, lead to the negative transformation of variety and decrease of the biological productiveness of natural biocenosis. In the region forest formations lose their specifity and close to each other on their structures and composition, formational flora are simplified due to its synantropization. Biological variety on specific level in regions is impossible to save without ecosystematic approach, ecosystem's inventory and consideration of ecotope and landscape. But all is necessary to take action for the reduction of anthropogenic pressing. Litvisky@yandex.ru Oral Presentations 29 Glyphosate and the challenge of an ecological risk assessment Günter NEUMANN, Sebastian BOTT, Tsehaye TESFAMARİAM, Joshua AFZAL, Volker RÖMHELD Institute of Crop science (340h). Universität Hohenheim, 70593 Stuttgart, Germany Due to low production costs, high efficiency, paired with comparatively low environmental toxicity and the availability of transgenic glyphosate-resistant crops, on a global scale, glyphosate is currently the most widely used herbicide. However, in the recent past, increasing evidence suggests that the current practice of glyphosate use is associated with various yet underestimated or overlooked risk factors at the ecological, agronomic and toxicological level (e.g. Bott et al.2011; Johal and Huber, 2009; Kremer and Means, 2009; Tesfamariam et al,. 2009). Based on case studies, the talk summarizes the herbicidal function, advantages and the current ecological risk assessment of glyphosate application. On the other hand, also the discussion of problems related with the massive, longterm agricultural and non-agricultural use of glyphosate is covered in context with effects on non-target organisms, changes in soil microbiology, herbicide resistance, pollution of surface waters and toxicological aspects. A scenario of ecological and economic consequences of a glyphosate ban, as well as potential alternatives towards a more sustainable use of a “once in a century herbicide” are discussed. 315: 2- 11. Johal, G.S., Huber, D.M. (2009): Glyphosate effects on diseases of plants. Europ. J. Agronomy 31: 144–152. Kremer, R.J., Means, N.E. (2009): Glyphosate and glyphosate-resistant crop interactions with rhizosphere microorganisms. Europ. J. Agronomy 31: 153–161. Tesfamariam, T., Bott, S., Cakmak, I. Römheld, V, Neumann G. (2009): Glyphosate in the rhizosphere—Role of waiting times and different glyphosate binding forms in soils for phytotoxicity to non-target plants Europ. J. Agronomy 31: 126–132 guenter.neumann@uni-hohenheim.de Keywords: References: Bott, S., Tesfamariam T., Kania, A., Eman, B. Aslan, N., Römheld, V., Neumann, G. (2011): Phytotoxicity of glyphosate soil residues re-mobilised by phosphate fertilisation. Plant Soil, Glyphosate, ecological risk assessment, herbicides Oral Presentations 30 Plant diversity services to ecosystem in the era of environmental changes Majeti Narasimha VARAPRASAD Development and destruction are hand in glove. Inorder to achieve high GDP consumption of natural resources is inevitable which results in enoromous waste generation (non-hazardous and hazardous). Nature's cure using plant diversity ( = Phytoremediation) is a sustainable solution for environmental cleanup. There has been a knowledge explosion in this field in the last 3 decades. As of now about 18000 articles have been published on various aspects of using biodiversity for environmental cleanup starting with only 11 in 1989 [1]. Large amounts of toxic waste have been dispersed in thousands of sites spread across the globe. Thus, every one of us are being exposed to contaminants of past and present. The risk to human and environmental health is rising and there is evidence that this cocktail of pollutants is a contributor to the global environmental changes and epidemics. These pollutants belong to two main classes: inorganic and organic. The challenge is to develop innovative and cost-effective solutions to decontaminate polluted environments. Therefore, conservation of biological diversity which aims to preserve, maintain, sustainably utilize, restore, protect, and enhance the variety of life in an area so that the abundance and distribution of species and communities provide for the continued existence and normal ecological functioning. This presentation will also focus on “metallophytes” and some specific field studies which include terminology, ecology, rhizosphere biology, need for conservation of metallophytes, applications in phytoremediation, e . Keywords: ecosystem services, Nature's cure, sustainable management, regenerable resources Department of Plant Sciences University of Hyderabad Hyderabad 500 046, Andhra Pradesh prasad_mnv@yahoo.com, mnvsl@uohyd.ernet.in nzymes, proteins, and genes and finally the emerging field of nature's cure with plant diversity for human welfare [2] Oral Presentations 31 Symbiotic action of plants and microorganisms as detoxificators of organic pollutants G. KVESITADZE, T.SADUNISHVILI, E.KVESITADZE Durmishidze Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Agricultural University of Georgia, David Agmasheneblis Kheivani, 13th km, 0159, Tbilisi, Georgia Due to the great power of natural detoxification processes, interest in the ecological potential of microorganisms and plants has increased in the last two decades. Microorganisms that transform organics play an important role in maintaining the ecological balance in various ecosystems and, due to their high degradation and transformation power, are successfully used for sewage and soil purification. Plants actively participate in soil and air remediation processes. Based on our investigations it was shown that plants and microorganisms together are more efficient in degradation of most of organic contaminants, like oil hydrocarbons, pesticides and explosives. Screening of plants and microorganisms according to their potential to assimilate TNT and RDX was carried out. As a result, 3 plant species (soybean, alfalfa and ryegrass), 41 bacterial cultures, 14 strains of microscopic fungi, 3 strains of yeast were selected. Two bacterial consortia for bioconversion of TNT were composed. It has been shown that selected microorganisms are distinguished by high TNT-nitroreductase activity. It is supposed that the nitroreductase participates in the first stage of TNT degradation in microorganisms, and formed reduced metabolites undergo destruction by laccases or other oxidases. Activation of enzymes, responsible for reduction, oxidation and conjugation of TNT in plants, such as nitroreductase, peroxidase, phenoloxidase and glutathione S-transferase has been demonstrated. Schemes of TNTtransformation in microorganisms and plants are suggested. Keywords: organic pollutants, TNT, RDX, nitroreductase, microorganisms and plants combined detoxificators kvesitadzei@hotmail.com Oral Presentations 32 Multiple tolerances of Artemisia fragrans to environmental stress factors 1 2 Esmira ALIRZAYEVA , Gunter NEUMANN 1 Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, AZ1073, Baku, Azerbaijan, 2 Institute of Crop Science, University of Hohenheim, Fruwirthstrasse 20, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany, Artemisia L. species are plants tolerant to a wide range of different stress factors. A number of species/ecotypes are widespread and vigorously growing at various locations of Azerbaijan heavily exposed to environmental pollutants (Alirzayeva et al., 2010). To characterise potential adaptations, seeds of Artemisia fragrans ecotypes collected from different contaminated locations of Azerbaijan were germinated on heavy metal (HM) and petroleum contaminated soils. All ecotypes demonstrated high tolerance to excess of HM in soils. But only the ecotype from a petroleum contaminated site displayed tolerance to both petroleum and HM contaminations. Ecotypes collected around various industrial units emitting HM demonstrated differences in their development. While the ecotype collected around the Aluminum plant (AP), continued its growth without any toxicity symptoms on HM contaminated soil, the ecotype collected around a Steel plant (SP) was not able to develop shoots carrying inflorescences. Mobility of HM in control soils with low available metal fraction was increased in 2 mm rhizosphere (close to roots) part of AP ecotype, whereas HM concentrations remained unchanged in different parts of rhizosphere of SP ecotype. All Artemisia ecotypes tested accumulated Cd in their shoots close to the toxicity level or even higher (about 5 mg/kg), but accumulation of Zn was in the normal range. Altered root morphology was observed under petroleum contamination. With the increase of contamination level the number and size of lateral roots were decreased. Petroleum hydrocarbons cause alteration in soil physical-chemical properties which results in coarser root growth, consequently, in increased root diameter (Merkl et al., 2005). Acknowledgment: This work is supported by the fellowship of the President of Azerbaijan Republic for young scientists of ANAS. Keywords: Artemisia fragrans, heavy metals, petroleum contamination, tolerance mechanism References: 1.Alirzayeva E., Shirvani T., Ali-zade V., Römheld V., Cakmak I. Genetic capacity of some medicinal plants to accumulate heavy metals. Eds, A.Ahmad, T.O.Siddiqi, M.Iqbal. Medicinal plants in Changing Environment. Capital Publ. Company, New Delhi, Kolkata, India, 2011, Chapter 6, 72-98 2.Merkl N., Schultze-Kraft R., Infante C. Phytoremediation in the tropics e influence of heavy crude oil on root morphological characteristics of graminoids. Environmental Pollution, 2005, 138, 86-91 hh.esmal@hotmail.com guenter.neumann@uni-hohenheim.de Oral Presentations 33 Global Plants Initiative: Collaborative community built database Deirdre RYAN th JSTOR, Director of Primary Sources, 2 Rector Street, 18 Floor, New York, New York 10006, U.S.A, The Global Plants Initiative (GPI) is an international partnership of more than 270 herbaria in 70 countries with the goal to digitize, unite, and provide access to type specimens of plants, fungi and algae. These specimens are available through a community contributed database ( ). To date, over 1,700,000 plant type specimens are available for viewing, which is by far the largest online database of biological type specimens. We are only now beginning to understand the power of aggregating materials from such a broad array of sources and making them easily accessible online. The wide interest and strong support for GPI from a variety of communities such as anthropology, cultural history, economic development, colonialism, chemistry, medicine, and forensics shows thepower of large collaborations. In fact, the GPI project is the largest international collaboration to date for the digitization of herbarium specimens, its success has made it clear that differences in curatorial standards and traditions aswell as national background, language and funding streams for institutions can all be overcome when the objectives and methodsare clearly outlined, and when a sense of trust among participants has been achieved. Keywords: type specimens, digitization, herbaria References: The African Plants Initiative: A Big Step for Continental Taxonomy Gideon F. Smith,Taxon, Vol. 53, No. 4 (Nov., 2004), pp. 1023-1025; Floristics of the Angiosperm Flora of Sub-Saharan Africa: An Analysis of the African Plant Checklist and Database, Ronell R. Klopper, Laurent Gautier, CyrilleChatelain, Gideon F. Smith and Rodolphe Spichiger, Taxon, Vol. 56, No. 1 (Feb., 2007), pp. 201-208; AFRICAN HERBARIA SUPPORT TRANSFORMATION ON THE CONTINENT, Gideon F. Smith, Jacobus P. (Koos) Roux, Peter Raven and Estrela Figueiredo, Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, Vol. 98, No. 2 (July 2011) (pp. 272-276); Typification of Names Based on the Angolan Collections of Friedrich Welwitsch, Sara Albuquerque, R. K. Brummitt, Estrela Figueiredo, Taxon, Vol. 58, No. 2 (May, 2009), pp. 641-646; ANew Combination in Stillingia (Euphorbiaceae) for Bolivia and Argentina Hans-Joachim Esser, Novon, Vol. 20, No. 2 (June 2010), pp. 147-148; Triebel D, Hagedorn G, Rambold G (2012) An appraisal of megascience platforms for biodiversity information. MycoKeys 5: 45–63. doi: 10.3897/mycokeys.5.4302; deirdre.ryan@jstor.org http://plants.jstor.org Big hitting collectors make massive and disproportionate contribution to the discovery of plant species Proc. R. Soc. B June 7, 2012 279 17362269-2274; published ahead of print February 1, 2012, 1471-2954 Oral Presentations 34 The conservation of Calligonumbakuense – a workshop report 1 2 3 Gerald PAROLLY , Janette BARBY and Vugar KERIMOV 1 Botanischer Garten & Botanisches Museum Berlin-Dahlem, ZE Freie Universität Berlin, 2 Königin-Luise-Straße 6-8, D-14191 Berlin, Germany. Gemeinschaftbetrieb 3 der ZE BGBM,Am Fichtenberg 17, D-12165 Berlin, Germany. Institute of Botany ANAS, 40 Badamdar Highway Baku-AZ1073, Azerbaijan. Calligonum bakuense Litw. (Polygonaceae) is an extremely rare and localized shrub, growing in coastal places in the semi-desert of the Absheron Peninsula, Azerbaijan. Urban sprawl and other anthropogenic factors have caused dramatic habitat loss in the last decades, leaving only a few scattered individuals known to occur in the wild. Based on recent own field observations and seed collection, the present contribution reviews the knowledge ofthe distribution and site ecology of Calligonum bakuense. It suggests a catalogue of urgently necessary steps towards a sustainable conservation strategy, combining in-situ conservation measures with the need for establishing a conservation collection at the Botanical Garden in Baku (ex-situ conservation). The first promising experiences in cultivating Calligonum bakuense in the Botanical Garden BerlinDahlem are reported. The significance of further field work and the set-up of a monitoring program and population genetic studies are pointed out. Therole of botanical gardens in conservation programs is discussed. Keywords: Azerbaijan, Botanical gardens, endangered species, ex-situ conservation, in-situ conservation, local endemic, population genetics, site-ecology g.parolly@bgbm.org j.barby@bgbm.org vugarkerimov@mail.ru Oral Presentations 35 Conservation Phylogenetics – setting priority based on lineage uniqueness 1,2 Gábor SRAMKÓ 1MTA-ELTE-MTM Ecology Research Group, Pázmány Pétersétány 1/C., Budapest, H-1117, Hungary, 2Department of Botany, University of Debrecen, Egyetemtér1., Debrecen, H-4010, Hungary In the last two decades, conservation genetics has emerged as an important discipline providing information on endangered species' population genetic variability, resolving fragmented population structure, resolving taxonomic uncertainties, defining management units, etc. Although most of the issues covered by conservation genetics target detection of infraspecific (usually population) level genetic variability, a portion deals with genetic variation at or above the species level. Such studies can provide a historical perspective on genetic variability through the glass of phylogenetics, since the phylogeny of a given taxa represents the "outcome" of those genetic processes that we study when looking at contemporary genetic processes at the population level. These studies can be termed "conservation phylogenetic" studies defined as: "genetic study [of taxa with conservation importance] dealing with issues at and above the species level" [with focus on] "phylogenetic distinctiveness as a measure of taxon „worth” when priority decisions [are to be] made regarding investment of finite time and conservation resources".Such studies have well-established practise though they are rare in the literature. The first step is to resolve the phylogeny of the taxa of conservation importance by means of either molecular or more traditional (e.g. morphology) approach. We have to note here that molecular genetics offer a very powerful tool to reconstruct the phylogeny of virtually any taxa considered. The second work-phase is to provide a measure of "phylogenetic diversity" of within each monophyletic group recovered, in order to provide an objective measure to conservation on the "phylogenetic uniqueness" a monophyletic group (usually a species) represents. In our presentation, we provide a case study using the endangered Eurasian genus Himantoglossum L. whit a region of origin in the Caucasus Mts., and one of the most unique lineage is represented by the Azerbaijani endemic H. formosum(Steven) K. Koch. Keywords: Caucasian endemic, conservation genetics, lizard orchid, phylogenetic distinctiveness, phylogenetic diversity,phylogenetics sramko.gabor@science.unideb.hu Oral Presentations 36 Conversation of plant diversity in desert and semi-desert habitats in Azerbaijan Eldar SHUKUROV Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, AZ1073, Baku, Azerbaijan, The phytorestoration methodology and programme were developed and implemented in order to increase efficiency of vegetation cover and plant diversity restoration in the disturbed desert and semi-desert habitat in Azerbaijan. The phytorestoration trial programme established for two different habitats in two different regions: a) Salsoletum nodulosae clayey desert in Gobustan region and b) Artemisetum botriochloasum semi-desert in Tovuz region. During the past twenty years biodiversity of desert and semi-desert habitats have been impacted by construction of new oil, gas and water pipelines, roads and other industrial and nonindustrial buildings. Inefficiently using natural habitats for agricultural purposes has also major impact on habitat and consequently on plant diversity. The aim of phytorestoration study was to understand the naturally changes in the plant communities and intervening into the restoration process by developing, implementing, monitoring and conducting trend analysis on the vegetation cover and plant diversity in the disturbed areas of these different habitats in comparison with undisturbed areas. Restoration of the vegetation cover and species diversity in the desert habitat takes long time to restore regardless of collecting and sowing of seeds collected from the same habitats in an adequate proportion. As a result of this study, a disturbance of the desert habitat should be avoided as much as possible. Keywords: plant diversity, vegetation cover, phytorestoration eldar1972@live.com Oral Presentations 37 Priority rare and endangered plant species of Azerbaijan: assessment of conservation status Aida DADASHOVA, Rena ABDIYEVA and Valida ALI-ZADE Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, AZ1073, Baku, Azerbaijan, Successful development of populations in the new environment characterized by fast climate changes is the extremely important for conservation of their genetic variety. It is obvious, that the most priority species and populations for conservation are in group of the greatest risk. The risk is defined as product of influence of site. Influence depends on value of species, population, including value for society and for ecological integrity of ecosystem. Possibility of loss of genetic variety depends on the human factor, natural processes and their interaction. Thus, we can name priority economically important plants, or what possess unique genetic characteristics and can be of value for the future generations. Species and populations which are rare and disappearing or widespread, but rare on all range of distributions, also are very important. Assessment of rare, endangered and endemic plant species of Azerbaijan was possible by means of monitoring for obtaining information such as geographical map of species distribution, size of their areal, number and condition of populations, past and further threats for them. Based on electronic Database using the GIS system the collected coordinates was applied to produce distribution maps of selected species. As a result of this work the priority list and areas of rare and endangered plant species spread in Azerbaijan was defined; 50 species were assessed according to international standards of IUCN, ensure that taxonomic status of the questionable species were clarified by international experts, electronically quick and easy accessible database were created. This information allows us to identify which species from this list are most threatened, and should therefore be the focus of protection and conservation monitoring. This work was supported by Science Development Foundation under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan- Grant № EİF-2010-1(1)-40/26-3 Keywords: rare and endangered species, GIS system, assessment, database aida_dadashova@mail.ru Poster 38 Identification of new allele component blocks in bread wheat (T. aestivum L.) accessions using protein markers and their use in breeding Akbar KARİMOV, Hamlet SADİGOV Institute of Genetic Resources, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Azadliq ave., 155, Baku, Azerbaijan, Electrophoresis analysis of gliadin storage proteins which form the basis of endosperm in the 33 local and introduced varieties of bread wheat belonging to Triticum aestivum L. was carried out using A-PAGE method and allele component blocks of gliadincoding loci were identified. There is a need for stable protein markers able to characterize a grain quality and other parameters during the breeding process. The use of genetically determined protein markers in the assessment of wheat polymorphism meets the today's scientific requirements. So, an assessment of wheat genetic diversity using the electrophoretic patterns of storage gliadin proteins still remains the one of the successful approachable methods. For the first time, in this study of Gld 1B locus in local variety Gobustan a new allele component block Gld 1B22, in Bol-bugda Gld 1B21, in Sheki-1 Gld 1B20 and in Beyaz Gld 1B19 were identified and the relationship of these alleles with the technological features of grain was analyzed. In addition, in Beyaz variety Gld 6B12 allele component block of Gld 6B locus was determined. It was identified that one group of allele component blocks (Gld 1A5, Gld 1A4) had a higher frequency of occurrence than other ones. The frequency of Gld 1A5 was 42.4%, Gld 1A4 - 33.3%, Gld 1A10 – 15.7% , Gld 1A6 and Gld 1A2 – 3.03%. Apart from, a relation of the some newly established allele component blocks with the grain quality indicators was studied. The relationship of Gld 1A4 with the sedimentation, Gld 1A5 with the vitreousness of grain and Gld 1B1 with the deformation of gluten was determined. A significant positive correlation with the grain quality indicators was also found. Acknowledgment: This work was supported by Science Development Foundation under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan- Grant № EİF-2010- (1)-40/21-M-19 Keywords: bread wheat, gliadin, protein, locus, allele, component, marker akber_xocali@yahoo.com Poster 39 Influence of oil pollution on morphological characteristics and ecology of gray-brown soils Ali İBRAHİMOV, Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, 5 M.Arif str., AZ 10073, Baku, Azerbaijan, Absheron peninsula is the mainly polluted with oil and oil products area in our Republic. Two-thirds of industrial potential and one-thirds of population of the country is concentrated here, therefore is under anthropogenic influence. Incorrect exploitation of oil wells here, not following of the simplest rules of environment protection during oil extraction and other violations cause pollution of separate landscape areas on Absheron peninsula. It should be noted that soils of peninsula are polluted in the form of blot, the area of which can be from 2-3 ars up to 5-10 hectares or more. Crude oil, poured out on the soil, negatively affects its morphology, physical and physical-chemical, chemical and biological characteristic and waters, destroys and changes plant communities, soil respiration, activity and compositions of microorganisms and enzymes. Light fraction of oil partly evaporates when poured down and remained part penetrates deep into the light granular soils and reaches ground waters. Heavy fraction of oil is accumulated on the surface of soil and disturbs its aeration causing the completely loss of soil productivity. Pollution of Absheron soils finds its reflection in deterioration of soil-ecological condition, structural change of biocoenosis and intensity of soil-forming procedures in the peninsula. As a result, mechanical destruction of soil surface and lack of plants on productive soils polluted widely and deep with oil wastes are observed. Thus it is necessary to restore the abovementioned parameters of oil-polluted soils and to determine acceptable range of oil soil pollution for agricultural plants. Keywords: Absheron peninsula, oil pollution, soil morphology and physical-chemical characteristic Maharram BABAYEV ibrahimli_ali@mail.ru Poster 40 Economical improtance and conservation of some Centaurea L. species Arzu Y. HUSEYNOVA, Parvana Kh. GARAKHANI Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, AZ1073, Baku, Azerbaijan, Asteraceae is one of the largest and evolutionary developed family which includes more than 1620 genera and about 23600 species (1, 2). In Azerbaijan, one of the less studied and largely spread genus of Asteraceae family is Centaurea L. Centaurea species bloom from late June till late August. But mass blooming happens in July. Blooming lasts 40-45 days. Fruiting period is August and September, faded parts of plants should be removed during this period for decorative purpose. Besides of decorative using, Centaurea species also have other applications, they are good nectariferous and are also used as a medicinal plants during many centuries. Most species are applied as a diuretic, analgetic, in heart-vascular, nerve deceases, malyaria, diabet and some oncological illnesses (3, 4). Last decades some species such as Centaurea karabaghensis Sosn., Centaurea grossheimii Sosn., Centaurea hyrcanica Bornm., Centaurea kobstanica Tzvel., Centaurea razdorskyi Karyag. have been threatened and there is a danger of their complitely disappearance in Azerbaijan. These species are included to critical danger group. C.karabaghensis Sosn is endemic species for Garabakh (Azerbaijan) and due to occupation of this region is out of protection last years. C. grossheimii Sosn is spread in Nakhchivan MR Garagut massive, C. hyrcanica Bornm. – in Talısh ( Calilabad, Yardımlı, Lerik, Lankaran, Masallı, Astara regions ); C. kobstanica Tzvel. – in Greater Caucasus (South), Gobustan, Greater Caucasus (East); C. razdorskyi Karyag. – in Aghburun mountains of Gobustan. Anthropogenic impacts caused reasonable decrease in the number of these species. New areals must be found and preservations must be provided to reduce stress factors. Keywords: Asteraceae Dumort., Centaurea L, C. cyanus, C. karabaghensis Sosn., C. grossheimii Sosn., C. hyrcanica Bornm., C. kobstanica Tzvel., C. razdorskyi Karyag References: 1.Jeffrey C. Compositae: Introduction with key to tribes. In: J.W.Kabereit and C.Jeffrey, editors. Families and genera of vascular plants. vol. VIII, Flavering Plants, Endicots, Asterales 2007, Berlin: Springer-Verlaq, p. 61-87 2.Wagenitz G, Hellwig FH. Evolution of characters and phylogeny of the Centaureinae. In: Hind DJN, Beentje HG, editors. Compositae: systematics. Proceedings of the International Compositae Conference, Kew, 1994. Kew, London: Royal Botanic Gardens; 1996. pp. 491–510 3.Карягин И.И. Флора Азербайджана изд-во АН. Азерб.ССР, 1961 VIII, С. 458-478. 4.Ладыгина Е.А., Морозова Р.С. Лекарственные растения в медицине и в быту. – Ставрополь: кн. изд-во. 1989. – С. 52-54 a.huseynova@mail.ru Poster 41 Morphological and physiological changes of urban trees as ecological indicators of heavy metal stress Beyim QAFAROVA, Afet MAMMADOVA Department of Botany, Faculty of Biology, acad. Zahid Khalilov str. 23, AZ 1148, Baku, Azerbaijan, The significance of morphological leaf surface characters of plants in indication and mitigation of auto-exhaust pollution has been investigated. With the purpose of this study, the following plant species growing along roadsides in high traffic density and industrial areas have been selected: Ligustrum japonicum and Olea europea. As compared to control samples, air pollutants, especially, heavy metals have a great deterioration effect on the stability level of the leaves of the investigated species in terms of the fluctuating asymmetry (FA) and fluctuating asymmetry coefficient (FAC). Also, the leaf surface structures changed significantly in the exposed plants. Trichomes lost its original shape; stomata were completely closed by pollutant particles and consequently, are expected to affect the physiological operations within the plant cell. At higher metal concentrations APX and GPX exhibited remarkable induction with increasing the metal concentration, while exposure of plant species to exceeded levels of metals causes inhibition of CAT, SOD activity in comparison to the control. The leaves investigated seem to use as effective ecological bioindicators of environmental quality in Baku city, Azerbaijan. It presents a highly effective method for getting the realistic data on the quality of the environment of these investigated areas. Keywords: air pollution, heavy metals, leaves, fluctuating asymmetry m.afet@mail.ru Poster 42 Content and Spatial Variability of Heavy Metals in the Soils of Gold Mine area in Gadabay Region, Azerbaijan Elton MAMMADOV Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, M.Arif ave.,5, AZ1073, Baku, Azerbaijan, The soil pollution by heavy metals is a growing problem in the areas of the Mines. Gold and copper mining in Gadabay region dates back to over a century and remains one of the oldest viable mines in the Caucasus region. This study deals with the concentrations of heavy metals in the soils and their spatial variability in the area and new construction zones of the Mine. The results of analyses of 100 soil samples found out a significant difference in the concentrations of heavy metals in soil for the different parts of the Mine. The mean values of some heavy metals such as Cu, Cr, Co in the Tailings Management Facility (TMF) are higher than in the Mine site, while the concentrations of Mn and Zn are lower. Heavy metal concentrations in all soil samples taken from the Mine site are in the order of Mn>Zn>Cu>Cr>Ni>Co>Pb>As>Se>Cd>Hg. The same order of heavy metal concentrations for the TMF are MgMn>Cu>Zn>Cr>Ni >Co>Pb>Hg>Cd. Meanwhile, the heavy metal concentrations in some soil samples exceed the levels of regulatory standards. The elements with the highest concentrations are mainly Ni, Co, As and Zn. Keywords: Mine site, heavy metals, soil contamination, soil properties elton-774-e@hotmail.com Poster 43 RAPD Markers Based Genetic Diversity Analysis for Drought Tolerance in Wheat Genotypes Irada M. HUSEYNOVA, Samira M.RUSTAMOVA, Jalal A. ALİYEV Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, Baku, Azerbaijan, The aim of the study is to provide selection criteria for drought tolerance by RAPD-PCR technique. Molecular characterization of the genotypes gives precise information about the extent of genetic diversity which helps in the development of an appropriate breeding program to select the most drought tolerant and sensitive varieties. Ascreening experiment was performed on wheat genotypes using associated with tolerance to drought. Atotal of 266 wheat genotypes collected from GeneBank of Research Institute of Crop Husbandry (Baku, Azerbaijan) and consisted of 220 hexaploids (Triticum aestivum L., AABBDD, 2n=6x=42) and 46 tetraploids (Triticum durum Desf., AABB, 2n=4x=28) including tolerant, semi-tolerant and non-tolerant to drought were used. Different sensitivities of these genotypes to drought were determined during a few years in different regions of Azerbaijan based on grain yield (Aliev, 1998; Aliev, 2001). Total genomic DNA was extracted from leaves using CTAB method (Murray and Thompson, 1980). RAPD-PCR was carried out essentially as described by Williams et al. (1990). Two 10-mer RAPD primers (Eurogentec S.A., Belgium) were used for DNA amplification. Primers P6 (5′ TCGGCGGTTC 3′) and P7 (5′ TCGGCGGTTC 3′) produced a 920 and 750 bp bands, respectively, presented in drought tolerant (absent in others) genotypes. It was found out that a 920 bp fragment was amplified in 234 genotypes and 750 bp band only in 203 genotypes. Results obtained with the use of both P6 and P7 primers match in 74% of analyzed genotypes: in 184 genotypes specific loci amplified by both markers. In 13 genotypes (total 5%) none of the primers amplified specific fragments. Acknowledgment: This work was financially supported by grant from the Science Development Foundation under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan (EIF- 2010-1(1)-40/24-M-20). Keywords drought, wheat genotypes, RAPD markers, PCR References: 1. Aliev J.A. (1998) In: “Photosynthesis: Mechanisms and Effects” (Garab G., ed.). Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Boston, London 5: 3829-3832. 2. Aliev J.A. (2001) In: “Wheat in a Global Environment” (Bedo Z., Lang L., eds.). Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Boston, London 9: 693-698. 3. Murray M.G., Thompson W.F. (1980) Nucleic Acids Res. 8: 4321-4325. 4. Williams J.G., Kubelik K.J., Livak J.A., Tingey S.V. (1990) Nucleic Acids Res.18:6531-6535. Az1073, : huseynova-i@botany-az.org RAPD DNA markers Poster 44 Dendroecological investigation of some juniper species from Turyanchay State Nature Reserve Farid SEYFULLAYEV , Central Botanical Garden, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, AZ1073, Baku, Azerbaijan, , Forest ecosystem protection and sustainable use are remain an actual problem under observed global climate change condition. From this view an evaluation of plant species composition and structure of forests is important. Dendroecological investigation of the arid sparse forests from Turyanchay State Nature Reserve was carried out. The purpose of the study was an investigation of the natural conditions and monitoring of the structure of the juniper forests. For this aim, wood samples in the form of cores and discs were collected from Juniperus polycarpos K.Koch and Juniperus foetidissima Willd. 15 trees were used to determine their ages, growth rates and ring-width characteristics, by means of an increment borer and chain saw. At the same time, height and DBH were evaluated and correlation coefficients between trees was calculated. Tree ringwidths chronologies were developed for these two tree species according to standard dendrochronological techniques. Age and growth rate of trees varied greatly independence on trees and sites even in the same-sized trees lately the radial growth dynamics is slightly declined, but it has no significant influence from environment. It was discovered that there is a high correlation between these parameters. All above-mentioned show that a reserve area is optimal site for development of these two species and they resistant to changes here. Further exploration should be focus on long-term climate change, as well as modeling growth-climate response of different species, especially under future climate condition. Keywords: Juniperus, Turyancay, dendrochronology, radial growth, correlation Vahid FARZALİYEV v.farzaliyev@yahoo.co.uk fseyfullayev@yahoo.com Poster 45 Diversity of tomato cultivars the damage caused by Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) under greenhouse condition 1 1 Gholamhossein GHAREKHANI , Hamideh SALEK-EBRAHIMI , Mohammad 2 3 1 Kazem SOURI , Safar RASTGAR , Naser SABBAGHNIA 1Plant Protection Department, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Maragheh, Maragheh-Iran. 2Plant Protection Department, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tarbiat Modarres, Tehran-Iran. 3Agricultural Research Institute of Iran, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) is the major pest of tomato plant and causes damage on its leaves, buds, flowers, branches and fruits. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the damage caused by Tuta absoluta on different cultivars of tomato under greenhouse condition. Eleven cultivars were tested in four replications. The evaluation was carried out on 45 days-old plants regard to their vegetation characteristics and damage attributes. Sizes of mines on the damaged tissues were considered as the main character of damage, classified into four different groups and compared using cluster analysis. Analysis of data and mean comparison were accomplished using GLM procedure (SAS software) and Duncan test (P< 0.5) respectively, while the cluster analysis and pairwise mean comparison for damaged distal buds were carried out using Kruskal-Wallis Test (SPSS software). Analysis resulted in grouping the examined cultivars into four categories including relatively resistant cultivars (Atabay, Cluse, Servant), midresistant cultivars (Yagmur, Kubra, Super Strain B), mid susceptible cultivars (Milas, Iraz, Prenses, Hazarcentetis) and susceptible cultivar (Y-32-227). Keywords:host diversity, Tuta absoluta, tomato, resistance, susceptibility ghgharakhany@yahoo.com Kazem_sca@yahoo.com Karaj-Iran.safar.rastgar@yahoo.com Poster 46 Red List of the endemic vascular plants of the Caucasus George NAKHUTSRISHVILI Institute of Botany of Ilia State University, 1 Botanikuri st., 0105 Tbilisi, Georgia Aproject Coordination and Development of Plant Red list Assessments for the Caucasus Biodiversity Hotspot was implemented by IUCN SSC in collaboration with Missouri Botanical Garden, USA, WWF Caucasus Programme Office, and botanists from six countries of the Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, Turkey; an Iranian botanist participated on a voluntary basis) in 2006-2009. The work has resulted in a comprehensive overview of distribution and conservation status of the endemic plant species of the Caucasus based on current knowledge. A map of the Caucasus region by WWF Caucasus with a modification (southern border extended in Iran based on local plant cover characteristics) was used for to distinguish endemic plants of the Caucasus.The plant taxa initially suggested as endemic to the Caucasus Biodiversity Hotspot were thoroughly verified with respect to their distribution within the Hotspot borders by the project consultants, which resulted in a comprehensive list of the region's endemic taxa containing up to 2,900 species, subspecies, and varieties. Of these, endemic taxa occurring in 1-3 countries of the Hotspot most likely to fall into one of the threatened categories were evaluated for their conservation status using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria. Taxonomically problematic taxa were assessed as DD. In total up to 1,700 taxa were evaluated.The Caucasus Plant Red List Authority was established under the auspices of the IUCN SSC. The RLA developed the Caucasus Plant Initiative, a regional Plant Conservation Strategy, targets of which correspond to the targets of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. Keywords: Red Lists, the Caucasus, endemic vascular plants References: Schatz, G., Shulkina, T., Nakhutsrishvili, G., Batsatsashvili, K., Tamanyan, K., Ali-zade, V., Kikodze, D., Geltman, D. & Ekim, T. 2009. Development of Plant Red List Assessments for the Caucasus Biodiversity Hotspot. – In: Zazanashvili, N. and Mallon, D. (eds.). Status and Protection of Globally Threatened Species in the Caucasus. Tbilisi: CEPF, WWF.Contour Ltd. Pp. 188-192. Schatz, G., Shulkina, T. & Solomon, J. (eds.) Red List of the Endemic Plants of the Caucasus Region. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Saint Louis (in press). nakgeorg@gmail.com http://assets.panda.org/downloads-/cepf_caucasus_web_1.pdf Poster 47 Current and Future Challenges of Wheat Yield Potential in Consequence of Climate Change Jamala MURSALOVA Institute of Genetic Resources, , Azadlig ave.,155, AZ 1106, Baku, Azerbaijan, Wheat is well-known to be the most important food crop in the world as well as in Azerbaijan. With 21% of the food calories and 20% of the protein wheat provides to more than 4.5 million people in 94 developing countries. More than 1 billion people of the planet suffer from hunger. By 2050 the population is expected to grow to 9.1 billion people, mainly in developing countries (Reynolds et al., 2012). Efforts of wheat breeders are constantly challenged by various biotic and abiotic stress factors that threaten yield stability in many wheat growing regions. In particularly, abiotic stress factors such as drought continue to pose the significant challenges for the wheat breeding community. Elaboration of drought-tolerant varieties is one of the major goals in plant breeding programs. Development of winter wheat varieties capable of maintaining stable yield under moisture stress is an important strategy to mitigate drought effect. Looking in the future, global wheat requirements are expected to increase from around the current 600 million tons to approximately 760 million tons by 2020 (CIMMYT – International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre, 2004). Demand for wheat in the developing world is expected to increase 60% by 2050. Azerbaijan collaborates in the many ways with the international organizations, mainly CIMMYT. Such cooperation has enabled us to develop the new projects and support collecting expeditions, obtain a new knowledge, introduce the new research methods, exchange by germplasm, information and experience, improve the professional skills of young staff members. Keywords: wheat, abiotic stress, drought, breeding References: Reynolds M.P., Warham E., Vaughan S., Braun H. 2012. The Wheat Yield Consortium. An International collaboration to raise the yield potential of wheat by 50% by 2030 Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences m.jamala85@gmail.com Poster 48 Study of Interspecific Hybrids of Durum Wheat and Tetraploid Wheat Species 1 1 2 3 Kh.N. RUSTAMOV , M.A. ABBASOV , M.H. AHMADOV , M.A. AHMADOV 1 Institute of Genetic Resources, , 2Azerbaijan Crop Husbandry Institute, Ministry of Agriculture of Azerbaijan Republic 3 N.I.Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry, Dagestan branch To enrich the gene pool of durum wheat a certain interest represent wheatemmer and other hybrids (F , 49 samples), created as a result of studying the 5 genetics of resistance of tetraploid wheat to fungal diseases. Therefore, the material consisting of T.dicoccoides (Koern. ex Aschers. et Graebn) Schweinf., T.dicoccum (Schrank) Schuebl., T.persicum Vav. and T. turgidum L. was studied in Tartar Experimental Station of Azerbaijan Crop Husbandry Institute. Accessions with phenotype close to durum wheat (var. leucurum, affine, leucomelan, alboprovinciale, erythromelan etc.) were selected. Wheat-emmer which includes both European (subsp. dicoccum var. pseudorufum, var. bispiculatum) and the Asian botanical varieties (subsp. asiaticum Vav convar. transcaucasicum Flaksb. var. haussknechtianum, var. aeruginosum, var. flaksbergeri, var. gunbadi) was selected as well. In addition, T. turgidum L. var. nachitschevanicum was chosen. Genotypes were selected on their high productivity and quality, resistance to abiotic and biotic environmental factors. In this region, the benefits had genotypes with early heading time. It was revealed that 10.2% of samples had early heading time (3-4 days before compared to the standard), while 36.7% had heading time for 5-6 days and 22.5% for 10 (17) days later than the standard. The rest accessions had same heading time with standard. In genotypes with early heading visual assessment of grain was higher than in late heading. In total, 12.2% of the samples had large grains (1000 grains <55,0 g.). Selected genotypes were sown in the breeding nursery in Tartar Experimental Station for a comparative study of morphological-biological, technological and biochemical parameters. Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences mehraj_genetic@yahoo.com Poster 49 Anatomical Research Method in Taxonomy and Bioecology Maftun. M. ALASGAROV Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, AZ1073, Baku, Azerbaijan, Anatomical research is one of the important methods in botany which can be applied not only for determining the structural elements, also for determination of the exact taxonomical status of the species which are still an object of argument in taxonomy. Anatomical research gives very useful information about structure of the species which is feed for plant ecology and physiology. Anatomical research in parallel with taxonomical determination was carried out for study of Centaurea macrocephala. C.macrocephala is included to Centaurea genus by most authors. But there are many other authors not agreeing with this and include this species to different genuses. We studied the stem and leaf of C.macrocephala in cross section with purpose of its status definition. It was found that the structural features of this species as a location of the transport bundles, collenchyma, sclerenchyma, their relation to parenchyma, location of the xylem and phloem, types of the bundlesare typical for Centaurea genus. As it is clear from this example, anatomical method is reliable especially when the morphological features are not strong enough to identify to which genus a certain species belongs. The above mentioned demonstrate that research of structural features helps to study ecology of plants as the structural elements which can give more information about the ecological traits. Anatomical research of Festuca pratensis and Festuca rupicola species showed that their structural elements are very conservative, just very necessary elements are kept in a small amount, due to these elements plant could dominate through billions years till now. Small leaf area, cuticle on it, special location of stomata, location of the support tissue, sclerenchyma, collenchymas and fixation of transport bundles, structure of the parenchyma etc. give information on ecological features of plants. Beside the morphological research, anatomical research is always useful and helps to learn the object in detail; to develop anatomical research method in parallel with all taxonomical works is desired. Keywords:anatomical method, Centaurea macrocephala, Festuca pratensis, Festuca rupicola alesmm2@mail.ru Poster 50 The wetland vegetation biodiversity of Azerbaijan 1 2 1 3 Murad MUSAYEV , Vagif ATAMOV , Vakil KHALILOV , Musa JABBAROV 1 Baku, Azerbaijan 2RTE University, Faculty Art and Science, Dept. of Biology, Rize, Turkey 3Baku State University, Faculty of Biology, Botany Chair, Baku, Azerbaijan Wetland ecosystems are distributed in Azerbaijan starting from the above sea level up to high mountain sections. These ecosystems cover larger areas in plains. In particular, they are found in large areas of Kur-Araz lowland, Absheron, Samur-Devechi, Alazan-Eyrichay, Mil, Mughan, Shirvan, Ceyranchol, Gobustan and Nakichevan plains. Wetland ecosystems are widely distributed in the Sarisu, Aghzibirchala, Akgol, Jandargol, Great Alagol, Goygol, Hajıgabul, Boyuk-Shor, Ashık Kara, Karachug lakes and Gızılaghaj gulf regions. As the form of spoils in the background of different vegetation types (steppe, semi-steppe, forest, sub-alpine and alpine meadow) they are distributed in coastal areas of a large number of lakes and especially in the coast of the Caspian Sea. 502 taxa belonging to 62 families and 208 genera are identified in the wetland flora. This is 11.2% of the total number of species in the flora of Azerbaijan. Poaceae, Cyperaceae, Ranunculaceae, Fabaceae, Potamogetonaceae, Juncaceae, Salicaceae, Chenopodiaceae, and Brassicaseae families are more diverse in the wetland flora. 12 trees and 412 herbaceous water-loving plants were found here. 6.6% (33 taxa) of the total number of taxa are endemic. 68 taxa in total are in the different danger categories of IUCN, the majority (25 taxa) of which are VU. As the ecological assessment dominant plants are distributed: hidrofit, higrofit and hidatofit in and around of freshwater lakes; hidrohalofit, psammohalofit, xerohalofit in salty lakes and surrounding marshes; mezofite, xeromezofite around rivers, freshwater lakes and marshes. Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, Az1073, ekomerkez@ru.az, vhatemov@yahoo.com Poster 51 Importance database of medicinal plants for plant biodiversity conservation in Azerbaijan Naiba Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, AZ1073, Baku, Azerbaijan, Information systems of biodiversity are base tool for effective conservation of the nature. The availability of such information is the central part of "Convention of biological diversity», generated on the basis of actions on the rational use, legal protection and transfer of knowledge. A work on creation of database of medicinal plants of the Azerbaijan (178 families, 740 genus, 1547 species) was carried out. Aanalysis of the database information revealed that from 4500 plant species distributed in Azerbaijan 34.3% are medicinal plants. Passport for the each species includes 24 parameters which reflects the whole taxonomic characteristics, ecology, area of distribution, contents of the biological active compounds, application forms, medicinal properties, species status as endemics, relicts, rarity, references, their photographs in natural cenosis. Among herbs of Republic flora the 5 species are national endemics (Euphorbia marschalliana Boiss., Pinus eldarica Medw., Scutellaria karjaginii Grossh., Rosa azerbaidzhanica Novopokr. et Rzazade, Th. karamarjanicus Klok.et Shost.), 77 species are Caucasian endemics (Aconitum nasutum Fisch.ex Reichenb., Betula raddeana Trautv., Hylotelephium caucasicum (Grossh.) H.Ohba, Rhododendron caucasicum Pall. etc.), 44 species are relicts (Albizia julibrissin Durazz., Buxus hyrcana Pojark., Hypericum androsaemum L., Zelkova carpinifolia (Pall.) C.Koch etc.). 112 species from 90 genus and 55 families belong to rare and endangered species of herbs. According to IUCN Category and criteria (2001) 5 species concern to CR (0.32%), 23 – to EN (1.49%), 61 – to VU (3.94%), 21 – to NT (1.36%), 2 – to DD (0.13%). The accumulated data on various herbs provide reliable information on its high diversity and endemism, as well as data on rare and engangered plant species in the certain key regions of country. It allows to correctly create a manage system to define the distribution and concentration of biodiversity places of herbs and to allocate the areas, especially important for protection. Keywords: medicinal plants, database, rare, endangered and endemic species MEHDIYEVA naiba_m@mail.ru Poster 52 3+ Clearing of water from Fe ions with polymeric sorbent Naila JAFAROVA, Sevinj HAJIYEVA and Sura MAMMADOVA Department of Ecological Chemistry, Baku State University, acad. Zahid Khalilov str. 23, AZ 1148, Baku, Azerbaijan, Determination of heavy metals in the nature and biological systems is one of the urgent problems of environmental protection. Sorbents modified by different groups are widely used for the group absorption of trace metal ions. The present work is devoted to a studying of sorption properties of a sorbent on the basis of 3+ maleic anhydride with ions of Fe and its further application for the clearing of ecological objects polluted by heavy metals. Copolymers of maleic anhydride with vinyl acetate (МА-VA) were obtained by the heterogeneous copolymerization of these monomers in a solution. Constructed insoluble sorbents were obtained by the sewing together copolymers of maleic anhydride with vinyl acetate by means of paraphenylendiamine (Ph). The adsorption of metal ions by sorbent (MA-VA-Ph), independence of the nature of the solution, pH, concentration of the complex forming ions, phase contact time has been systematically investigated. A sorption isotherm of metal ions has been obtained. The results show that this polymer has a fairly wide range of sorption pH, high capacity and high rate of reach equilibrium. Therefore, it can be widely used in various industrial processes, in waste water clearance, as well as in ecological control of a state of the environment. Keywords: clearingof water, heavy metals, sorption, polymeric sorbents sura93@rambler.ru Poster 53 Tree leaves as bioindicator of trace metal pollution in the atmosphere of Absheron peninsula Naglaa YOUSSEF Department of Botany, Faculty of Biology, Baku State University, acad. Z.Khalilov str. 23, AZ1148, Baku, Azerbaijan, The aim of the present study is to reveal the pollution levels of Pb, Cd, Cr, Cu and Fe in three different locations of Baku using Ligustrum japonicum, Olea europea and Pyracantha coccinea as possible bioindicators. The results could be used as preliminary baseline data for trace elements concentrations in the ecosystems for future assessment and monitoring. For this target, leaves of the same age were sampled uniformly from Ligustrum japonicum., Olea europea, (Oleaceae) and Pyracantha coccinea (Rosaceae) from three locations with different degrees of metal pollution: the first one is located in the industrial zone of Baku (Absheron peninsula), the second is characterized by high traffic (Airport) and the third zone represents a rural area (Botanical Garden of National Academy of Science of Azerbaijan). After drying, pulverizing and digestion concentrations of Pb, Cd, Cr, Cu and Fe were determined by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The highest element concentrations have been found on sites of high traffic following by industrial site, with exception of Cr which has its peak on industrial site. The results give an impression that the correlation between the degree of contamination and the concentration in the leaves of Ligustrum japonicum and Olea europea reflect the environmental trace metal diversity. The exhaust gases of motor vehicles, metalworking industries and other anthropogenic impacts are the main sources of air pollution in Baku. Olea europea and Ligustrum japonicum have been used for the first time as possible and cheap bioindicators of air pollution in Baku. naglaaysf@yahoo.com Poster 54 Conservation problems of Lake Hajigabul Narmina SADIGOVA and Shahin ISAYEV Baku State University, Department of Bioecology of faculty of Ecology and Soil Science acad. Z.Khalilov str. 23, AZ 1148, Baku, Azerbaijan, Conservation of wetland systems is considered to be one of the high priority topics in the world due to their environmental services. Unfortunately, unsustainable or even lack of management causes the damages and even loss of such important ecosystems. Due to the anthropogenic impact Lake Hajigabul is one of the most damaged wetland systems in Azerbaijan. Importance of Hajigabul Lake is not limited only with its economic, agricultural and natural benefits. It is also included into the international list of Important Bird Areas and identified as potential Ramsar site. New approaches and the comprehensive study of the lake allowed us to analyze the decrease in number of fauna and flora species as well as to find out the limiting factors, existing and potential threats to the lake. Researches showed that the sharp increase of the salinity (up to 30-32 ppm) does not allow any fishes to live there and accordingly it reduces the food base fo birds and other animals. The number of birds decreased from 75 in 1996 to 59 in 2007 and to 43 in 2012. Among them number of Globally Threatened White-headed Duck (Oxyura leucocephala) decreased dramatically from 1367 in 2006 to 582 in 2007 and to 35 in 2012. All together 20 species of higher plants have been identified. 15 of them found on the coast line whereas 8 species were registered middle in the water. The possible ways of solutions and recommendations following the international experiences to improve the conservation of the lake has been identified and discussed. Keywords: wetland, lake Hajigabul,Important Bird Area, Ramsar is_shain@mail.ru Poster 55 Investigation of possibilities of water basins purification, contaminated by oily emulsion type petroleum products, using the sorption and extraction methods Nigar MAHARRAMOVA, Sevinj HAJIYEVA and Gulmammad SULEYMANOV Ecological Chemistry, Faculty of Ecology and Soil Science, Baku State University, acad. Zahid Khalilov, str.23, AZ1148, Baku, Azerbaijan, Returning in the technological process of purified water masses from petroleum products with hydrophilic and hydrophobic composition is an important environmental and economic task which requires new, more efficient technologies for the extraction of harmful substances from these water masses or neutralization of harmful substances through decomposing them. Water basins contaminated by oily emulsion type petroleum products which were taken as the research object consist of: 16-18% of hydroxyl, carboxyl and ketone groups, 1-2% of amine group compounds, 3-5% of sulpha compounds, 75- 80% mixture of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons. In order to determine the effectiveness of purification, it was decided to conduct the research in two directions. First direction considers water purification using sorbents of different nature, second one - water treatment using Insoluble in water extractants with different composition and structure. The natural zeolites such as bentonite, mordonite, klynoptolite were used for the first one. The percentages of water mass purification with 8.5 g/l contamination level using 50 g of sorbent were 68%, 73%, and 82%. Different extractants with various properties and structure such as diethyl, diisobutyl, diisopropyl and simple ethers were used in the second direction. Results obtained on water basins purification, contaminated up to 8.5 g/l by oily emulsion type petroleum products revealed that these waters were purified up to 88-92%. Keywords: contamination, petroleum hydrocarbons, water basins, extraction nigar.mammadova87@gmail.com Poster 56 Current state of the flora and vegetation of Duzdagh Nuri V. MOVSUMOVA, Sayyara J. IBADULLAYEVA Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, Az1073, Baku, Azerbaijan,movsumovanuri@yahoo.com Study of flora and vegetation of different ecosystems formed as the result of the mainly geo-morphological structure of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (Azerbaijan) including rare and endemic species of special status is very important. Duzdagh area with the height 800-1200 m above sea level has been originated on the result of: flora formation of xerophyte type in released from sea areas at the end of the Pont Period; and steppe flora formation at the beginning of the Alluvion Period. Presence of xerophyte elements (Аnаbаsis еugеniае İljin, Thlаspi arvense L. etc.) remained from that period up to now proves that the ecosystem has been established just at the end of the Pont Period. 13 Caucasian and 6 Azerbaijanian endemics are found in the area. Comprehensive study of flora of the Duzdagh area revealed of 318 species, 189 genera belonging to 61 families. 31 species of them are Gymnosperms, 287 species are Angyosperms including: 36 Monocotyledonous and 249 Dicotyledons species. It was determined that 34 species, 27 genus belonging to 18 families were rare and threatened ones. Control on the existing biotopes was strengthened to collect genepool of these species with protection status (the planned seed stocking up without causing biological reduce). Indication of the soil and ecological conditions in flora of Duzdagh provides to define indixes of its vital forms. There are of the flora 32.9% annual plants, 3.5% - biennial, 49.4% - perennial, 1.6% -small subshrub, 3.5% - small bushes, 3.8% - subshrub and 5.37% - bushes. In general, on the result of the geobotanical study of the Duzdagh area 5 vegetation types being formed by presence of 7 formation classes; 13 formation groups; 24 formations; and 46 associasions were revealed. Poster 57 The problem of plant conservation in the protected areas of the Eastern Caucasus (Russian Federation) Ramazan A. Mountain Botanical Garden, Dagestan Scientific Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Dagestan ,Russia Conservation of all the components of wildlife at the present stage of society development is one of the main problems in the field of environmental protection. In this regard, the protected areas play a key role. One of the original districts of the Caucasus is its eastern part, where grow more than 900 endemic plants for the Caucasus. But rare plants in the Eastern Caucasus are not really provided with conservation measures in situ. There are only two Reserves and four Federal sanctuaries here. The majority of the rare plants populations in nature is subject to increasing anthropogenic pressure and under threat of extinction. On the territory of the Eastern Caucasus there are 104 species of plants included in the Red data book of the Russian Federation. 65 of them are observed in the Protected Areas (62.5%) and only 12 species - in the Reserves (11.5%), in federal sanctuaries – 26 (25%). In the Reserves, located in the territory of the Russian part of the Caucasus, 39 species (37.5%) of the plants, listed in the Red data book, are no longer found. 17 of them were endemic for the Eastern Caucasus. Botanical gardens are of special importance for plant conservation. So, in 85 Russian botanical gardens 252 plats from the Red Book are currently cultivated. In the Mountain Botanical Garden of Dagestan scientific center of RAS about 120 rare and endangered plant species from 38 families are cultivated. The collection features 47 endemics of the Eastern Caucasus and Dagestan, 11 of which are registered in the Red Book of Russia. Keywords: Eastern Caucasus, protected areas, rare plants, protection MURTAZALIEV pibreklab@yahoo.com Poster 58 Sustainable Mobilization of the Morus Species as Potential Sources of the Food Additives with Protective Properties Rena AGHABEYLI Institute of Botany, Badamdar highway 40, Az1073, Baku, Azerbaijan, Plant extracts and biological active compounds obtained from different wild plants negatively influence in some cases on their conservation. Therefore, the mobilization of the cultivated plants as sources of the biological active compounds is more promising for food additives manufacturing. The extracts from leaves of Morus alba, Morus nigra and their compositions were evaluated by assessing their effects on animal (Vistar rats) and plant (Arabidopsis thaliana, Vicia faba) testobjects. The results of experiment show that all biological active substances studied demonstrated the lack of genotoxic properties and displayed gene protecting activities. Results of experiments reveal that all studied extracts, their components and mixtures possesses protective effects against natural ageing processes as well as influence of the chemical and physical environmental xenobiotics. The efficiency of the tested biological active compounds is very high. These compounds decreased the level of the induced mutability of chromosome more than 60 percent in different experiments. Keywords: plant extracts, Morus alba, Morus nigra, antimutagen, environmental xenobiotics, Arabidopsis thaliana, Vicia faba, Vistar rats Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, renaagabey1@rambler.ru Poster 59 To ex situ Conservation Strategy for Some Rare and Endemic Plant Species in Azerbaijan 1 1 2 Reshad SALIMOV , Oruj IBADLI, Valida ALI-ZADE 1Central Botanical Garden, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, AZ1073, Baku, Azerbaijan 2 Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, AZ1073, Baku, Azerbaijan Botanical gardens with their long activities in the areas of study, research and work with the public do make an important contribution to the conservation of plant diversity. To perform these tasks the collections of botanical gardens have special value. Over many years, many plant species are passed through introduction test by scientists of the Central Botanical Garden (CBG) of Azerbaijan. According to our researches, from 163 species geophytes of Lankaran-Lerik region of Azerbaijan 21 species are Caucasian and 20 national endemics. By means of monitoring for obtaining of information such as geographic map of species, distribution size of their areal, number and condition of populations, past and future threats for them and assessment of these data according to modern standards the new list and distribution maps of selected species were produced and included to easy accessible database. Perspective species are introduced in the CBG and practical recommendations are offered for the preservation, restoration methods and their rational use. It is established that 12 species such as Ornithogalum hyrcanum Grossh., Orchis schelkownikowii Woronow, Iris musulmanica Fomin, Scorzonera grossheimii Lipsch. & Vass., Fritillaria grandiflora Grossh., Merendera сandidissima Miscz. ex Grossh. etc. are rare and endangered geophytes. Prioritization of species for future ex situ conservation based primarily on the level of threat and economic usage is started. Anew ex situ approach such as seed bank will provide a long-term infrastructure for the region to safeguard precious native species and to help restore degraded habitats. The growing collections will be used to support reintroduction of lost species, habitat restoration and scientific research and collaboration. Keywords: Azerbaijan, CBG, geophytes, ex situ conservation, endemic species, restoration Poster 60 Use of plants in assessing and alleviating pollution 1 1 2 S. A. OSTROUMOV , S. V. KOTELEVTSEV , M. E. JOHNSON , S. C. 3 1 1 2 McCUTCHEON , V. A.POKLONOV , E. A.SOLOMONOVA ,J. F. TYSON , V. 4 1 2 L.SHELEYKOVSKY , T.V.SHESTAKOVA and B. XİNG 1.M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University, Lengory, 119991, Moscow, Russia 2. University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, U.S.A. 3.University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, U.S.A. 4.The Main Botanical Garden of Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia Important environmental change includes hazardous chemical pollution of the biosphere.The authors' interdisciplinary research on environmental chemicobiotic and ecotoxicological interactions involves various species of plants. This poster reports on the investigation of: (1) the concentration of the chemicals in plant tissues;(2) the effects of chemicals on the selected plants; (3) the effects of the selected plants on concentrations of chemicals in the aquatic environment; (4) the role of the selected plants in mitigation of chemical stresses; and (5) the practical use of this new knowledge to improve water quality. This research exposed environmental pollutants to a variety of species of aquatic and terrestrial plants. These numerous tests defined the phytotoxicity of synthetic surfactants, detergents, and heavy metals, to the plants investigated.The investigations of phytoremediation potential tested the selected plant species in aquatic microcosms (e.g., Potamogeton sp.) and using plant seedling bioassays (e.g., Fagopyrum esculentum). Other investigations determined the phytotoxicity of metal oxide nanoparticles to Myriophyllum aquaticum, Pistia stratiotes, Ludwigia sp., and other plant species. During these incubations in aquatic medium with CuO nanoparticles, Cu accumulated in the biomass and mortmass (decomposing plant detritus) of Elodea. Additional investigations found analogous accumulation in the biomass and mortmass of Ludwigia sp., Myriophyllum aquaticum, and Typha sp. Further study defined the phytoremediation potential of these and several other aquatic plants provide prospect of developing new technologies for water purification.The current advancement shelp to understand better, chemico-biotic interactions in the modern biosphere and to alleviate consequences from environmental change, especially chemical pollution. Keywords: Phytoremediation, water purification, hazardous chemicals, phytotoxicity, accumulation, cooper, nanoparticles, Elodea, Fagopyrum esculentum, Ludwigia sp., Myriophyllum aquaticum, Potamogeton sp., Pistiastratiotes, Typha sp. ar55@yandex.ru Steven.C.McCutcheon@gmail.com Poster 61 The vegetation of winter pastures of Jeyranchol-Ajinohur arrays of Azerbaijan at the beginning of XXI century Sevda AKHMEDOVA Ganja State University, Shah Ismayil Khatai 187, AZ 2001 Ganja, Azerbaijan, At the present stage of human development on the issues on interaction between society and nature, the environmental protection, rational use of natural resources and the prevention of the adverse effects on the environment have given increased attention. Jeyranchol-Ajinohur is the biggest winter pastures of Azerbaijan, where cattle graze for 7-8 months a year [1]. Aconservation of a certain degree of biodiversity in these arrays and pass them to the next generation is very important. Jeyranchol-Ajinohur arrays located between Alazan-Aghrichay basin and the valleys of the rivers Kur and Iori, in the borders with Georgia [5]. The main goal of the present research was to study the vegetation of Jeyranchol-Ajinohur winter pastures for today and compare these pastures with the Grossheim`s data from 1930 [4]. It was revealed that the flora Jeyranchol-Ajinohur vegetation includes 403 species belonging to 263 genera and 63 families. Compared to previous years it was found that there were cataclimatic changes related primarily to the negative impact of anthropogenic factors during eighty years [2]. In this regard, representatives of weed species are increased and Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, Poaceae families worsened by 50% their species composition. New identified weed species Urtica dioica L. and Amaranthus blitum L., are well adapted and even pushed the species that were there before. Today, desert vegetation has increased the area and a new deserted type of vegetation is appeared [3]. As a result of nonsystematic grazing and cultivation of winter pastures their vegetation is deteriorated. To partially restore the natural phytocenosis, we propose these pastures for reserve for 6-7 years, and offer the use of surface and radical improvement. Keywords: Jeyranchol-Ajinohur pastures, vegetation, composition of flora, desert vegetation, anthropogenic factors References: 1. Ахмедова С.З. Биоэкологические основы рационального использования пустынных пастбищ Джейранчель-Аджиноурского массивa Азербайджана. Школа-семинар молодых ученых «Динамика восстановительных процессов в степных экосистемах», Саратов 2001 2. Ахмедова С.З. Пути управления превращения природных фитоценозов в культурные агроценозы. Тезисы докладов Научные основы Гос.Аграрного университета, Ташкент 2001, 58-159 3. Ахмедова С.З. Пустынная экосистема Джейранчеля. Труды Института Ботаники НАНА, XXV. Баку, 2004, 373-375 4. Гроссгейм А.А. Растительный покров пастбищ Азербайджана и его кормовое значение. Наркомзем, Баку, 1932.-71 5. Прилипко Л.И. Карта геоботанического районирования. Атлас Азерб. ССР, Баку: Гл. упр. геодезии и картографии, 1967 sevda_axmedova@inbox.ru Poster 62 Introduction of some endangered Allium L. species and their chemical composition Sevinj GULIYEVA, Adil GULIYEV, Oruj IBADLI Central Botanical Garden, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, AZ1073, Baku, Azerbaijan Allium L. species are the widely cultivated plants and due to their rich content of various biological active substances they find application for various purposes. Many Allium plants are of great importance due to their uses as antioxidants and therapeutics. This genus comprises 52 species in Azerbaijan 39 species from which are distributed in Nakhchivan Autonomic Republic (Azerbaijan) (Grossheim, 1934). Some of them such as Allium akaka S.G.Gmel.ex Schult.et Schult.fil., A.materculae Bordz., A.woronowii Miscz. ex Grossh. are recognized as rare and endangered species for Azerbaijan and need in conservation measures. In this purpose, introduction of these species growing around the Ayrinj and Guney villages of Shahbuz region of Nakhchivan AR to the Central Botanical Garden of ANAS (Absheron peninsula) was carried out. All these species successfully adapted to new condition and plant development progressed through all distinct phases. Flowering period lasted 35 days for A.akaka, 23 days for A.materculae and 39 days for A.woronowii. The chemical composition of Allium species was also analyzed. The pattern of main components of lipids - hydrocarbons, triacylglycerols, free fatty acids, free sterols found in their flowers and bulbs varied between the Allium species which can be used as potential taxonomic markers in order to distinguish the plants (Vlase et al., 2013). The results showed that all intorduced Allium species are perspective for dry subtropic zones. Keywords: Allium sp., introduction, chemical composition References: 1.Grossheim A.A. Flora of Azerbaijan. Publ. Azerb. Acad. of Sci., Baku, 1934, V.1 2.Vlase L., Parvu M., Parvu E.A., Toiu A. Chemical Constituents of Three Allium Species from Romania. Molecules, 2013, 18, 114-127 sevff@mail.ru 63 Poster The reasons of reduction of endemic and rare plants Distributed on the Absheron peninsula Shahla N. MIRZAYEVA, Aleksandr S. ZERNOV Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, AZ1073, Baku, Azerbaijan, Department of Higher plants, faculty of Biology, Moscow State University, 119991, Moscow, Russia On the territory of the Absheron peninsula, due to arid climatic conditions the natural vegetation possesses the semiarid and partially desert features. The flora of peninsula consists of five endemic species and 31 species of higher plants which are in danger of extinction (1). The limiting factors for these plants generally have anthropogenic nature. Man-made pollution connected with the nonobservance by industry of ecological standards of ISO, the areal of the endemic for Azerbaijan Astragalus bakuensis Bunge. (Fabaceae L.) drastically reduced, besides Ophrys caucasica Woronow et Grossh. and Iris acutiloba C.A.Mey became rare here (4). Due to the development of quarries a number of Lasiopogon muscoides (Desf.) DC. has reduced to a critical level (2). An enlargement in the number of recreational zones and a construction in the coastal areas increase the danger of annihilation of the Linaria albifrons (Smith) Spreng. By the same reason the reduction in a number of such litoral psammofital species as Ammochloa palaestina Boiss.,Stipa pellita (Trin. et Rupr.) Tzvel.,S.capensis Thunb has happened (3). The rare plants such as Linium spicatum (Lam.) Pers., L.corrugata Karjag., Calligonum bakuense Litw., Polygonum capsicum Kom., Galium apscheronicum Pobed. became more rare due to soil erosion on the pastures caused by the their intensive exploitation, overgrazing and trampling, the construction of roads and other reasons (3). To protect the rare and endemic plants of our flora and generally of biodiversity it is necessary to apply serious measures to enhance an ecological literacy of the population and to involve the local population to the environment protection, to systemize the treatment of lands and pastures, to manage the construction in accordance with the standards. Keywords: endemic, rare, limiting factors, ecological standards, Astragalus bakuensis Bunge, Ophrys caucasica Woronow et Grossh, Iris acutiloba C.A.Mey, Lasiopogon muscoides (Desf.) DC References: 1. Əsgərov A.M. Azərbaycan florasınınendemləri. Az EA Xəbərləri biol.e.b. 2011, №3-4 2. Məmmədov T.S. Abşeronun ağac vəkolları.«Elm və təhsil», Bakı, 2010, 6-10 3. Гроссгейм А.А. Реликты восточного Закавказья. 1940 4. Карягин И.И. Флора Апшерона, изд-во АН. Азерб.ССР, Баку, 1952, 43-45 shehla.mirzeyeva@mail.ru a_zernov@rambler.ru Lengory, Poster 64 Evaluation of Wild Halophytes for the Soil Restoration in Kur-Araz Lowland of Azerbaijan 1 1 Tamilla SHIRVANI , Esmira ALIRZAYEVA , 2 1 Kristina TODERICH , Valida ALI-ZADE 1 Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Baku, Azerbaijan, 2 International Center for Biosaline Agriculture for Central Asia and Caucasus (ICBA-CAC), Tashkent, Uzbekistan Salinization of soil is one of the most significant and strength edaphic stresses limiting the plant growth and development and declining the crop productivity thereby represents a threat for sustainable development of agriculture. Salinization becomes more dangerous, when plants simultaneously undergo metal toxicity. The problem of soil salinization and heavy metal (HM) contamination in Azerbaijan increases each year. Salt-affected soils here occupy over 1,5 million ha constituting a significant proportion of agro-ecosystems in a number irrigated agricultural regions. 46,7% of all irrigated lands of the Republic belong to Kur-Araz lowland. 60% of this territory suffers fromlight (153 ths. ha), moderate (146.2 ths. ha) and strong (224 ths. ha) levels of salinity (Mamedov et al., 2010). Kur-Araz lowland with an area of 2,6 th. sq. km is the typical arid zone with some signs of extra aridity (coefficient of aridity is 3-3.5) (Nabiyeva, 2004), where surplus of HM is also occurred (Alirzayeva et al., 2006). The application of various agro-technical and meliorative approaches for removal of salt and other pollutants in this lowland being very costly and time-consuming is not always acquitted under local conditions. There is a critical necessity in development of the economically reasonable, environmental-friendly and socially accepted effective biological technologies of a soil restoration and removal of pollutants. An innovative strategy is based on the appropriate selection of plants, successfully growing and reproducing under strained environment, possessing a great metal/salt removal potential. These metallohalophytes (Artemisia sp., Suaeda sp., Salsola sp., Tamarix sp. etc.) can be applied for the restoration of the root zone using them as companion plants to enhance the economic productivities of crops. This work is supported by the Science Development Foundation under the President of Azerbaijan Republic (EİF-2012-2(6). Keywords: Kur-Araz lowland, salinization, heavy metals, halophytes, soil restoration References: 1.Alirzayeva E.G., Shirvani T.S., Alverdiyeva S., Yazici M.A., Ali-zade V.M., Cakmak I. Heavy metal accumulation in Artemisia and foliaceous lichen species from the Azerbaijan flora. Forest, Snow and Landscape Res., 2006, v. 80, N 3, p. 339-348 2.Mamedov G., Khalilov M and Mamedova S. Agroecology. Baku, Elm, 2010, 551 p. (in Azerbaijani) 3.NabiyevaF.Kh. Climatic factors of desertification of Kur-Araz lowland. Transactions of Institute of Botany, ANAS, XXV, 2004, 337-339 (in Russian) Badamdar highway 40, AZ1073, shirvani_ts@hotmail.com Poster 65 Some Ranunculus species and their conservation actions Tarana AKPERLİ Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, AZ 1073 Baku, Azerbaijan, Ranunculaceae is one of the large families of dicotyledonous flowering plants, that includes about 1200-1500 species belonging to 30 genera. They are annuals, biennials or perennials with five free-petals per flower. Among them Ranunculus L. is the widespread genus. This genus comprises 33 species. The species are distinguished by content of alkaloids, ash substances, essential oils etc. Their seeds are oily. The species of genus are annual and perennials widespread in the water on the land. The flowers are bright yellow. They are used in medicine for treatment of wounds, burns, rheumatism, headaches, tuberculosis. They are also widely used as ornamental plants. Some species are considered to be the endemic plants of Azerbaijan. Many species are in a danger of extinction. One of these species, R.arachnoideus C.A.M. is included in the Red Book of Azerbaijan. The number of this species has declined considerably, they become vulnerable to extinction, and there is a need of their conservation. This species refers to the category as critically endangered species. R.arachnoideus blooms in July, fruiting in August. It is found seldomly in Guba region, eastern and western parts of Greater Caucasus, at the height of 2700-3500 m in the alpine zone. It was described for the first time from Tufan Mountain in Azerbaijan. Anthropogenic and zoogenic factors cause a great reduction in a number of plants. Therefore, some actions should be taken to protect this species, new areas of distribution have to be found, a sanctuaries should be organized. Keywords: Ranunculaceae, Ranunculus L., R.arachnoideus, alkaloid References: 1. Карягин И.И. Флора Азербайджана. Изд-во АН Азерб. ССР, 1953, IV, 72-99 2. Андреева И. И., Родман Л.С. Ботаника. 3-е изд. М., Колос, 2005, 396-528 3. Барабанов Е.И. Ботаника: учебник для студ. высш. учеб. заведений. М., Академия, 2006, 237- 448 akberli.tarana@yandex.ru Poster 66 Rare and Threatened Species of Dendroflora of Nakhchivan Autonomic Republic (Azerbaijan) Tariyel TALIBOV and Anvar IBRAHIMOV Institute of Bioresources of Nakhchivan branch, Sciences, As a result of the drastic change in environmental conditions and influence of anthropogenic factors, besides with other plants, several valuable species of dendroflora genofond are also under the danger of extinction in Nakhchivan Autonomic Republic (Azerbaijan). Analysis the distribution zones, a mapping, ascertainment of the reasons of disappearance of 53 rare and endangered species of trees and bushes belonging to 34 genus 21 families were carried out and they were included to the “Red Book” of Nakhchivan AR. For the first time, the conservation status of the following species has been assessed according to the IUCN categories: Pinus kochiana Klotzsch ex C. Koch, Juniperus communis L., J.excelsa Bieb., J.foetidissima Willd., J.sabina L., Ephedra aurantiaca Takht. et Pachom., Anabasis brachiata Fisch. et C.A. Mey. ex Kar. et Kir., Anabasis eugeniae Iljin, Camphorosma lessingii Litv., Salsola futilis Iljin, Atraphaxis angustifolia Jaub. et Srach, Calligonum polygonoides L., Acantholimon araxanum Bunge, Betula pendula Roth, Populus euphratica Oliver, Ficus carica L., Celtis caucasica Willd., Daphne transcaucasica Pobed., Amelanchier ovalis Medik., Cotoneaster integerrimus Medik., Crataegus orientalis Pall. ex Bieb., C.pontica C.Koch, Padellus mahaleb (L.) Vass., Pyrus medvedevii Rubtz., P. megrica Gladkova, P.raddeana Woronow, P.syriaca Boiss., P.voronovii Rubtz., P.zangezura Maleev, Rosa foetida Bicolor Herrm., R.karjaginii Sosn., R.nisami Sosn., R.sosnovskyana Tamamsch., R.rapinii Boiss. et Bal., R.pimpinellifolia L., R.tuschetica Boiss., Rubus ibericus Juz., Punica granatum L., Astracantha flavirubens (Al.Theod., Fed. et Rzazade) Podlech, A. karjaginii (Boriss.) Podlech, Colutea komarovii Takht., Onobrychis cornuta (L.) Desv., Pistacia mutica Fisch. et C.A.Mey., Rhus coriaria L., Zygophyllum atriplicoides Fisch. et C.A.Mey., Euonymus latifolia (L.) Mill., Ziziphus jujuba Mill., Hippophae rhamnoides L., Artemisia abrotanum DC., Pyrethrum komarovii D.Sosn., P.kotschyi Boiss., P.ordubadense Manden., Thymus migricus Klok. et Shost. Taking into account that the majority of rare species play a role in the formation of forests as subdominant plants their protection is of important. Thus, considering the reduction of areal of these species due to intensive and inefficient use, cutting of plants and their collection for different purposes should be prohibited and their propagation in the relevant biotopes should be organized. Keywords: Nakhchivan Autonomic Republic, dendroflora, rare and endangered species, Red Book Azerbaijan National Academy of t_talibov@mail.ru Poster 67 Novel phytoremediation technology for cleaning of oil-polluted soils T.SADUNISHVILI, G.KHATISASHVILI, L.KUTATELADZE, N.GAGELIDZE, L.AMIRANASHVILI, E.KVESITADZE Durmishidze Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Agricultural University of Georgia,David AgmasheneblisKheivani, 13th km, 0159, Tbilisi, Georgia Soil pollution by oil hydrocarbons is one of the most widely spread environmental contaminations which takes place in all oil producing, refinery and oil transporting countries. For solution of this problem we have developed the biotechnology, which combines application of selected plants and microorganisms guaranteeing complete remediation of oil polluted sites and long term protection of environment. Lipophilic molecules of oil hydrocarbons are difficultly absorbed by plants and undergo microbial degradation in soil. As a result formation of intermediates that are more toxic than initial hydrocarbons takes place. Plants are capable of quick extraction of such compounds from soil. Final products of degradation in plants are non-toxic compounds, typical for living organisms. Main stages of the novel technology include: preliminary characterization of polluted site for assessment of type, level and depth of soil pollution, and of existing microflora; In situ treatment of polluted site by introduction of selected microorganisms in soil; planting of preliminary selected plants for further remediation of contaminated soil. The effectiveness of developed method is verified by several model experiments. For example, total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), in amount 50000, 100000 and 144000ppm in different polluted soils decreased by 60-70% as a result of application of developed bacterial consortia and preliminary selected plants after 1.5 months of application. Advantages of the novel phytoremediation method are: ecological safety, maintaining of soil structure in natural conditions, landscape management and carbon dioxide assimilation. Keywords: oil pollution, phytoremediation, bacterial consortia, plants tinisadunishvili@gmail.com Poster 68 Limiting factors for some endagered plant species of Azerbaijan Vugar KERIMOV and Aida DADASHOVA Institute of Botany, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Badamdar highway 40, AZ1073, Baku, Azerbaijan, There are more than 300 endangered plant species identified in Azerbaijan, the status of some of which are more critical. For this purpose, to clarify the reasons of their dissappearance the monitoring of 10 endangered plant species was carried out. Himantoglossum formosum (Stev.) C.Koch is recorded in 3 localities in a very few number. Limiting factors (LF): requires special habitat, reduction in areal due to strong anthropogenic impacts. Convolvulus fruticosus Pall. is shrub, described for the first time for Azerbaijan flora only in one area. LF: Intensive grazing of the areas, strong anthropogenic impacts. İris camillae Crosssh. is endem of Azerbaijan with very small area. LF: intensive grazing, collection as decorative plant, demanding for special habitat. Nitraria komarovii İljin is very rare shrub found in one locality. LF: strong tecnogenic impact. Astragalus bakuensis Bunge is rare endem of Absheron. LF: intensive grazing, strong anthropogenic impacts. Ranunculus arachnoideus C.A.Mey. is rare species found in high mountain zone. LF: distribution in extremal climate areas, sensitivity to climatic factors, sharp fragmentation of localities. Pseudoversicaria digitata (C.A.Mey.) Rupr. is rare endemic of Caucasus found in high mountain zone. LF: distribution in extremal climate areas, sensitivity to climatic factors, sharp fragmentation of localities. Paeonia mlokosewitschii Lomak is very rare species with limited area. LF: requirement special habitat, cutting down plants under which they grow. Sternbergia colchiciflora Waldst. et Kit. is rare species. LF: intensive grazing, collection as decorative and medicinal plants. Rhododendron caucasicum Pall. is very rare species with limited area. LF: intensive grazing, collection as decorative plant. Keywords: rare, endangered and endemic species, anthropogenic impacts, climate factors vuqarkerimov@mail.ru; aida_dadashova@mail.ru Poster 69 Tugay forests and current status in the middle of the river Kur Yelena TAGHIYEVA Institute of Geography, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, H. Javid Avenue 31, AZ 10143, Baku, Azerbaijan, The value of forests cannot be overstated, but underestimation leads to irreversible negative processes. Over the past two hundred years, forested land has been halved. The meaning and value of forests growing in arid and semi-arid regions, where the lack of atmospheric moisture allows forests to grow only along rivers - so-called Tugay forests. This is a unique symbiosis of forests and rivers, where one, in fact, cannot exist without the other. In the middle reaches of the Kur River the Tugay forests are preserved only in the reserve Karayazy where they are in an almost constant state located along the border with Georgia. The main tree species are Populus alba, Ulmus minor, Quercus longipes, Salix australior, Morus, Elaeagnus, and a variety of shrubs and vines. Human activity is in most cases not only violates this zoning, but also leads to the degradation of forests and to change them with other phytocoenoses. Human activity was partially allowed in Karayazy reserve before its inclusion in reserve (2003). As a result of grazing there was a replacement timber tree species by shrubby forms - mostly Crataegus. The degradation of Tugay forests and replacing them with thickets of shrubs and semi-arid steppe and desert vegetation has led to the predominance in phytocoenose Ceratocarpus arenarius. This species settle on a heavily trampled place where soil is absent, and form new typological unit of vegetation. Such areas we highlighted along the river and the coast of Shamkir and Yenikend reservoirs. In connection with the construction of reservoirs, Tugay forests in this region is almost destroyed, the remaining sites violated by grazing and logging, the resumption in them not exist. It is recommended to avoid grazing and implement reforestation in Tugay forests along the Kur River. Keywords: Tugay forests, degradation,dry steppe, semi-desert sagebrush, sagebrush desert tagelena@rambler.ru Poster 70 Determination of plant species belonging to Asteraceae L. family on Aghri mountain, Turkey 1 1 Yusif ZEYNALOV , Ahmet Metin KUMLAY 1 Igdir University, Faculty of Agriculture Igdir-TURKEY In this research, flora of Aghri mountain were determined. Study was carried out from 2010 until now. Astereaceae family was the highest species and genus containing family on Aghri mountain. 360 plant species were determined and 32 of them was from Astereaceae family. 18 genus belonging to Astereaceae family was as followed: Achillea biebersteine Afan, Achillea tenuifolia Lam., Achillea millefolium L., Achillea wilhelmsii C. Koch., Artemisia austriaca Jacq., Anthemis cotula L., Anthemis tinctoria L. var. tinctoria., Senecio vernalis Waldst. Et Kit., Scorzonera crocifolia, Scorzonera mollis Bieb. subsp. mollis Bieb., Scorzonera hieraciifolia (endemic), Scorzonera rigida Aucher., Carduus collinus subsp. cylindricus, Carduus pycnocephalus L. subsp. albidus (Bieb.) Kazmi. , Carduus nigrescens Vill., Centaurea cheiranthifolia Willd. var. purpurascens (DC.) Waagenitz M.Bieb., Centaurea cyanoides, Centaurea depressa L., Centaurea pseudoscabiosa Boiss.& Buche., Centaurea iberica, Crupina crupinastrum (Moris) Vis., Cnicus benedictus L. var. benedictusL., Helichrysum arenarium (L.)Moench subsp. rubicundum (C.Koch) Davis & Kupich, Cichorum intybus L., Cirsium canum (L.) All., Taraxacum officinale L.,Tanacetum abrotanifolium (L.) Druce, Tanacetum chiliophyllum (Ficsh.& Meyer) Schultz Bip.var. chiliophyllum, Tanacetum nitens (Boiss.& Noe) Grierson, Tragopogon bubhthalmoides (DC.) Boiss. var. latifolius, Jurinella moschus (Habl.) ssp. pinnatisecta (Boiss.) Danina & Davis var. ağrıdağensis Y.Z., (New Species and endemic), Xeranthemum longipapposum Fisch. et Mey. Among the plant species, one species was endemic for Aghri Mountain and one species was new for scientific world. Flora determination studies on Aghri mountain have been continued. Keywords: Aghri Mountain, endemic, new species, Astereaceae, flora of Aghri zeynalovyusuf@hotmail.com Poster 71 abiotic stress, 48 abscisic acid, 18 Absheron peninsula, 40 accumulation, 61 active ingredients, 19 adaptation, 24 agriculture, 26 Aghri Mountain, 71 air pollution, 42, 54 alkaloid, 66 allele, 39 aluminium, 15 anatomical method, 50 anthropogenic impacts, 69 anthropogenic factors, 62 antimutagen, 59 Arabidopsis thaliana, 59 Artemisia fragrans, 33 assessment, 38 Astereaceae, 71 Asteraceae Dumort, 41 Astragalusargaeus, 27 Astragalus bakuensis Bunge, 64 Ayer Hitam, 28 Azerbaijan, 7, 35, 60 bacterial consortia, 68 biodiversity, 7, 9, 17, 51 biodiversity conservation, 14 biodiversity offsets, 26 Botanical gardens, 35 breeding, 48 bread wheat, 39 buckwheat, 15 caucasus, 25, 29 caucasian endemic, 36 CBG, 60 C. cyanus, 41 C. grossheimii Sosn, 41 C. hyrcanica Bornm, 41 C. karabaghensis Sosn, 41 C. kobstanica Tzvel, 41 climate change, 12 Centaurea L, 41 Centaureaamaena, 27 Centaureamacrocephala, 50 cites, 23 clearing of water, 53 climate change, 12 climate factors, 69 component, 39 composition of flora, 62 conservation, 7, 8, 9, 12, 17, 22, 24, 28 conservation biology, 27 conservation dendrology, 13 conservation genetics, 22, 36 conservation status assessment, 22 contamination, 56 cooper, 61 correlation, 45 convention, 8, 23, 37, 53 C. razdorskyi Karyag, 41 Critical, 68 crop plants, 18 database, 38, 52 degradation, 70 dendrochronology, 45 dendroflora, 67 desert, 37 desert vegetation, 62 digitization, 34 diversity, 7, 8, 23, 24, 28, 37 DNA, 8 drought, 44, 48 dry steppe, 70 Duzdagh, 57 dynamic information source, 22 Eastern Caucasus, 58 ecological restoration, 26 ecological standards, 64 ecosystems, 12, 51, 57 ecosystem services, 31 Elodea, 61 endangered species ,35,23 endangered and endemic species, 52, 69 endemism, 7, 22, 26 endemic, 64,69,71 endemic species, 60 endemic vascular plants, 47 environmental stress, 19 environmental xenobiotics, 59 enzymes, 8 E Europe, 9 ex situ conservation, 13, 25, 35, 60 extraction, 56 Fagopyrum esculentum, 15, 61 Festuca pratensis, 50 Festuca rupicola, 50 forest, 28 flora, 7, 17, 22, 25, 57 flora of Aghrı,71 fluctuating asymmetry, 42 fungal diseases, 49 future proofing, 26 Galligonium, 55 genetics, 7, 8 genefound, 29 genophytes, 60 GIS Mapping, 43 GIS system, 38 gliadin, 39 global hotspot of Plant diversity, 22 global strategies, 12 Hajigabul lake, 55 halophytes, 65 hazardous chemicals, 61 heavy metals, 10, 33, 42, 43, 53, 65 herbaria, 34 herb-drug efficacy, 19 host diversity, 46 hybrid, 49 Hyrcanian forests, 13 hyperaccumulator, 10 identification, 39 Important Bird Area, 55 ecological risk assessment, 30 glyphosate, 30 herbicides, 30 nzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), 21 Keywords index 72 Integrative taxonomy, 22 in-situ, 25 in-situ conservation, 35 Iris acutiloba C.A.Mey, 64 Jeyranchol-Ajinohur pastures, 62 Juniperus, 45 Kayseri, 27 Kur-Araz Lowland, 65 Lasiopogon muscoides (Desf.) DC, 65 lateral root formation, 11 leaves, 42, 54 limiting factors, 64 lizard orchid, 36 local endemic, 35 locus, 39 Ludwigia sp, 61 Malaysia, 28 marker, 39 metabolism, 8 metal contamination,16 metallophyte, 14 medicinal plants, 19, 52 mine site, 43 mine waste restoration, 14 mining industry,17 microorganisms and plants combined detoxificators, 32 Morus alba, 59 Morus nigra, 59 Myriophyllum aquaticum, 61 Nakhchivan Autonomic Republic, 67 nanoparticles, 61 Nature's cure, 31 new species, 71 nutrient deficiency, 11 nutrient disorders, 11 nitroreductase, 32 oil pollution, 40, 60, 68 organic pollutants, 32 Ophrys caucasica Woronow et Grossh, 64 PCR, 44 peatland forests, 20 petroleum contamination, 33 petroleum hydrocarbons, 56 phylogenetics, 36 phylogenetic distinctiveness, 36 phylogenetic diversity, 36 phylogeography, 13, 22 phytoextraction, 14, 16 phytoremediation, 8, 61, 68 phytotoxicity, 61 phytomining, 14 phytorestoration, 37 phytostabilization, 14, 16 Pistiastratiotes, 61 plant extracts, 59 plant diversity, 37 plant species, 7, 12, 20, 49 Potamogeton sp, 61 polymeric sorbents, 53 proteomics, 8 population genetics, 35 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), 21 protected areas, 58 protection, 58 protein, 39 radial growth, 45 Ramsar, 55 Ranunculaceae, 66 Ranunculus. L, 66 RAPD markers, 44 rare and endangered species, 7, 38, 52, 67 rare plants, 58, 64, 69 R.archinoides, 66 RDX, 32 Red Book , 7, 67 Red Lists, 13, 47 refugia, 13 regenerable resources, 31 resistance, 15, 46 Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), 21 restoration, 60 remediation, 16 revegetation, 16 rhizosphere processes,10 Rolling circle amplification (RCA), 21 root development, 11, 15 root exudation, 15 sagebrush desert, 70 salinization, 65 Seed Bank, 24, 25 semi desert, 37 semi-desert sagebrush, 70 single-stranded DNA viruses (ss DNA viruses), 21 site-ecology, 35 soil contamination, 43 soil morphology and physical-chemical characteristic, 40 soil properties, 43 soil restoration, 65 sorption, 53, 56 stem-only harvesting, 20 susceptibility, 46 sustainable management, 31 tetraploid, 49 the Caucasus, 47 threatened tree species, 13 tolerance mechanism, 33 TNT, 32 tomato, 46 trace metals, 54 Tugay forests, 70 Turkey, 9, 27 Turyancay, 45 Tuta absoluta, 46 type specimens, 34 Typha sp., 61 vegetation, 37, 57, 62, Vicia faba, 59 Vistar rats, 59 water basins, 56 water deficit, 18 water purification, 61 water use efficiency, 18 wetland, 51, 55 wheat, 44, 48, 49 whole-tree harvesting, 20 xenobiotic, 8 73 Abbasov M.A., 49 Abdiyeva Rena, 38 Afzal Joshua, 30 Aghabeyli Rena, 59 Ahmadov M.A., 49 Ahmadov M.H., 49 Akhmedova Sevda, 62 Akperli Tarana, 66 Aksoy Ahmet, 27 Alasgarov Maftun, 50 Alirzayeva Esmira, 33, 65 Aliyev Jalal, 44 Ali-zade Valida, 7, 38, 60, 65 Amiranashvili L, 68 Atamov Vagif, 51 Babayev Maharram, 40 Baker Alan J.M., 14 Barby Janette, 35 Betrisey Sebastien, 13 Borsch Thomas, 22 Bott Sebastian, 30 Christmann Alexandr, 18 Dadashova Aida, 38, 69 Dickinson Nicholas, 26 Farzaliyev Vahid, 45 Fazan Laurence, 13 Gafarova Beyim, 42 Gagelidze N., 68 Garakhani Parvana, 41 Garfi Giuseppe, 13 Gharekhani Gholamhossein, 46 Giehl Ricardo, 11 Gratzfeld Joachim, 13 Grill Erwin, 18 Gruber Ben, 11 Guliyev Adil, 63 Guliyeva Sevinj, 63 Hajiyeva Sevinj, 53, 56 Horst Walter J., 15 Hotanen Juha-Pekka, 20 Huseynova Arzu, 41 Huseynova Irada, 21, 44 I. Faridah-Hanum, 28 Ibadli Oruj, 60, 63 Ibadullayeva Sayyara, 57 Ibrahimov Ali, 40 Ibrahimov Anvar, 67 Iqbal Muhammad, 19 Isayev Shahin, 55 Jabbarov Musa, 51 Jafarova Naila, 53 Johnson M.E., 61 Kerimov Akper, 39 Kerimov Vugar, 35, 69 Khalilov Vakil, 51 Khatisashvili G., 68 Kirchner Thomas, 15 Klug Benjamin, 15 Kotelevtsev S.V., 61 Kozlowski Evelyne, 13 Kozlowski Gregor, 13 Kumlay A.M., 71 Kutateladze L., 68 Kvesitadze E., 32, 68 Kvesitadze G., 32 Litvinskaya Svetlana, 29 Maharramova Nigar, 56 Mammadov Elton, 43 Mammadova Afet, 42 Mammadova Alamdar, 21 Mammadova Sura, 53 Mehdiyeva Naiba, 52 Mccutcheon Steven C., 8, 61 Mirzayeva Shahla, 64 Movsumova Nuri, 57 Mursalova Jamala, 48 Murtazaliev Ramazan, 58 Musayev Murad, 51 Nakhutsrishvili George, 47 Neumann Günter, 30, 33 Nieminen Tiina M., 16,20 Nousiainen Hannu 20 Ostroumov S.A., 61 Öztürk Münir, 9 Parolly Gerald, 35 Poklonov V.A., 61 Rastgar Safar, 46 Rogers Philip, 17 Römheld Volker, 10 Rustamov Kh.N., 49 Rustamova Samira, 44 Ryan Deirdre 34 Sabbaghnia Naser, 46 Sadigov Hamlet, 39 Sadigova Narmina, 55 Sadunishvili Tinatin, 32, 68 Sajeva Maurizio, 23 Salek-Ebrahimi H., 46 Salimov Rashad, 60 Seyfullayev Farid, 45 Sharrock Suzanne, 12 Sheleykovsky V.L., 61 Shestakova T.V., 61 Shirvani Tamilla 65 Shukurov Eldar, 37 Smith Paul, 24 Solomonova E.A., 61 Souri Mohammad Kazim, 46 Sramko Gabor, 36 Suleymanov Gulmammad, 56 Sultanova Nargiz, 21 Taghiyeva Yelena, 70 Talibov Tariel, 67 Tesfamariam Tsehaye, 30 Toderich Kristina, 65 Trivedi Clare, 25 Tyson J.F., 61 Ukonmaanaho Liisa, 20 Vaglica Valentina, 23 Varaprasad Majeti Narasimha, 31 Wiren Nicolaus Von, 11 Xing B., 61 Youssef Naglaa, 54 Zernov Aleksandr, 64 Zeynalov Yusif, 71 Author Index 74 Status of plant diversity conservation in Azerbaijan V.M.Ali-zade……………………………………………………………………………………………………….... 7 Genetic and Proteomic Diversity of Plants Used in Phytoremediation Steven C. MCCUTCHEON………………………………………………………………………………………… 8 Biodiversity and Conservation-ACase Study from Europe and Turkey Münir ÖZTÜRK……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 9 Rhizosphere processes as determinants for heavy metal uptake in plants Volker RÖMHELD…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 10 Morphological responses of roots to changing nutrient availabilities Ben GRUBER, Ricardo GIEHL, Nicolaus von WIREN………………………………………………………. 11 The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation – a framework for conservation action from local to global Suzanne SHARROCK……………………………………………………………………………………………. 12 Conservation of Tertiary relict trees with specific reference to the genus Zelkova (Ulmaceae) Gregor KOZLOWSKI, Joachim GRATZFELD, Giuseppe GARFÌ, Laurence FAZAN, Evelyne KOZLOWSKI, Sébastien BÉTRISEY…………………………………………………………………. 13 Metallophytes:a biodiversity and phytotechnological resource for soil clean-up, phytomining and mine site restoration Alan J M, BAKER………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 14 Aluminium exclusion and Al accumulation are not alternative Al resistance mechanisms – the example of buckwheat (Fagopyrumesculentum) Walter J. HORST, Benjamin KLUG and Thomas KIRCHNER……………………………………………….. 15 Response of Downy birch and Scots pine seedlings to soil heavy metals Tiina M. NIEMINEN……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 16 Flora, biodiversity and conservation – implications for the mining industry Philip ROGERS……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 17 Drought in times of climate change: a major threat for plants and agriculture Alexander CHRISTMANN and Erwin GRILL…………………………………………………………………… 18 Active ingredients of medicinal plants in changing environment Muhammad IQBAL……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 19 Recovery of understorey vegetation after forest clear-cut on peatland Liisa UKONMAANAHO, Tiina M. NIEMINEN, Hannu NOUSIAINEN and Juha-Pekka HOTANEN……………………………………………………………………………………… 20 Occurrence and detection of some single stranded DNA (ss DNA) plant viruses in Azerbaijan Nargiz F. SULTANOVA, Alamdar Ch. MAMMADOV, Irada M. HUSEYNOVA.............................................................................................................................. 21 Scientific research to support conservation in the Caucasus – the Caucasus Plant Diversity Initiative Thomas Borsch…………………………………………………………………………………………………….22 The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and the Conservation of Plant Diversity Maurizio SAJEVA and Valentina VAGLİCA……………………………………………………………………. 23 Content 75 The Millennium Seed Bank Partnership: conserving and enabling the use of plant diversity for innovation and adaptation Dr Paul SMİTH…………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 24 Millennium Seed Bank Partnership: Saving the Flora of the Caucasus Clare TRIVEDI………………………………………………………………………………………..…………… 25 Benefits, trade-offs and conservation of plant diversity in novel ecosystems and changed environments in New Zealand Nicholas DICKINSON…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 26 Conservation of Plant Diversity: A Case Study from Kayseri-Turkey Ahmet AKSOY......................................................................................................................................... 27 Plant Diversity of Ayer Hitam Forest in Malaysia and Conservation in Urban Settings I. Faridah-Hanum………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 28 Rare genefound and peculiarities of biodiversity of Northen Caucasus under changing enviroment Svetlana LITVINSKAYA…………………………………………………………………………………….…….. 29 Glyphosate and the challenge of an ecological risk assessment Günter Neumann, Sebastian Bott, Tsehaye Tesfamariam, Joshua Afzal, Volker Römheld……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 30 Plant diversity services to ecosystem in the era of environmental changes MAJETI NARASIMHA VARAPRASAD…………………………………………………………….…………... 31 Symbiotic action of plants and microorganismas as detoxificators of organic pollutants G. KVESITADZE, T.SADUNISHVILI, E.KVESITADZE.................................................................................. 32 Multiple tolerances of Artemisia fragrans to environmental stress factors Esmira ALIRZAYEVA, Gunter NEUMANN…………………………………………….....…………………….... 33 Global Plants Initiative: Collaborative community built database Deirdre RYAN............................................................................................................................................... 34 The conservation of Calligonumbakuense– a workshop report Gerald PAROLLY, Janette BARBYand Vugar KƏRIMOV……………………………………………..……….. 35 Conservation Phylogenetics – setting priority based on lineage uniqueness Gábor SRAMKO……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 36 Conversation of plant diversity in desert and semi desert habitats in Azerbaijan Eldar SHUKUROV………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 37 Priority rare and endangered plant species of Azerbaijan: assessment of conservation status Aida DADASHOVA, Rena ABDIYEVA and Valida ALI-ZADE................................................................... 38 Identification of new allele component blocks in bread wheat (T. aestivum L.) accessions using protein markers and their use in breeding Akbar KARİMOV, Hamlet SADİGOV…………………………………………………………..………….…….. 39 Influence of oil pollution on morphological characteristics and ecology o gray-brown soils Ali İBRAHİMOV, Maharram BABAYEV..................................................................................................... 40 76 Economical Improtance and Conservation of Some Centaurea L. Species Arzu Y. HUSEYNOVA, Parvana Kh. GARAKHANI................................................................................... 41 Morphological and physiological changes of urban trees as ecological indicators of heavy metal stress Beyim GAFAROVA, Afet MAMMADOVA ................................................................................................. 42 Content and Spatial Variability of Heavy Metals in the Soils of Gold Mine area in Gadabay Region, Azerbaijan Elton MAMMADOV.................................................................................................................................... 43 RAPD Markers Based Genetic Diversity Analysis for Drought Tolerance in Wheat Genotypes Irada M. HUSEYNOVA, Samira M. RUSTAMOVA, Jalal A. ALİYEV.......................................................................................................................................... 44 Dendroecological investigation of some juniper species from Turyanchay State Nature Reserve Farid S.SEYFULLAYEV, Vahid S.FARZALİYEV........................................................................................ 45 Diversity of tomato cultivars the damage caused by Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) under greenhouse condition Gholamhossein GHAREKHANI, Hamideh SALEK-EBRAHIMI, Mohammad Kazem SOURI, Safar RASTGAR, Naser SABBAGHNIA........................................................ 46 Red List of the endemic vascular plants of the Caucasus George NAKHUTSRISHVILI…...…………………………………………………………………………..……… 47 Current and Future Challenges of Wheat Yield Potential In Consequence Of Climate Change Jamala MURSALOVA…………..………………………………………………………………………………….. 48 Study of Interspecific Hybrids Of Durum Wheat and Tetraploid Wheat Species Kh.N. Rustamov, M.A. Abbasov, M.H. Ahmadov, M.A. Ahmadov…………………………..…………………. 49 Anatomical Research Method in Taxonomy and Bioecology Maftun. M. ALASGAROV................................................................. ......................................................... 50 The wetland vegetation biodiversity of Azerbaijan Murad MUSAYEV, Vagif ATAMOV, Vakil KHALILOV, Musa JABBAROV............ .................................... 51 Importance data base of medicinal plants for plant biodiversity conservation in Azerbaijan Naiba MEHDIYEVA.................................................................................................................................. 52 Clearing of water from Fe3+ ions with polymeric sorbent Naila JAFAROVA, Sevinj HAJIYEVA and Sura MAMMADOVA................................................................ 53 Tree leaves as bioindicator of trace metal pollution in the atmosphere of Absheron peninsula Naglaa YOUSSEF..................................................................................................................................... 54 Conservation problems of Lake Hajigabul Narmina SADIGOVA and Shahin ISAYEV………………………………….………………………………….. 55 Investigation of possibilities of water basins purification, contaminated by oily emulsion type petroleum products, using of sorption and extraction methods Nigar MAHARRAMOVA, Sevinj HAJIYEVA, Gulmammad SULEYMANOV…………………………………………………………………...……………….. 56 Current state of the flora and vegetation of Duzdagh Nuri V. Movsumova, Sayyara J. Ibadullayeva............................................................................................ 57 77 The problem of plant conservation in the protected areas of the Eastern Caucasus (Russian Federation) R.A.MURTAZALIEV………………………………………………………………………………………………. 58 Sustainable Mobilization of the Morus Species as Potential Sources of the Food Additives with Protective Properties Rena AGABEYLI …………………………………………………………………………………………….….. 59 To ex situ Conservation Strategy for Some Rare and Endemic Plant Species in Azerbaijan Reshad SALIMOV, Oruj IBADLI, Valida ALI-ZADE………………………………………………….……….. 60 Use of plants in assessing and alleviating pollution S. A. Ostroumov, S. V. Kotelevtsev, M. E. Johnson, S. C. McCutcheon, V. A.Poklonov, E. A.Solomonova,J. F. Tyson, V. L.Sheleykovsky, T.V.Shestakova,and B. Xing……………………………………………………………………………………... 61 The vegetation of winter pastures of Jeyranchol-Ajinohur arrays of Azerbaijan at the beginning of XXI century Sevda AKHMEDOVA................................................................................................................................. 62 Introduction of some endangered Allium L. species and their chemical composition Sevinj GULIYEVA, Adil GULIYEV, Oruj IBADLI............................................................................................ 63 The reasons of reduction of endemic and rare plants Distributed on the Absheron peninsula Shahla N. MIRZAYEVA, Aleksandr S. ZERNOV …………………………………………………….…………..64 Evaluation of Wild Halophytes for the Soil Restoration in Kur-Araz Lowland of Azerbaijan Tamilla SHIRVANI, Esmira ALIRZAYEVA, Kristina TODERICH, Valida ALI-ZADE…………………………………...……………………………..……….. 65 Some Ranunculus species and their conservation actions Tarana AKPERLİ........................................................................................................................................ 66 Rare and Threatened Species of Dendroflora of Nakhchivan Autonomic Republic (Azerbaijan) Tariyel TALIBOV and Anvar IBRAHIMOV.................................................................................................. 67 Novel phytoremediation technology for cleaning of oil-polluted soils T.SADUNISHVILI, G.KHATISASHVILI, L.KUTATELADZE, N.GAGELIDZE, L.AMIRANASHVILI, E.KVESITADZE…………………………………………………………………………….. 68 Limiting factors for some endagered plant species of Azerbaijan Vugar KERIMOV and Aida DADASHOVA................................................................................................. 69 Tugay forests and current status in the middle of the river Kur Yelena TAGHIYEVA.................................................................................................................................. ....70 Determination of plant species belonging to Asteraceae L. Family on Aghri mountain, Turkey Yusif ZEYNALOV, Ahmet Metin KUMLAY.................................................................................................. 71 Keywords index............................................................................................................................................ 72 Author index................................................................................................................................................. 74 78
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