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The Largest Plant Genera of the Altai Region

Distribution of Plant Species of the Altai Region According to the 3 Altitude Categories

e have divided all the species growing on the territory of the Altai into three groups, according in their occurrence in different altitudes. (Table 3).

High-altitude region	Number of species	% to the total number of species
Plain SDecies. From Kulundinskaya de­pression to 600-700 m above sea level.	402	15.6
Mountain species. Occur­ring in mountain steppes, forests and alpine vegeta­tion (from 1900 to 1	1253	48.5
3100m).
Common species, Grow­ing neither in mountainous nor in plains of the region.	926	35.9
Total	2581	100

Table 3

The highest species number can be observed in the families of the Ranuncu- lacee - 38.6% and Poaceae 38%. The Brassicaceae comprise many annuals that are well-adapted to arid conditions.

Table 4

Ecological Spectrum of the Species of the Altai Region in Terms of their Adaptation to the Aridity

Families	Number of species	% to the total number of species
Xerophytes	327	12.6
Mesoxerophytes	730	28.3
Mesophytes	996	38.6
Mesohygrohytes	295	11.4
Hydrophytes	149	5.8
Hydrophytes	84	3.3
Total	2581	100

All species of the Altai region have been divided into 13 geographical groups:

® Cosmopolitans • occurring almost all over the world;

• Holarctic - in Europe, Asia, and North America;

• Eurasian - in Europe and Asia;

• Asian - throughout all of Asia;

• Central Asian - in Altai, Mongolia, Sayans; in the mountains of Cen­tral Asia; and in the Bulkhashsky, Aral-Kaspiysky and Kysyl-Kumsky flora regions;

• Mediterranean - in Europe, Asia and the Mediterranean flora region of adjacent countries (USSR Flora, 1964);

• Central Asian Altai - in the mountains of Central Asia, Altai, Sayans;

• Altai Sayanskaya - in Altai, or Altai and Sayans, Mongolian Altai;

• East Siberian - the flora district that only slightly enters Altai;

• Far Eastern - there are some findings in the region, separated from the main areas of the Far East;

• European - which spreads mainly in Europe, west of the Urals, and in our region. (See Table 5).

TableS

Geographical Spectrum of the Species of the Altai Region

Families	Number of species	% to the total number of species
Cosmopolitan	73	2.8
Holarctic	386	15.0
Eurasian	904	35.1
Asian	498	193
Central-Asian	65	2.5
Asian-American	27	1.0
Turanskaya	83	3.2
Mediterranian	4	0.2
Central-Asian-Altai ■	166	6.4
Altai-Sayanskaya	287	11.1
East-Siberian	41	1.6
Far Eastern	7	0.3
European	40	1.5
Total	2581	100