The "Flora of Russia" project on iNaturalist brought together professional scientists and amateur naturalists from all over the country. Over 10,000 people were involved in the data collection. Within 20 months, the participants accumulated 750,143 photo observations of 6,857 species of the Russian flora. This constitutes the largest dataset of open spatial data on the country’s biodiversity and a leading source of data on the current state of the national flora. About 87% of all project data, i.e. 652,285 observations, are available under free licences (CC0, CC-BY, CC-BY-NC) and can be freely used in scientific, educational and environmental activities.

This article presents data from a review of published works on the economic damage caused by invasive plant species, their ecological and economical impact, and the legal regulation of biological invasions. It is concluded that it is necessary to elaborate and adopt a national strategy on alien species, federal regulatory acts concerning the policy on invasive organisms, and general approaches and criteria to evaluate the risk of their spread. Effective control of invasive species is only possible at the rational approach, which takes into consideration individual ecological-biological features of the species, their relations with other components of the community, the properties of the ecosystem invaded by them, expenditures for their control, and the period and consequences of their eradication.

Globalization, the expansion of trade relations, inter- and intracontinental movements of population, the development of transport networks between the countries led to an active settlement of many plant species outside their natural areas. Among such plants, a group of invasive species (those whose distribution has serious environmental, economic, and social consequences) is distinguished. The article contains information about the results of the inventory of invasive species of vascular plants growing in the Russian Federation, as well as an overview of the actions taken in the country to manage the invasive plant species. At present, there are 584 invasive species of vascular plants in Russia; out of them, Acer negundo, Echinocystis lobata, and Erigeron canadensis are the most common. It has to be stated, that until now, both legislative acts regulating the policy in the field of invasive species (legal regulation of phytoquarantine is an exception) and a national strategy for alien species in Russia are absent. The efficient management of biological invasions can work in the case where the general public is aware of the adverse consequences of the invasion of invasive species.

An overview of Russian literature sources of urban flora studies. The authors analyze the history of urban floral research in Russia and provide definitions of terms – urban flora, native, indigenous, apophytic, alien, synanthropic species. The overview provides a description of methods and approaches used in different studies of urban flora. Special attention is paid to the analysis of the biological diversity of native and alien plants and the features of their spatial distribution in urban habitats. The authors raise problems of protection of biodiversity in cities and show the role of urban protected natural areas. The conclusion of the work outlines the prospects for further study of urban flora. The authors highlight an importance and necessity of creation of a unified database of vascular plants in the urbanized territories of Russia. Further usage of the database will allow to conduct a comparative analysis of the species composition of urban flora and to identify the degree of their homogenization and originality.

Globalization, expansion of trade relations, inter- and intra-continental population movements, development of transport links between countries have led to the active settlement of many plant species outside their natural ranges. Among such plants, a group of invasive species stands out, whose distribution has serious environmental, economic and social consequences. The article contains information about the results of the inventory of invasive vascular plant species growing in the Russian Federation, as well as an overview of the actions taken in the country to manage invasive plant species. Currently, there are 584 invasive species of vascular plants in Russia, of which the most common are Acer negundo, Echinocystis lobata and Erigeron canadensis. It has to be stated that until now there are no legislative acts regulating the policy in the field of invasive species (the exception is the legal regulation of phytocarantin), as well as the national strategy for alien species in Russia. Effective management of biological invasions can work if the general public is aware of the adverse effects of biological invasions. Given that the number of specialists is always limited, it is necessary to take into account the role of the general population in the management of invasive species.

The article presents a list of invasive and potentially invasive plants in the flora of the Middle Volga region (in Samara oblast and Ulyanovsk oblast) for the first time. The list includes 59 species distributed in groups according to their activity, features of interaction with native species, and the nature of occupied habitats. For most species, the time of entry to the flora of the region is found. Some theoretical aspects of the introduction of blacklists are discussed.