Aromatic and medicinal plants Rare and endangered flora of Belarus Fodder plants Bioenergy plants Rare and endangered species of flora of Belarus in the collection of the Central Botanical Garden of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus One of the environmental problems facing our republic and requiring an immediate solution is the preservation of biological diversity of plants as the basis of homeostasis of natural ecosystems and the preservation of life on earth. The global impoverishment of natural flora under the influence of increasing anthropogenic pressure is one of the negative environmental problems. It must be recognized that the need to preserve the biological diversity of vegetation and, especially, rare and endangered species, stems not so much from the aesthetic value and resource value, usefulness at the present time, but from the functional role it plays in the cycle of matter and energy, ensuring processes life activities of all living things on our planet. Each extinct species of plants entails the disappearance of at least 5 species of invertebrates, the existence of which is inextricably linked to these plants. Botanic gardens play a special role in preserving the gene pool of natural flora. Placing opportunities for growing plants, in gardens it is possible to organize a comparative ecological-biological study of species and populations in nature and culture, to assess the possibility of their preservation in various conditions based on knowledge of the patterns of growth, development, recovery and reproduction, adaptive properties, the passage of ontogenetic development and, therefore will prolong the existence of endangered species, which is one of the most urgent problems of our time. The relevance of this line of work also stems from the commitments made by the Republic of Belarus in connection with the signing of the Convention on Biological Diversity (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), as well as the tasks outlined in the National Strategy and Action Plan for Conservation and Sustainable . of the use of biological diversity of the Republic of Belarus (1997). The biocentric approach in the solution of environmental problems, it must be admitted, is not declarative, but to solve the practical problems of saving the biological diversity of the natural flora from degradation, which can still be done using a set of measures for the real preservation of the gene pool. The development of the scientific foundations of the protection of rare species of natural flora has been carried out in the National Academy of Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus since 1976, first within the framework of the nature conservation topic of the laboratory of ecology and nature protection during biocenological studies of natural complexes of the Pripyat Landscape and Hydrological Reserve, Nalibotsky Pushcha8 the thematic plan of the laboratory of mobilization of plant resources ( biodiversity of plant resources). Cultivation of rare species in botanical gardens is an additional way to preserve their gene pool and a prerequisite for repatriation and the basis for the preservation of species that are disappearing in nature [The role of introduction in the preservation of the gene pool of rare and endangered plant species. Moscow, Science, 1984. 210 p.] The natural flora of Belarus is characterized by a low biodiversity of herbaceous plant species, and some of them, the condition of which causes serious concern for their continued preservation on the territory of the republic, are included in the Red Book of the Republic of Belarus. According to the 3rd Edition of the Red Book (2005), the list of rare and endangered species of plants includes 173 taxa of vascular plants: 3 - from the Lycopodiophyta division, 1 - from the Horsetail division - Eguisetophyta, 7 - from the Fernaceae division - Angiospermae (flowering) division ( Magnoliophyta) [43]. The number of species of medicinal and decorative plants is especially sharply reduced under the influence of various anthropogenic factors. Inclusion of a species in the Red Book is only the first stage in a long and complex process of preserving it as part of the vegetation cover. No less important are special measures not only for preservation in natural cenoses, but also purposeful breeding of them in culture - the most reliable way of ex-situ preservation, since this event will contribute to the creation of reserve funds of plants and will enable their reintroduction into natural cenoses. The main tasks of the protection of rare and endangered plants are: study and analysis of geographical and ecological conditions of the species' habitat, selection of the most valuable species from the general list, creation of a collection gene pool of rare and endangered species of Belarus and a seed bank, detailed study of biology and ecology from the conditions of culture and comparison of single conditions with conditions in natural places of growth. The gene pool of rare and endangered plants of the natural flora of Belarus in the collection of the laboratory includes 109 species belonging to 89 genera and 41 families. In 2010, its number increased by 14 species. Reconstruction was carried out and a new exposition of aquatic and coastal protective plants was laid in the conditions of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. Adaptive possibilities of rare and protected plants in cultural conditions are substantiated. Of the 109 species, 74 or 67.9% are rated as highly resistant in culture, go through a full development cycle, flower and bear fruit; in 8 species (7.3%) - the seeds were set, but not ripe, and 27 species (24.8%) are in a vegetative state - individual plants bloom, but do not bear fruit. An assessment of rare and protected species of the collection of the National Academy of Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus by categories of vulnerability is given, the ecosystems (forests, meadows, marshes, rivers, lakes) of natural habitats and the number of species in culture and nature are given. The reproductive abilities and methods of reproduction of the most vulnerable species of rare and endangered plants from the collection of the National Academy of Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus under cultivation conditions were studied. The perspective of the use of rare and protected plants in the national and economic complex and medicine is given. The creation and content of a collection of living plants of protected species of the flora of Belarus and the justification of their reproduction methods ensure the practical implementation of one of the main ecological tasks that are part of the competence of botanical gardens, to preserve rare and (protected) plants. Carrying out work on the content of the collection of rare (protected) plants of the flora of Belarus, studying their biology and reproductive capacity, as well as forming a seed fund of these plants and growing their seedlings as insurance funds, is one of the possible methods of preserving endangered species, increasing their number and, accordingly, the expansion of the cultigenic range. The introduction of protected species of practical importance (medicinal, food, decorative) into culture allows to significantly reduce the anthropogenic pressure on their natural populations, and thus is an effective method of preserving protected species in natural coenoses. The collection gene pool of rare and endangered plants of the natural flora of Belarus, formed at the National Academy of Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, is the only center in the republic for the study and preservation of ex situ biodiversity and the most important ecological object for the promotion and popularization of knowledge about the plant world, providing excursion services. ecological-educational, ecological-educational and ecological-educational work among youth and the younger generation, as well as for the population as a whole. Literature: Red Book of the Republic of Belarus: Rare species of wild plants that are under threat of extinction. / See editorial board: L.I. Kharuzhik (prod.), L.M. Sushchenya, V.I. Parfyonov and others. // Minsk: BelEn, 2005. – 456p. L.U. Kukharov January 2012
