Abstract
Urban natural science consists of many fields. We consider urban plant science (urban botany) to be one of the main branches of urban natural sciences and urban biology. Urban plant science (urban botany) is a discipline studying urban vegetation. Some areas of urban plant science are also developing as applied disciplines. Urban forestry and urban horticulture are important trends. We consider urban botany as a field that includes all urban plant sciences. Urban botany is relevant area in the concept of urban natural sciences. There are many studies on urban plant biology. Urban plants have many beneficial functions, including phytoremediation and aesthetic properties, microclimate improvement, and impact on biodiversity. The main objectives of urban plant science are: the study of urban plants and plant communities of urban ecosystems; the effect of urban environment on plants; the increase of plant resistance to the urban environment; the selection of plant species and varieties for urban greening.
Urban botany can be considered as an academic discipline. We believe that in the future it may be possible to train specialists in a new direction of “Urban Natural Science”. Urban botany will be one of the leading academic disciplines in this area.
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The data presented in this study are included in this article.
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Part of the research was carried out within the state assignment of Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (themes 122042700045-3; 122042600086-7).
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Conceptualization: Evgeny Aleksandrovich Gladkov, Olga Victorovna Gladkova. Methodology: Evgeny Aleksandrovich Gladkov, Olga Victorovna Gladkova. Analysed the data: Evgeny Aleksandrovich Gladkov, Olga Victorovna Gladkova. Wrote the article: Evgeny Aleksandrovich Gladkov, Olga Victorovna Gladkova. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Gladkov, E.A., Gladkova, O.V. Plants and urban natural sciences. Biologia 78, 3381–3385 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11756-023-01543-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11756-023-01543-y