ORGANIZATION

Systematics Department

The manager: Sergey Vladimirovich Smirnov, Cand. of biological science, Associate Professor.
The tasks of the department include studying the flora of the Altai Territory, collection of herbarium and living plants to conserve the gene pool of the Altai flora. The achievement of the department is participation in creation of fundamental works on systematics and flora, including “Flora Altaica”, “Red Book of Altai Krai”.

Biotechnology Department

The goals and objectives of the department are: development of methods of regeneration and micropropagation of economically useful crops, rare and endangered species, creation and maintenance of their collections in vitro; plants cloning; restoration of rare and endemic plants of Altai. In vitro collections of the the following plants have been created in the department: 9 cultivars of potatoes, 3 cultivars of rmontant strawberries, 1 cultivar of large-colored klematis, 3 cultivars of host, Rhododendron ledebourii, stevia, 20 forms of pear, 5 forms of cherry, Brachanthemum baranovii and B. krylovii, Dendranthema sinatum, Fritillaria verticillata and F. meleagris.

Herbarium Department

In 1995 Herbarium was registered in the Index Herbariorum and it was given an international acronym – ALTB. At the moment Herbarium collection consists of main and double funds. The materials of the main collection, which contains about 450,000 items, are represented by the lower and higher plants. Since 2013 type  materials and part of the collections are presented in the Virtual Herbarium ALTB (http://altb.asu.ru). The collection of lower plants consists mainly of lichens. Among the higher plants, vascular plants are most fully presented. The vast part of specimens are from regions within the Altai Mountainous Country (Republic of Altai, Altai Krai, Tyva, Khakassia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China), which account for 2/3 of the entire collection. The Herbarium has model specimens by different taxonomic groups of higher plants. About 90% of the collections are vascular plants, which are classified according to geographical principle.

Application for research with SSBG herbarium collections (ALTB)

Herbaceous Plant Department

Acting manager: Sergey Vladimirovich Smirnov, Candidate of Biological Sciences, Associate Professor.
Collection of natural flora of Altai Krai and the Republic of Altai was established in 1980. Over the past years, more than 2000 species, subspecies and forms of herbaceous plants have been introduced and tested. According to the results of the assessment, including winter resistance, resistance to diseases, ability to reproduction, a group of 119 promising plants for further introduction in Barnaul was identified.

Ornamental plants department

The scientific direction of the department is the enrichment of Altai cultural flora based on the wide involvement of cultivated species from other territories  and local ornamental wild plants. The collection of the department includes 870 varieties of perennial and 140 annual plants. These are ornamental plants of natural flora: Saxifraga, buttercups, veronics, aconites, delphinium and many others.

Arboretum

Arboretum includes 117 species of woody, shrub plants and lianas. More than half of the collection consists of representatives of Altai flora. The Far Eastern flora is presented by 35 species, the European part of Russia – 8 species, North American – 14 species. Recently the works on introduction of cherries and selection of blackcurrant diseases resistance have been started.

Geobotany and Resources Department

The work of the employees of this department is aimed at studying and assessing the vegetation cover of the Western Altai, studying the flora and vegetation of disturbed habitats (cities, towns, forest belt), identifying new locations of alien plant species, as well as conducting bioindication work to evaluate environmental conditions.