Organization of coenopopulations Salvia verticillata L. in the republic of Mari El from the position of ecogeographical approach

The ontogenetic structure of 10 coenopopulations (CP) of Salvia verticillata growing in the Mari El Republic (MER) was studied. The state of the S. verticillata CP is ambiguous. The CPs 1–5 are normal, full-fledged (except for CP 2). A significant proportion of participation in CP 1–5 of individuals of the pregenerative and generative periods indicates high seed productivity of S. verticillata and the ability of the CP to self-sustain and sustainable development, but strong anthropogenic and zoogenic loads (CP 6–10) can be detrimental to the population of this species. S. verticillata exhibits mesobiontism in all climatic and soil factors (Itclim. = 0.55; ItLc = 0.56; Itsoil = 0.53) and does not go beyond the fundamental ecological niche, but on the territory of the republic S. verticillata cannot realize all possible potentials, being in narrow ranges of ecological parameters. The allocation of ecogeographic units (EGU) and ecogeographic aggregations (EGA) is based on the analysis of thematic geographical maps (soils, relief) and data on phytoindication assessment of ecotopes obtained using D.N. Tsyganov's ecological scales. The CPs of S. verticillata, located territorially close to each other and located in similar soil and other conditions, were combined into EGU, and they, according to the same principles, into EGA. The similarity of the studied CPs of S. verticillata was established: in the Novotoryalsky district of the Republic of Mari El, 2 EGE were identified, which were combined into one EGA, in Mari-Tureksky – 3 EGE and 2 EGA. The data from the work will allow us to identify the boundaries of future nature conservation areas.