Year: 2025
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: The introduction of new ornamental plants with year-round high aesthetic value and rich diversity - tolerant of adverse anthropogenic impacts and resistant to various biotic and abiotic stress factors - into green building practices is of particular and social importance. This is especially true in the context of increasing urbanization and the rapid reduction of available space in cities for creating squares, parks, other recreational areas, and for implementing garden therapy. Boxelder maple (Acer negundo L.) is a dioecious species, with male and female flowers borne on separate individuals. It was introduced to Ukraine from North America more than 200 years ago, has successfully acclimatized and naturalized, and is now considered invasive. However, androecious individuals of A. negundo do not pose a threat of expansion, are highly decorative, and can be used effectively in the landscaping of urbanized areas. Our research focused on the non-morphogenic regenerative capacity of both male and female A. negundo plants. To assess post-trauma self-repair in the A. negundo plants under study, standardized notches (10–12 mm long, 1.5 mm wide) were made on one-year-old shoots from the previous year’s growth at ten-day intervals from March to October. Creating the notch in the cambium was essential. Each wound was covered with transparent Scotch tape to prevent infection and desiccation. The regeneration coefficient was calculated using a modified 9-point scale to evaluate regeneration efficiency. Wound overgrowth was monitored every ten days using a magnifying glass. The regeneration coefficient was expressed in units of regeneration coefficient (urc), calculated according to Olga Opalko’s equation. The average regeneration coefficient index in A. negundo increased during the spring, starting from the third decade of March, when the indices gradually rose to 1.45 urc in androecious plants and 1.23 urc in gynoecious plants. By the third decade of May, the first peak of regeneration activity was observed, with regeneration coefficients reaching 5.79 urc and 5.40 urc in androecious and gynoecious plants, respectively. Full wound healing occurred within 10 and 11 days, respectively. The second peak was recorded from the first decade of June to the second decade of July, during which the regeneration coefficients gradually increased and reached a maximum of 8.10 urc in androecious and 7.17 urc in gynoecious plants. The intensity of non-morphogenetic post-trauma regeneration in the studied A. negundo plants varied throughout the years of investigation. It depended more on temperature fluctuations (r = 0.84–0.91) than on the amount of precipitation (r = -0.22 to -0.37) or the hydrothermal coefficient (r = -0.15 to -0.38). Nevertheless, the average indices of regeneration potential were rather higher for the androecious plants. Because androecious A. negundo individuals cannot spread naturally, and male boxelder maple plants pose no risk of uncontrolled propagation while being highly acclimated to the natural and climatic conditions of Ukraine, they can be effectively used for landscaping urbanized areas and enhancing the productivity of urban ecosystems.
Language: English
Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Life on land
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W7204728015