Microplastics (MPs) contaminations of freshwater and marine environments has become a global issue. Lakes in southern Siberia provide a wide range of ecosystem services and are essential elements in the annual and interannual runoff distribution of the Great Siberian Rivers. However, the extent of their MPs pollution remains unknown. In this paper, for the first time, we analyze the concentrations, composition, and spatial distribution of MPs in six lakes in southern Siberia. The studied lakes are located both in the Altai mountains and the West Siberian plain. Some of them are significantly impacted by human activities, while others are located in protected areas with no permanent population. Nevertheless, MPs were detected in all of the studied lakes. MPs concentrations ranged from 4 to 26 MPs L−1. Comparing with other inland lakes, South Siberian lakes presented moderate MPs concentrations. Among the registered MPs forms, fragments and films were dominant, with a size range between 31 and 60 nm. The MPs’ sources depend on local human activities (fishing, transport, landfilling). Therefore, sufficiently high concentrations were observed even in remote lakes. The present study set a baseline that emphasizes the need for increased attention to waste management and sustainable water use in Siberian freshwater environments.

The Altai Mountains occupy the northwestern part of the Central Asian collision belt. The late-Holocene behavior of glaciers in the Altai Mountains was reconstructed for the Khaidun river valley in the western part of the Russian Altai. We report here 17 new radiocarbon datings from wood remains buried by moraines, from peat layers and lacustrine sediments. The glaciers’ advance took place in 2500–2200 bc, 1100 bc, 500 bc, ad 400, ad 1200–1300 and ad 1500–1850. It is the first time that material which separates the so-called Historical stage of cooling into three stages has been collected in the Altai Mountains. The comparison of time of moraine formation in the Altai with glacier activity in the Alps is evidence of the simultaneity of these processes.

With this paper we continue a new annual series, the main purpose of which is to make significant floristic findings from Russia and neighboring countries more vi sible in Russia and abroad. In total, this paper presents new records for 24 vascular plant species from 4 Eurasian countries, obtained during field explorations, as well as during taxonomic revisions of herbarium materials. For the first time, new locali ty of Ageratum conyzoides, Salvia hispanica, Thymus rasitatus, Tulipa mongolica is recorded for Russia, Sparganium glomeratum for North Korea, Alyssum armenum for Georgia, Thymus pseudopannonicus for Kazakhstan, Cymbalaria muralis for the Asian part of Russia, Anthemis ruthenica for Siberia, Capsella orientalis, Echinops sphaerocephalus, Hera cleum sosnowskyi, Thymus elegans for Eastern Siberia, Persicaria orientalis for Western Si beria, Galatella crinitoides for the Black Soil Region, Centaurea orientalis for Zavolzhye, Silene dichotoma for the Altai Republic, Onobrychis arenaria, Symphyotrichum squamatum, Verbesina encelioides for the Republic of Dagestan, Geranium dahuricum for the Re public of Sakha (Yakutia), Koeleria spryginii for the Republic of Tatarstan, Phacelia tanacetifolia for Sakhalin, Adonis wolgensis for Novosibirsk Region. For each species, the general distribution, habitat, and taxonomy, indicating differences from related species and location are presented.

With this paper we continue a new annual series, the main purpose of which is to make significant floristic findings from Russia and neighboring countries more visible in Russia and abroad. In total, this paper presents new records for 38 vascular plant species from 7 Eurasian countries, obtained during field explorations, as well as during taxonomic revisions of herbarium materials. For the first time, new locality of Rochelia bungei is recorded for Europe and West Kazakhstan Region of Kazakhstan, Arnebia obovata for China and Kazakhstan, A. olgae for China, Ballota nigra for Kazakhstan and the Asian part of Russia, Potentilla chalchorum, P. tschimganica and P. doujonneana for Kyrgyzstan, Lappula heteracantha for Tajikistan, Hedysarum talassicum for Uzbekistan, Linaria grjunerae, Silene cserei for Siberia, Dianthus × courtoisii, Genista tinctoria, Verbascum phoeniceum for Eastern Siberia, Drosera × obovata, Pseudopodospermum strictum, Trollius austrosibiricus for the Altai Republic, Diarthron linifolium for the Republic of Buryatia, Dactylorhiza iberica, Epipactis condensata for the Republic of Daghestan, Platycladus orientalis for the Kabardino- Balkarian Republic, Diphasiastrum × zeilleri for the Republic of Mordovia, Typha latifolia for the Magadan Region, Senecio viscosus for the Novosibirsk Region, Solanum physalifolium for the Omsk Region, Echinops exaltatus for the Middle Volga, Lavandula angustifolia for the Samara Region, Galium affrenum for the Saratov Region, Bidens frondosa, Elatine triandra, Eleocharis klingei, Jacobaea grandidentata, Rhinanthus songaricus and Vicia megalotropis for the Tyumen Region, Bunias cochlearioides, Thalictrum ussuriense for the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China, Isoëtes echinospora for the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area, Potentilla × bishkekensis for Issyk-Kul and Osh Regions of Kyrgyzstan.

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The comparative karyological analysis of Adonis vernalis and Adonis volgensis (Ranunculaceae) from 11 populations from Russia (Altai Territory, Novosibirsk Region, Republic of Khakassia) and Bulgaria was carried out. The somatic chromosome number was 2n = 16 in all studied plants. Chromosome sets of A. vernalis from the Altai Territory (near Sibirskiye Ogni village) and the Republic of Khakassia (Tashtipskiy District), A. volgensis from the Altai Territory (near Chernopyatovo village) and Bulgaria (Kavarna Municipality) consist of eight metacentric and eight submetacentric chromosomes. Two pairs of submetacentric chromosomes had small satellites in short arms. The karyotype formula of these plants was 2n = 2x = 16 = 8m + 4sm + 4smsat. The specimen with the chromosome rearrangement (nonreciprocal translocation) was found in the Altai Territory population. The chromosome mutation has changed the chromosome morphology of submetacentric pair to metacentric pair of different size. The karyotype formula of this specimen was 2n = 2x = 16 = 2n = 10m + 6sm. A similar mutation was previously found out in A. apennina (A. sibirica) from the Tomsk Region. The nuclear DNA content (2C-value) was determined in eight Adonis populations by flow cytometry. The average absolute nuclear DNA content in A. vernalis attained on from 18.88 ± 1.01 to 19.47 ± 1.17 pg, and in A. volgensis attained on from 16.10 ± 0.41 to 16.47 ± 0.47 pg. Differences in 2C-value between A. volgensis and A. vernalis correlated with differences in total chromosome lengths of the set.

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