Introduction of sosnowsky’s hogweed as a cause of landscape transformation

Abstract

Abstract Archival documents on the introduction of sosnowskyi’s hogweed in the USSR in the Achieve of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the data from published resources (books and articles) were investigated. The role of scientists and different scientific as well as political organizations in this event was demonstrated. Four stages of introduction were highlighted: local introduction from the end of the 1940s till the end of the 1950s; mass introduction from the end of the 1950s till the middle of the 1970s. The completion of introduction was from the middle of the 1970s till the end of the 1980s; uncontrolled invasion since the 1990s. The maps showing stages of introduction were composed. These maps reflect the territories with transformed landscapes as a result of H. sosnowskyi’s introduction and invasion.