Research studies are concentrated on:

• types of vegetation in different regions of Russia (tundra, taiga, deciduous forests, steppe, various kinds of meadows and bogs);
• community structure and dynamics;
• vegetation patterns and their underlying processes;
• vegetation diversity and dynamics in natural and anthropogenic landscapes;
• interactions between plant species in communities of different biomes;
• sustainable development of certain regions;
• monitoring and cartography of protected areas vegetation and perspective sites for plants and plant communities conservation;
• biology and ecology of endangered species;
• plant reactions to natural and anthropogenic environmental factors;
• spatial structure of individual organisms and community canopies;
• urban vegetation and its condition;

etc.

Since the establishment of the Department students are involved in investigations devoted to actual scientific problems. Students tuition is composed of Bachelor Degree and Master Degree. Classical lectures and seminars are combined with modern training courses. Field practices are important part of education. Traditionally summer practical activities are carried out in several geographic points (in Leningrad, Belgorod and Krasnodar regions). Depending on the diploma topic, students pregraduation practice could be implemented in different geographic regions. For example, some of students performed data collection in Saint-Petersburg, Leningrad region, Kola Penninsula, Yamal Penninsula, Caucasus, Amur region and so on.

Education at the Department of Vegetation Science and Plant Ecology includes lecture courses such as Phytocenology, Classification of Vegetation, Dynamics of Vegetation, Ecology of Plants, Forest Science, Grassland Science, Arctic Vegetation Science, Peatland Science, Vegetation of Steppes and Deserts, Vegetation of the Earth, Diversity of Ecosystems in Russia, Anthropogenic Vegetation and Recultivation of Disturbed Lands, Populational Ecology of Plants, Fundamentals of Plant Biomorphology, Geobotanical Mapping, Landscape Science, Environmental Regulation and Certification, Urban Vegetation and others.

The Department staff includes experts in different fields of Vegetation Science and Plant Ecology with extensive practice of expedition work, scientific research and giving lectures. Nowadays scientists and lecturers team consists mainly of department graduates, assuring continuity of classical University education traditions. Provided lecture courses combine both basic knowledge and most modern information. Lecturers of our department have wide experience of giving lectures in foreighn universities (for example, in France, Sweden, Finland).