Object of investigations: succession of vegetation on coal dumps. Aim of investigations: the definition of sequence of coal dumps' vegetation changes, determination of dumps communities development direction and reasons, stipulating these processes. Methods: classical methods of field researches: of sample plots, ecological profiles, etc.; statistic methods: of compositional ordination, gradient analysis, P. Greig-Smith's method of mosaisism study, a method of correlative pleiads, a method of dendrogram, automatic methods of classification and by Brawn-Blanquet, a typological flora's analysis, dispersion and correlative analysis. Theoretical and practical results: the succession sequence has been reconstructed, three succession stages have been singled out, their floristic and cenotic peculiarities, spatial structure, interspecific interrelations being studied, the direction of succession - formation of structures, typical of zonal vegetation, has been established, ecologically similar species and thei r relative competitive ability in the succession have been revealed, the database for using the results in restoration of dumps has been created. Novelty: A model of succession of dumps vegetation has been made, on which using quantitative methods three stages have been defined and the direction of vegetation development has been assertained, spatial structure and its dynamics have been studied both at the level of individual species and communities, a new way of communities homogeneity study and a scheme of changes of species' distribution depending on the phase of its being in the community have been suggested; a method of quantitative determination of relative species competitivness in multispecific phytocenoses has been developed, there has been suggested a method of succession state phytoindication and trends of communities' development by a succession status of their species; communities' integrity and diversity have been analysed by classification methods and two new associations have been reported for the first time. The degree of introduction: having been inculcated in two budget themes and 4 contract themes and in teaching students of the biological faculty. The area of use: quantitative and applied ecology.
