Search

The information about the state and nature conservation value of the recreational forests of the Savin Navolok Park is presented. Maps of vegetation and localization of rare and protected species of vascular plants, mosses, lichens and fungi have been compiled. Nine types of forest have been identified in the Park where birch herb-rich forests (31.8 %), spruce forests (25.2 %), and pine forests (16.3 %) prevail. About a quarter of the studied territory (25.6 %) is covered by mixed coniferous-deciduous forests, aspen and willow forests. The flora of the Park is characterized by high species diversity: 258 species of vascular plants, 40 species of mosses and 45 species of lichens have been identified. In comparison with adjacent territories, distinctive feature of the studied flora is the presence of a large number of species of the southern taiga subzone (19.7 %), including nemoral species on the northern border of their distribution range (Corydalis solida, Pulmonaria obscura, Tilia cordata, etc.). In the Savin Navolok Park, 8 species protected in the Republic of Karelia are registered: Galium odoratum, Humulus lupulus, Lentaria afflata, Neckera pennata, Punctularia strigosozonata, Thalictrum kemens, among which species Calypso bulbosa and Cypripedium calceolus are listed in the Red Data Book of Russian Federation. Species Chaenotheca brachypoda and Ulmus glabra are included in the list of taxa of the Republic of Karelia that need special attention to their state in the natural environment and are recommended for biological surveillance. According to the Federal Law “On Specially Protected Natural Areas”, the natural complexes of the Savin Navolok Park satisfies the criteria for give this territory the status of a specially protected natural area in the rank of a natural monument or a state botanical reserve of regional significance “Savin Navolok”. more...

Aapa mires (string-flark fens) are one of the main types of mires in northern Eurasia. It has an almost continuous distribution from Scandinavia to Kamchatka, disappearing in continental climate areas and becoming one of the dominant types in more oceanic zones. This article first presents the topological features of string-flark aapa, their vegetation and peat stratigraphy related to different elements of microrelief at the southernmost borders of boreal mires of cryolithozone (51–52 N), in the Lower Amur region (Russia). String-flark fens are very similar to the aapa mires originally reported for the European North. The waterlogged minerotrophic central fen, with a ribbed surface pattern, is surrounded by oligotrophic bogs. The mosaic structure of the vegetation cover in the fens is determined by microtopography: mesooligotrophic dwarf shrub–herb–sphagnum strings, mesoeutrophic herb–sphagnum lawns, and sparse herb cover in water flarks. The flora, for the most part, corresponds with the European aapa, and has some characteristics of eastern features. We relate the localized evolution of string-flark complexes with water basin hydrology changes. The formation of string-flark complexes in pre-existing fens was preceded by the cessation of river flood waters over the surface of the mires. The further decline of erosion has led to the development of dwarf shrub–sphagnum communities containing microrelief. The immature strings of the aapa mires attest to the ongoing active change processes of the mires. more...

First records of lichens for the Saratov Region, of mosses for the Franz Josef Land Archipelago, the republics of Karelia and Khakassia, Stavropol, Khabarovsk and Kamchatka Territories, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area – Yugra, Magadan Region and first records of liverworts for the Tula Region are presented. Data on localities, habitats, distribution of recorded species are provided. more...

Information is provided on the distribution and abundance of 37 vascular plant species in Lapponia Ponojensis that are legally protected or rare in the Murmansk Region. The herbarium label information, location of specimens and brief comments on the abundance of populations found are reported for each species. The data were obtained in 2015–2016 during surveys along the south-eastern and eastern coasts of the Kola Peninsula, from the Varzuga River mouth to the Rusinga River mouth, including Bolshaya Bab’ya Bay, the Ponoi River mouth, Ponoi village surroundings, the Rusinga River valley in its lower and middle reaches, as well as Tri Ostrova archipelago, islands Sosnovetz, Danilov, Goryainov and some others. The history of investigations in Lapponia Ponojensis by Finnish and Russian botanists in the 19th – 21st centuries is described. Previous published reports were verified using the Herbarium H. According to a critical revision of historical data, the distribution of Astragalus norvegicus and Comastoma tenellum in the Kola Peninsula was corrected. Ten species (Bolboschoenus maritimus, Salix arctica, S. gmelinii, S. nummularia, Cystopteris dickieana and others) were found in the study area for the first time, and for some of them these localities are at the limits of their ranges in Fennoscandia. The occurrence of 27 red-listed species previously known from this area has been confirmed. The most interesting among them is Astragalus norvegicus, for which no data have been reported in more than 100 years. Since the largest number of protected plants was noted in the Rusinga River valley, the authors support the earlier suggestion about establishing a nature monument in the area, as well as arranging protection for botanical objects at the Ponoi River mouth, but they believe that the proposed PA deserves the status of a botanical reserve. more...

Sixty two important findings of 34 species of vascular plants, bryophytes, lichens and fungi in the Murmansk Region are reported. The findings were considered important if they were for the first time recorded in the area, red-listed in Russia and/or Murmansk Region, new for certain protected areas, or represented in not more than five locations in the Murmansk Region, or the northernmost records of the species in the world or in Europe. The lichen Sarcosagium campestre was found in the region for the first time; the fungus Globulicium hiemale was the first reliable record from the Murmansk Region; four species of fungi (Byssocorticium atrovirens, Geoglossum umbratile, Kurtia argillacea, Pseudotomentella nigra) were found in the region for the second time. New localities were found for five species of lichens (Enchyl i um limosum, Fuscopannaria confusa, Lecidea promiscua, Rhizocarpon cinereonigru m, Toninia squalida). A rare orchid species Calypso bulbosa was found in the protected area " Kovdskye listvennitsy (Kovda Larches )". Moss species Andreaea obovata and Buxbaumia aphylla were for the first time recorded from the nature monument " Baranii Lob u ozera Semenovskoye (Roche moutonnee at Lake Semenovskoye )". Two species of bryophytes (Buxbaumia aphylla, Peltolepis quadrata) and three species of vascular plants (Beckwithia glacia l is, Veronica fruticans, Woodsia glabella) were found in the planned nature monument " Ushchel'e Yuzhnoye (South Cross-passing Gorge )". Six red-listed species (Carex l apponica, C. laxa, Eriophorum gracile, Isoetes echinospora, Pinguicula villosa, Ranunculus gmelinii) were found in the upper and/or middle course of the Ponoy River. New data are reported about the nationally and regionally red-listed species Bryoria fremontii, Cotoneaster cinnabarinus, and Rhodiola rosea), and about 7 more species listed in the Red Data Book of the Murmansk Region. Sixty two important findings of 34 species of vascular plants, bryophytes, lichens and fungi in the Murmansk Region are reported. The findings were considered important if they were for the first time recorded in the area, red-listed in Russia and/or Murmansk Region, new for certain protected areas, or represented in not more than five locations in the Murmansk Region, or the northernmost records of the species in the world or in Europe. The lichen Sarcosagium campestre was found in the region for the first time; the fungus Globulicium hiemale was the first reliable record from the Murmansk Region; four species of fungi (Byssocorticium atrovirens, Geoglossum umbratile, Kurtia argillacea, Pseudotomentella nigra) were found in the region for the second time. New localities were found for five species of lichens (Enchylium limosum, Fuscopannaria confusa, Lecidea promiscua, Rhizocarpon cinereonigrum, Toninia squalida). A rare orchid species Calypso bulbosa was found in the protected area “Kovdskye listvennitsy (Kovda Larches)”. Moss species Andreaea obovata and Buxbaumia aphylla were for the first time recorded from the nature monument “Baranii Lob u ozera Semenovskoye (Roche moutonnee at Lake Semenovskoye)”. Two species of bryophytes (Buxbaumia aphylla, Peltolepis quadrata) and three species of vascular plants (Beckwi more...

Ypäyssuo is the largest mire system in Karelia, which in 2015 was, together with a big part of the Kepasuo mire system, included in the newly established regional hydrological (mire) nature reserve (zakazknik) Ypäyssuo. The Ypäyssuo mire system was surveyed by different specialists in 1954, 2003 and 2010. In 2013 surveys focused on the flora of mire, forest, aquatic, waterside, secondary and disturbed habitats, including the previously understudied mires of the Kepasuo system. This paper provides up-to-date information on the flora of vascular plants and mosses in this protected area. The list of species and their occurrence in the reserve's habitats are reported for the first time. Surveys of the territory detected 242 species of vascular plants and 111 species of mosses. The diversity of the flora is not high, the greatest contribution to the biodiversity coming from riparian spruce forest and waterside habitats, which occupy less than 3 % of the reserve's territory. They harbour 128 vascular plant species (53 % of the total number) and 53 moss species (48 %). Mires, which occupy 67 % of the territory, are the habitats for 76 vascular plant species (31 %) and 51 moss species (45 %). The flora was found to comprise a number of boreo-nemoral species growing close to the northern limits of their distribution range. Dactylorhiza traunsteineri is listed in the national Red Data Book, and the Republic of Karelia Red Data Book lists also Carex laxa and Orthotrichum gymnostomum. more...

The flora and vegetation of Sosnovets Island (White Sea Throat, Murmansk Region, Russia) has been studied and described in detail. This is a small island situated within the tundra zone, largely covered by a permafrost peatland with the presence of flarks, a palsa mire, and rock outcrops. Vascular plants of Sosnovets Island include 167 species and subspecies, of which 134 species and subspecies are considered native and 33 species are alien. The number of tundra species is higher and that of boreal species is lower than on the other White Sea islands; a few species with eastern distributions in East Europe are present; 6 protected species are recorded. Alien species were mostly transported from Arkhangelsk Region but partly from Central Russia; main pathways were forage, construction and gardens; one species (Alchemilla cymatophylla) was likely introduced as a polemochore. The vegetation of Sosnovets Island is represented by a complex of lichen, dwarfshrub, cottongrass-sphagnous and sedge-sphagnous communities of the peatland, which covers the major part of the island, as well as dwarf-shrub and lichen tundras, coastal vegetation, willow thickets, dwarf cornel (Cornus suecica) and secondary anthropogenic meadows and grasslands. A palsa mire, marshes with Calamagrostis deschampsioides, highly dissected peatlands with cloudberry-crowberry-lichen communities on elevated sites and cottongrass-sphagnous communities in depressions are the unique features of the island’s vegetation. more...