Home – Home – Jornals – Flora and Vegetation of Asian Russia 2021 number 1

Syntaxonomy of zonal tundra vegetation is still not clear and far from unambiguous explanation. This article presents the results of floristic classification of zonal tundra communities in the Asian Arctic tundras. These communities, widespread under automorphic conditions on the watersheds are included in a new alliance Salici pulchrae-Caricion lugentis, described from the Far North-East of Russia. This unit includes 7 associations and 2 subassotiations, based on relevees ftom Magadan region, Chukotka and Sakha (Yakutia) Republic. The classification is conducted by the Braun-Blanquet method (Westhoff, Maarel, 1978; Mirkin,1989; Dierschke, 1994; Mirkin et al., 2000). Diagnostic species of the alliance include hypoarctic dwarfshrubs, tundra graminoids and some mosses and lichens, common for southern tundra subzone, typical and subarctic tundras of the Asian sector of Russian Arctic - Aulacomnium palustre, Aulacomnium turgidum, Betula exilis, Carex lugens, Eriophorum vaginatum, Flavocetraria cucullata, Ledum decumbens, Salix pulchra, Vaccinium uliginosum, Dicranum elongatum, Dryas punctata, Hylocomium splendens, Ptilidium ciliare, Tomentypnum nitens, Vaccinium vitis-idaea. Geographically new alliance coveres the territory of boreal highlands of Czersky and Kolymsky mountain ranges, tundra zone of Sakha Republic and Chukotka to the north and east from treeline. The alliance Salici pulchrae-Caricion lugentis is not yet disposed in some higher units - order and class. It has been suggested that for higher syntaxa Carici arctisibiricae-Hylocomietea alaskani Matveyeva et Lavrinenko 2016 cl. prov. is proposed (Lavrinenko et al., 2016). To determine the syntaxonomical status of the class and proposed order new relevees from this remote territory is expected.