Home – Home – Jornals – Flora and Vegetation of Asian Russia 2022 number 4

In 1968-1985, in the course of study of phytobenthos in the Lake Baikal, L.A. Izhboldina sampled and analyzed material on the structure and distribution of meio- and microphytobenthos in Chivyrkuyskiy Gulf, the second-largest gulf in the lake. Until now, just a general description of phytobenthos structure was published. The article presents schemes of 18 profiles, 12 of which (more than three quarters of sampled data) were laid during July 1985. For each profile we have drawn a scheme where indicated dominant and codominant species, type of bottom substrate, generalized biomass of community (gr/m²) and the number of species for every station (sampling site). Due to the predominance of shallow depths and mechanically unstable sandy, silty-sandy and silty substrates, the structure of benthic vegetation is monotonous, and phytobenthos belts described for Lake Baikal, are not expressed. There is also a certain gradient in communities along the central part of the gulf from its top to the mouth. Small bays along the western shore of the gulf have certain specificity. In some parts of the gulf, Chaetomorpha curta (Chlorophyta), Cladophora aegagriopila, C. meyeri, C. meyeri var. gracilior (Chlorophyta), Collema ramenskii (Ascomycota), Gloeothrichia pisum (Cyanophyta), Nostoc pruniforme (Cyanophyta) are comparatively frequent and abundant. Noteworthy, the high occurrence of such algae as G. pisum and C. aegagropila, which are absent in littoral of the open Baikal. Charophyta (Chara sp., Nitella sp.) often form communities at depths of 5-8 m. Among vascular plants, the most active are Lemna trisulca and Potamogeton perfoliatus. The alien North American Elodea canadensis and the zignem algae Spirogyra sp., settled in the lake and experienced catastrophic outbreaks of development in subsequent years, in 1985 were represented by few samples.

Floras of mountain territories are of interest due to their species richness, high level of endemism and a large number of rare species. Mountain ranges situated near geographical boundaries deserve special attention, because their floras are characterized by high diversity due to species of different altitudinal vegetation belts, up to the nival one, as well as due to species intrinsic to different geographical units. The Tsagan-Shibetu Range is one of such ranges. Its Russian part is situated between mountains of the South-Eastern Altai, the Mongun-Taiga Massif and the Tannu-Ola Range. Together with the latter the Tsagan-Shibetu Range delineates the world watershed between the Arctic Ocean basin and the drainless region of the Central Asia. The purpose of this work was to compile a checklist of the flora of the Tsagan-Shibetu Range, to reveal protected species of the flora and species that were not previously indicated for the nature regions of Tuva, to which the territory of the range belongs. To compile the checklist, data from the author’s expeditions in 2004, 2005, 2007, 2011 and 2019 were used (2431 field records and 868 herbarium samples), as well as the herbarium by other botanists collected on the Tsagan-Shibetu Range in 1947-1993 and stored in the Herbarium of the Central Siberian Botanical Garden (NS) (more than 2300 herbarium samples). Electronic databases of field records and herbarium specimen metadata were created by the author in MS Access. They were used in compiling the checklist for obtaining information on the distribution and ecological features of species. The flora of the Russian part of the Tsagan-Shibetu Range comprises 878 species and subspecies of vascular plants, which belong to 300 genera and 70 families. The 10 biggest families are Asteraceae (113 species and subspecies), Poaceae (101), Fabaceae (63), Ranunculaceae (51), Rosaceae (50), Caryophyllaceae (44), Brassicaceae (44), Cyperaceae (41), Scrophulariaceae (35) and Lamiaceae (29). All the ten biggest families are the same as the biggest families of the Boreal Region. The family Fabaceae is one of the three biggest families of the flora, what is peculiar for the Turan floras in the Middle Asia and the flora of Mongolia in the Central Asia. At the same time, these floras are characterized by a large number of species of the family Chenopodiaceae, while in the flora of the Russian part of the Tsagan-Shibetu Range this family is represented by only 15 species and is not among the biggest. These facts demonstrate the borderline nature of the flora of the Russian part of the Tsagan-Shibetu Range which, due to location of the range on the world watershed, shows features of both North Asian and Central Asian floras. Twenty three species of the flora are under state or regional protection and are included into the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation (2008) and/or the Red Data Book of the Tyva Republic (2019) as rare or reducing in number: Aconitum decipiens Worosch. et Anfalov, Allium altaicum Pall., A. pumilum Vved., A. tuvinicum (N. Friesen) N. Friesen, Anoplocaryum turczaninovii Krasnob., Aphragmus involucratus (Bunge) O.E. Schulz, Asterothamnus heteropappoides Novopokr., A. poliifolius Novopokr., Chenopodium frutescens C.A. Mey., Delphinium barlykense Lomon. et Khanm., Euphorbia potaninii Prokh., Microstigma deflexum (Bunge) Juz., Oxytropis acanthacea Jurtzev, O. martjanovii Krylov, O. physocarpa Ledeb., O. trichophysa Bunge, O. tschujae Bunge, Potentilla astragalifolia Bunge, Ranunculus tuvinicus A. Erst, Rheum altaicum Losinsk., Stipa pennata L., Taphrospermum altaicum C.A. Mey., Veronica reverdattoi Krasnob.

Mires are valuable nature conservation complexes with unique biological diversity. The presented work contains the results of studying the floristic diversity of vascular plants in protected mires in the southern part of the Sverdlovsk Region (Russia). The studies were carried out on four peat lowland plain mires: Maloe Lake, Berezovoe, Chernoe (Kamensky District) and Bagaryak (Sysertsky District). Until now, information about the floristic richness of the mires of the southern part of the Sverdlovsk Region has remained fragmentary, and therefore the study allows us to fill in the existing “gaps”. In addition, the studied mires are the southernmost mires of the Sverdlovsk Region within the Trans-Urals, which emphasizes their high environmental significance. The research was conducted in 2021. The territory of each mires was surveyed by the traditional route-reconnaissance method, taking into account the intra-mire hydrographic network. The article provides a list of discovered species of vascular plants. Author’s materials are supplemented with information from the collection of the Museum of the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SVER). In total, 188 species of vascular plants belonging to 123 genera, 54 families and 4 divisions were identified in the flora of the studied mires. The leading families in terms of the number of species are Cyperaceae, Asteraceae, Poaceae, Rosaceae, Orchidaceae and Salicaceae. The leading genera are Carex, Salix, Cirsium and Galium. The flora is dominated by plurizonal and boreal species with a wide distribution (Holarctic, European-West Asian and Eurasian). Among the biomorphological groups, polycarpic herbs are of significant importance (145 species, 78 %) of which 45 % are rhizomatous plants. Among the species we have discovered Malus baccata and Carduus acanthoides which are alien and appeared due to ornitho- and anemochory. In the studied mires, cenopopulations of 14 rare species listed in the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation and the Red Data Book of the Sverdlovsk Region were recorded. The work highlights the importance of maintaining mires in a natural state to maintain overall phytodiversity and the possibility of preserving rare and vulnerable plant species.

Genus Epimedium is the largest genus of herbaceous plants in the Berberidaceae family. It includes about 50-65 species. Species of the genus Epimedium have a traditional use in Chinese, Korean and Japanese medicine. They are also known as ornamental plants. Three plant species of Epimedium grow in Russia: E. colchicum (Boiss.) Trautv., E. koreanum Nakai and E. macrosepalum Stearn. All of them are included in the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation. The purpose of the study is a comparative morphological and anatomical study of rhizomes and roots of E. colchicum and E. macrosepalum belonging, respectively, to the subgenera Rhizophyllum and Epimedium. Materials for the study have been collected in the botanical garden of All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants. We used an MBS-10 binocular and an Axioplan 2 imaging Carl Zeiss microscope. Cross sections of rhizomes were stained 1) with an alcoholic solution of phloroglucinol and concentrated HCl; 2) 0.1 % cresyl violet solution. Cylindrical rhizomes, non-yearly branching, characterize both species. Rhizomes are dark brown with numerous thin adventitious roots. Rhizomes of E. colchicum are short and thick (diameter 7.8 ± 0.1 mm, length of annual growth 42.9 ± 2.3 mm); rhizomes of E. macrosepalum are thin and elongated (rhizome diameter 2.5 ± 0.1 mm, length of annual growth 65.5 ± 4.8 mm). The zones of the primary bark and the central cylinder on transverse sections of rhizomes are distinguished. Open conducting bundles are located in one circle. The pith is lignified. Idioblasts with druzes of CaC₂O₄ crystals are in the inner zone of the parenchyma of the primary cortex of E. macrosepalum. E. colchicum has relatively wide pith rays (up to 20 rows of cells), the presence of groups of lignified protophloem fibers, and the absence of sheaths of lignified fibers. E. macrosepalum is distinguished by relatively narrow (2-10 rows of cells) pith radiuses, the absence of bundles of lignified protophloem fibers, and the presence of sheaths of lignified fibers.

This paper presents data on the dynamics of the ontogenetic structure of the coenopopulation of Dracocephalum imberbe Bunge, located in the tundra with Dryas oxyodontha Juz. and Kobresia simpliciuscula (Wahlenb.) Mackenz.in Republic of Tuva. Changes in the type of the ontogenetic spectrum and the density index of individuals are analyzed. It was revealed that fluctuating dynamic changes occurred during 17 years, which did not affect the type of ontogenetic spectrum and the normal distribution of ln(n + 1) density. The coenopopulation remains full-fledged. The calculated demographic indicators and indicators of the speed of development reflected a unidirectional type of dynamics towards its gradual rejuvenation.

New syntaxa are described, validation and correction of associations are carried out. New data on the distribution of various syntaxa, their ecology and floristic composition are given. Ass. Alysso tortuosi-Artemisietum salsoloidis Lysenko in Lysenko, Arkhipova et Suleymanova 2020 (Suppl. 1, Table 1, relevés 1, 2). Diagnostic species (D. s.): Artemisia salsoloides (dom.), Pimpinella tragium, Alyssum tortuosum, Matthiola fragrans. The association unites the steppe communities distributed on the chalk slopes of the Volga Upland in the Middle Volga region.

The article is dedicated to the memory of L.V. Bardunov. In 2022, the 90th anniversary from birth of the famous Russian bryologist, florist, Doctor of Biological Sciences, professor, Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation Leonid Vladimirovich Bardunov (1932-2008) was celebrated. L.V. Bardunov made a great contribution to the study of plant biodiversity in North Asia. L.V. Bardunov collected the unique herbarium specimens. Digital copies of 828 specimens collected personally by L.V. Bardunov, or together with M.G. Popov, L.I. Malyshev and other collectors, are placed in the CSBS SB RAS Digital herbarium (http://herb.csbg.nsc.ru:8081). The herbarium specimens are stored in NSK and NS herbarium collections (USU_440537). Each digitized sample is provided with a unique barcode with the acronym of the herbarium collection and a 7-digit serial number. Digitization was carried out according to the international standards at an optical resolution of 600 dpi, accompanied by a color scale and a scale ruler on ObjectScan 1600 scanners, using specialized programs ScanWizard Botany and MiVapp Botany (Microtek). The advanced search for information in the CSBG SB RAS digital herbarium is possible in 9 fields (country, administrative region, habitat, barcode of the herbarium sample, collector, family name, genus name, species name and date of collection). According to L.V. Bardunov’s herbarium specimens, several species of mosses and vascular plants were described. Vascular plants Megadenia bardunovii Popov (Brassicaceae) and Сorispermum bardunovii Popov ex Lomon. (Amaranthaceae Juss.) are named after him. The typification of the name Сorispermum bardunovii was carried out in accordance with the Articles of ICN. This publication is dedicated to the memory of L.V. Bardunov.