Home – Home – Jornals – Flora and Vegetation of Asian Russia 2026 number 3

New data on the lichen species Cetraria rassadinae Makryĭ, described in 1984 from Pribaikalye and until now known from only a few localities, are presented. As a result of revision of materials stored in the Lichenological herbarium of the Komarov Botanical Institute RAS (LE-L) and the Lichenological division of the Popov Herbarium of the Central Siberian Botanical Garden SB RAS (NSK), 23 new localities of the species were discovered, including those from the Arctic part of Western Siberia. In total, taking into account literary data, 44 localities (from 25 regions) are currently known, on the basis of which a species distribution map has been compiled. A chemotaxonomic study showed that C. rassadinae does not differ in the component composition of secondary metabolites from the closely related species C. odontella , as well as C. nigricans , all of which contain lichesterinic and protolichesterinic acids. C. rassadinae is a “calciphile” and “mesophyte”, living on boulders (dolomite limestone etc.) - on thin layers of fine earth, as well as on rocky, poorly developed primitive soils. It inhabits mountain and arctic tundra, subalpine meadows, sparse Abies sibirica and Pinus sibirica woodlands, Pinus pumila thickets, as well as larch and, rarely, pine forests. It is an arcto-alpine, or more precisely, hyparctic-montane lichen. It can be argued that the species is relatively young, as evidenced by its narrow range. The formation of the species apparently took place during the Pleistocene. It initially formed in the mountains of Southern Siberia, from where it subsequently spread to the Central Siberian Plateau, the Putorana Plateau, and the Arctic parts of Western Siberia. If it had formed in the Arctic, it would have had a circumpolar distribution. All known localities are located in territories belonging to the basins of rivers flowing into the Arctic Ocean: the Pur, Yenisei (with its tributaries), and Lena (with the Kirenga and Vitim tributaries). While the rivers of the Yenisei and Lena basins originate in the mountains of Southern Siberia (Pribaikalie and the Eastern Sayan Mountains), the Pur River originates in the Siberian Uvaly. Altai localities belonging to the Katun River basin (the Ob River basin) are known only from the highlands. The species’ spread from the highlands to the lower mountain belts occurred under the influence of mountain glaciation, while from the mountains of Southern Siberia to the north of Siberia, along river valleys downstream. Another way for the species to disperse and expand its range was by spreading along mountain ranges. All mountain systems of Northern Asia are interconnected by common processes of florogenesis. Between the mountains of Southern Siberia (Altai, Sayan Mountains, Baikal mountains, and Stanovoye Nagorye Highlands), there is a natural migration route in northeast and southwest directions, along which, during the glacial and interglacial periods, there was a constant exchange of alpine and mountain species. The westernmost and easternmost points of the range of C. rassadinae are known in Altai (Kurai Range) and Stanovoye Nagorye Highlands (Kodar Range).