Applications of local floras for floristic subdivision and monitoring vascular plant diversity in the Russian Arctic

Arctic Science

article

Olga V. Khitun¹  Tatiana M. Koroleva¹  Svetlana V. Chinenko¹  Vladislav V. Petrovsky¹  Elena B. Pospelova²  Igor N. Pospelov³  Andrei Zverev⁴ 

[1] Komarov Botanical Institute, Russian Academy of Science;Taimyrsky Nature State Reserve and Moscow State University;Taimyrsky Nature State Reserve and A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution;Tomsk State University

关键词: phytogeography;    local flora;    Russian Arctic;    database;    monitoring;   

DOI  :  10.1139/as-2015-0010

学科分类：地球科学(综合)

来源: NRC Research Press

【 摘 要 】

The local flora method has been used by Russian botanists for studying vast wilderness areas. The method strives to determine the total flora within a certain limited area and provides comparable data for spatial comparisons between different locations and temporal comparisons at the same location. Complete vascular plant diversity was sampled in 240 localities with an area between 100 and 300 km 2 each throughout the Russian Arctic. These data were incorporated in a specially developed Integrated Botanical Information System (IBIS). This database provides a unique opportunity to study spatial gradients of different floristic variables. Pairwise similarity of species composition and proportions of various phytogeographical groups in local floras were used in a floristic subdivision of the Russian Arctic. The floristic units derived by this method often resembled subprovinces of B.A. Yurtsev (1994. J. Veg. Sci. 5 (6): 765–776), but there were also several areas of nonalignment. Application of local floras for monitoring of temporal changes has several constraints. However, nine local floras were revisited 20–70 years after the initial survey. Increases in the number of Boreal and Hypoarctic species were recorded in the southern local floras. Standardized methods and the use of modern technical tools for accurate documentation could enable use of this approach at observatories across the Arctic.

【 授权许可】

CC BY