Biodiversity of the vascular plants in the young fluvioglacial landscapes in the Severo-Chuiskiy centre of present-day glaciation (the Central Altai)

Abstract

This article reports the species richness of vascular plants in the young fluvioglacial landscapes in the Severo-Chuiskiy centre of present-day glaciation using the example of the fluvioglacial deposits of the mountain-glacial basin Aktru. These landscapes are four well distinguished classes of habitats: open pebble fields with minimal vegetation, young larch forests on elevated parts of the relief, shrub thickets on the banks of the Aktru river, and sites with ground-frazil near the valley slopes. There are 132 species of vascular plants in the young fluvioglacial landscapes. These include 36 families and 77 genera. There are 3 species of pteridophytes (only Equisetum), 4 species of gymnosperms, and 125 species of angiosperms. The highest species diversity was recorded for Asteraceae, Poaceae and Salicaceae families, and for Salix, Poa, and Carex genera. The highest species richness – 100 species – were recorded for open pebble fields. There were 76 species in the young larch forests, and 58 species occurred in shrub thickets. The lowest richness is characterised for the sites with ground frazil, where 31 species were recorded.