Coenotic diversity of aquatic vegetation of Altai: a preliminary assessment and a list of white spots

Abstract

The relevance of fundamental hydrobotanical research in the Altai-Sayan ecoregion is due to poor hydrobiological knowledge and the lack of regular monitoring studies of lakes, which are currently actively used for recreational and fish breeding purposes. Within the framework of the project “The current state of the macrophytobenthos of the Altai lakes (ecological and geographical patterns of distribution and threats)”, supported by the Russian Science Foundation, the author began a work on the systematization and interpretation of information on the current state of the vegetation of lakes of various altitude levels in the foothill and mountainous regions of Altai in the Republic of Altai and Altai Territory. A preliminary list of the coenotic diversity of the aquatic vegetation of Altai was compiled within the Brown-Blanquet approach, which includes 6 associations of the class Lemnetea, 21 associations of the class Potamogetonetea and 8 associations of the class Littorelletea uniflorae. A list of syntaxa, first indicated for the region, is given. The main “white spots” in the study of aquatic and semi-aquatic vegetation are listed. These are the lack of information about the communities of macroalgae and bryophytes, the lack of reliable data on communities formed by hybrids of aquatic and semi-aquatic plants, confirmed by molecular taxonomy data, and the lack of information on the long-term dynamics of macrophytobenthos in Altai lakes.