Floristic Findings in the Barents Sea: Climatic Trend as a Florogenesis Factor

Abstract

The results of floristic studies on plankton in the Barents Sea performed from 2007 to 2018 are discussed in the paper. The findings of 16 species new to the indigenous flora were documented and their distribution in the Barents Sea and adjacent waters was analyzed. We also calculated statistical indicators (indices) that characterize the regularity and quantitative expression of their presence in certain sectors of the sea. The data obtained demonstrate the intensity and direction of invasion of Atlantic algal flora. The most intense and regular invasion is directed eastward from the southwestern border of the Barents Sea to its central part. No less stable, but a less intense vector of influence of Atlantic flora was found in the northwestern Barents Sea directed southward to the central and eastern parts of the sea. These processes are characterized from the historical aspect as the activation of florogenesis coincident in time and, most likely, caused by the current climatic situation in the region, mainly by the increased advection of Atlantic water. At least one adventive species has been discovered to be currently integrated into the succession system of the Barents Sea phytoplankton in the position of seasonal dominant.