New records in non-native vascular plants of Russian Lapland.

Mikhail Kozhin,Alexander Sennikov

doi:10.3897/bdj.10.e78166

Abstract

BackgroundThe non-native vascular plants of Murmansk Region (European Russia) are under active investigation towards the compilation of the first complete checklist. This work is part of the project 'Flora of Russian Lapland', which ultimately aims at the complete inventory of the taxonomy, distribution and status of vascular plant species in Murmansk Region, based on the comprehensive database of herbarium specimens, field observations and literature.New informationNew territory-level records of non-native vascular plants emerged during our inventory of herbarium collections and recent fieldwork. Fourteen species (Anthemisruthenica, Aruncusdioicus, Bromuscommutatus, Chaerophyllumhirsutum, Galegaorientalis, Geumaleppicum, Leonurusquinquelobatus, Lepidiumdensiflorum, Levisticumofficinale, Myrrhisodorata, Phleumphleoides, Prunusarmeniaca, Rorippasylvestris, Seneciovernalis) are reported as new to Murmansk Region. The historical occurrences of alien plants appeared in the territory largely as contaminants (of seed or forage). In particular, Rorippasylvestris and Seneciovernalis arrived with the forage imported during the Second World War. All recent occurrences originated by escape from confinement (ornamental purposes, horticulture, agriculture), reflecting a high diversity of the modern assortment of cultivated plants in commerce and private gardens. Regarding the invasion status, five alien species are considered casual and eight species are treated as locally established or persisting (for uncertain time). Only one species, Galegaorientalis, is considered naturalised and capable of further spreading in the territory, although without invasive potential.

Highlights

Non-native plants have become a serious issue at the global scale, disturbing native ecosystems, human well-being and economy (Simberloff et al 2012)
The statistics published for individual territories or countries in Northern Europe are impressive: 558 alien plant species were recorded in the Russian European Arctic lowland (Wasowicz et al 2019), 788 (44%) alien plant species were known in Russian Karelia (Kravchenko 2007), and 1828 (65%) alien plant species were counted in Finland (Kurtto et al 2019)
Among the unfiled collections kept at Avrorin Polar-Alpine Botanical Garden-Institute (KPABG), we have found a large set of herbarium specimens which provided the documentation to the inventory of weedy plants in Russian Lapland made by E.V

Summary

Background

The non-native vascular plants of Murmansk Region (European Russia) are under active investigation towards the compilation of the first complete checklist. This work is part of the project 'Flora of Russian Lapland', which aims at the complete inventory of the taxonomy, distribution and status of vascular plant species in Murmansk Region, based on the comprehensive database of herbarium specimens, field observations and literature. New territory-level records of non-native vascular plants emerged during our inventory of herbarium collections and recent fieldwork. Fourteen species (Anthemis ruthenica, Aruncus dioicus, Bromus commutatus, Chaerophyllum hirsutum, Galega orientalis, Geum aleppicum, Leonurus quinquelobatus, Lepidium densiflorum, Levisticum officinale, Myrrhis odorata, Phleum phleoides, Prunus armeniaca, Rorippa sylvestris, Senecio vernalis) are reported as new to Murmansk Region. Galega orientalis, is considered naturalised and capable of further spreading in the territory, without invasive potential. Human introduction, invasion status, Murmansk Region, naturalisation, Russia

Introduction

Materials and methods

Findings

Discussion