Abstract
The current inventory was mainly based on revising herbarium specimens collected since the 19th century and confirmed twenty-one Characeae species in Lithuania. They are representatives of five genera: Chara (12 species), Nitella (5), Tolypella (2), Lychnothamnus and Nitellopsis (by one species each). Thirteen species mentioned in references or labels of herbarium specimens were not confirmed. The occurrence of the Characeae species was recorded in 251 map grid cells (42% of the total number 593). Herbarium specimens were collected from 693 water bodies, mainly lakes. Chara globularis was the most common species, recorded in 150 map grid cells and more than 250 water bodies. Ten species (C. aspera, C. contraria, C. filiformis, C. subspinosa, C. tomentosa, C. virgata, C. vulgaris, Nitella mucronata, N. flexilis, Nitellopsis obtusa) were recorded in the interval from 100 to 50 grid cells and also belong to the group of common species. Chara papillosa and C. strigosa were recorded less than in 50 grid cells and should be considered quite common. Eight species (C. baltica, C. canescens, Lychnothamnus barbatus, Nitella confervacea, N. gracilis, N. syncarpa, Tolypella nidifica, T. prolifera) were recorded in ten or fewer grid cells and belong to the group of rare or very rare species. The occurrence of species that have not been confirmed by the herbarium specimens was discussed.
Highlights
Charophytes have rarely been considered the main study object during the history of investigations on the flora of Lithuania; this group of plants has never been omitted because of their importance in the aquatic vegetation
The current inventory was mainly based on revising herbarium specimens collected since the 19th century and confirmed twenty-one Characeae species in Lithuania
The occurrence of the Characeae species was recorded in 251 map grid cells (42% of the total number 593)
Summary
Charophytes have rarely been considered the main study object during the history of investigations on the flora of Lithuania; this group of plants has never been omitted because of their importance in the aquatic vegetation. A part of the Charophyte collection, usually called “Herbarium of Gorski”, including about 450 specimens collected mainly in 1823, has survived and currently is stored at the Herbarium of Vilnius University (WI) This collection has been studied and described by Mowszowicz (1947) and Minkevičius & Trainauskaitė (1970). The Characeae species have been included in the Red Data Book (Trainauskaitė, 1992; Šarkinienė & Trainauskaitė, 1993) This has led to further studies of charophytes in the lakes of protected areas (Sinkevičienė, 1994; Balevičienė & Balevičius, 1994; Balevičius, 1994, 1998), in water bodies of urban territories (Stepanavičienė, 2000), and has increased the focus on endangered species (Sinkevičienė, 1996; Balevičius, 2001; Sinkevičienė, 2007, 2010; Sinkevičienė & Urbaitė-Maževič, 2012). This work aimed to provide an updated list of the Characeae species, based on all available studied oldest and recent data, and maps of their past and present distribution
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