Supplement to the Macroalgal Flora of the Natural Reserve "Cape Martyan" (Crimea, The Black Sea)

Abstract

As a result of the materials found in the 2019 monitoring studies, six new species of macroalgae were identified for the marine area of the Nature Reserve "Cape Martyan." They were located on the Southern Coast of Crimea (SCC): <i>Bolbocoleon piliferum</i> Pringsh., <i>Giraudia sphace-larioides</i> Derbès et Solier, <i>Myrionema balticum</i> (Reinke) Foslie, <i>Lithophyllum cystoseirae</i> (Hauck) Heydr., <i>Bonnemaisonia hamifera</i> Har., and <i>Choreonema thuretii</i> (Bornet) F. Schmitz (the latter two species were recorded for the hydrobotanical region "Southern Coast of Crimea" for the first time). Correspondingly, the list of marine macrophytes within the boundaries of the Nature Reserve now includes 160 species and intraspecific taxa at the species rank, which consist of ~ 36% of the total number of macrophytes identified in the Black Sea. Thus, the protected water area near the Cape Martyan continues to function as one of the key refugia for natural phytodiversity in the region. At the same time, <i>B. hamifera</i> is an invasive transforming species that has recently invaded the SCC region. This is a threat to the ecosystem of the Nature Reserve, and in the near future the invasion may cover the entire Northern Black Sea region. The results of this study expand the level of understanding of natural phytodiversity of the reserve, the hydrobotanical region and the region as a whole yet simultaneously indicating a developing problem of biological invasion, which, under the current conditions of the isolated Azov-Black Sea basin, can have catastrophic consequences.