RARE SPECIES OF VASCULAR PLANTS AND PLANT COMMUNITIES IN THE RICH FEN BETWEEN KANDALAKSHA AND KOLVITSA (MURMANSK REGION)

Abstract

Rare and protected vascular plants and plant communities were investigated in the rich fen near the Luvenga Settlement (Kandalaksha District). A brief description of the vegetation cover in the rich fen is presented. According to the field geobotanical materials and literature sources vegetation association Trichophoro-Schoenetum ferruginei Görs 1964 and alliance Caricion davallianae Klika 1934, new for the Murmansk Region, were described. The characteristic of species composition, structure, ecology and distribution in the region were given. Schoenus-communities from the Murmansk Region were compared with mire communities of the Western Europe and Fennoscandia. During the field floristic survey in the rich fen near the Luvenga Settlement the records of Schoenus ferrugineus were confirmed, moreover, four protected species were found: Carex echinata Murr., Platanthera bifolia (L.) Rich., Hammarbya paludosa (L.) O. Kuntze, Dactylorhiza incarnata (L.) Soö. It was recommended to create new protected areas (natural monuments) in the rich fens encompassing hard-water eutrophic biocenoses and rare species near the Luvenga Settlement and the town of Apatity.

Keywords

• schoenus ferrugineus
• caricion davallianae
• trichophoro-schoenetum ferruginei
• rare species
• eutrophic fens
• red data book
• murmansk region