Main Habitat Types of "Russian Svalbard"

• Main Author: Natalia Koroleva
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences 2016-05-01
• Series: Transactions of the Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Subjects: arctic tundra; svalbard; barentsburg; pyramiden; types of plant communities, syntaxonomy
• Online Access: http://journals.krc.karelia.ru/index.php/biogeo/article/view/323

<p>The paper explains crosswalks between habitat types and syntaxa on the level of association in areas of Russian towns Pyramiden and Barentsburg on Svalbard, and provides the prodromus and synoptic table. 18 major types of natural terrestrial habitats belong to 6 following groups: I. Arctic tundra, with types: "Bell-heather tundra" - ass. Dryado - Cassiopetum tetragonae (Fries 1913) Hadac (1946) 1989, "Mountain avens-and-Rock sedge tundra" - ass. Dryado - Caricetum rupestris (Rønning 1965) Hadač 1989, "Mountain avens tundra" - ass. Salicipolaris - Dryadetum octopetalae (Rønning 1965) Koroleva 2011, "Polar willow-and-mosses tundra" - ass. Luzulo confusae - Salicetum polaris Hadac (1946) 1989, typicum var., "Polar willow-and-liverworts tundra" - ass. Luzulo confusae - Salicetum polaris, Gymnomitrion corallioides - var., "herbs-and-mosses tundra" - ass. Oxyrio - Trisetetum spicati Hadač (1946); II. Barrens, screes and young alluvia, with types "Mountain avens on barrens and screes" - ass. Salici polaris - Dryadetum octopetalae, Papaver dahlianum - var., "Dwarf shrubs-and-herbs patches on barrens and screes" - ass. Papaveretum dahliani Hofm. 1968 ex Dierßen 1992, lichens-and-Racomitrium patches" - ass. Sphaerophoro - Racomitrietum lanuginosi (Hadač 1946) Hofm. 1968, "Dwarf shrubs-and-herbs patches on open stony alluvia" - community type Saxifraga aizoides; III. Marshes and beaches, with types "Creeping saltmarsh grass-and-sedges marshes" - ass. Puccinellietum phryganodis Hadac 1946, ass. Caricetum subspathaceae Hadač 1946, ass. Caricetum ursinae Hadac 1946; "Oysterleaf shingle and rocky beach" - аss. Mertensietum maritimae (Nordh. 1940) Thannheiser 1981; IV. Wetlands, with types "Tundragrass wetlands" - ass. Bryo - Dupontietum pelligerae (Hadač 1946) 1989, "Alpine tufted hair-grass wetlands" - аss. Deschampsietum alpinae (Samuelsson 1916) Nordh. 1943, "Cottongrass wetlands" - ass. Saxifrago foliolosae - Eriophoretum scheuchzeri Hadač 1989; V. Meadows and grasslands, types "Common Scurvy Grass meadows" - ass. Phippsio - Cochlearietum groenlandicae Hadač 1989; "Meadow grass grasslands" - аss. Deschampsietum alpinae (Samuelsson 1913) Nordh. 1943, Poa alpigena-var., "Tundragrass grasslands" - ass. Deschampsietum alpinae (Samuelsson 1916) Nordh. 1943, "Red fescue grasslands"- community type Festuca rubra (Möller, 2000); VI. Anthropogenic open plant communities - community type Cerastium arcticum - Ceratodon purpureum. Existing approaches to the differentiation of tundra habitat types are discussed. The group "Tundra" in the EUNIS habitat types classification is proposed.</p>