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Phytogeographical regionalization of Sakhalin Island
Catalog of flora of Kamchatka (vascular plants)
from Pavel V. Krestov1, Vyacheslav Yu. Barkalov1 and Alexander A. Taran2
1 Institute of Biology & Soil Science, Vladivostok, Russia
2 Botanical Garden-Institute, Sakhalin Division, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia
Contacts:
krestov@ibss.dvo.ru
barkalov@ibss.dvo.ru
This paper aims at elaboration of phytogeographycal regionalization of Sakhalin Island by analysis of local floras of Sakhalin and their relationships with regional floras of northern Asia.
Sakhalin is situated on the easternmost edge of the continent of Eurasia spanning from 46° to 54.4° N stretching for about 980 km from north to south.
The island territory was divided into fourteen geographical regions according to the Tolmachev's scheme of geobotanical regionalization. The Sakhalin database included 1233 species of vascular plants and their distribution in each of 14 regions. Then, each of 14 local floras was compared to each flora of each of 70 floristic regions of northern Asia including the Russian Far East, Siberia, Korea, Northeast China and northern Japan. The Simpson's index was used for determining a portion of species occurring in each local flora of Sakhalin in each of 70 regional floras on northern Asia. A cluster analysis was employed for the grouping of Sakhalin local floras by criteria of north Asian distribution of their species.
Results.
Fourteen local floras by criteria of distribution of their species in north Asia were grouped into six floristic regions belonging to two floristic provinces representing different floristic areas:
Circumboreal floristic area
Amgu-Sakhalin floristic province
Schmidt peninsula floristic region (SH)
Northern Sakhalin floristic region (NS)
Eastern Sakhalin floristic region (ES)
East Asian floristic area
Southern Sakhalin floristic province
Western Sakhalin floristic region (WS)
Southern Sakhalin floristic region (SS)
Krilion peninsula floristic region (KS)
The geographical position of a boundary between two floristic areas appears to be nearly the same with the Schmidt's line (Figure 2). Flora of the area lying to the north of a line includes a number of genera occurring in this part of the island in all local floras and lacking on Sakhalin to the south of a line. These are Acetosa, Androsace, Arenaria, Armeria, Papaver, Phyllodoce, Pinguicula, Sagittaria and Trichophorum.
The region of Schmidt peninsula is characterized by pure Picea jezoensis and mixed Abies sachalinensis-Picea jezoensis forests as dominant vegetation type. Floristically it is much closer to the southern Siberian boreal flora than to the Hokkaido-Sakhalin flora. The distribution Ajania pallasiana, Artemisia lagocephala, Erysimum pallasii, Gentianopsis barbata, Heteropappus decipiens, Juncus triglumis, Lagotis minor, Lychnis ajanensis, Minuartia arctica, Oxytropis trautvetteri, Phlojodicarpus villosus, Poa glauca, Scirpus maximowiczii, Veronica incana on the island is restricted to this region.
The dominant vegetation type of Northern Sakhalin region is the Larix gmelinii woodlands and the thickets of Pinus pumila naturally established on the Cenozoic sands deposited by Amur river. Flora of region includes species Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Duschekia fruticosa, Juniperus sibirica, Pinus pumila, Salix saxatilis related to the continental Okhotsk boreal flora. The genera Grationa, Lomatogonium and Arctostaphyllos are restricted in distribution on the island to this region.
The Eastern Sakhalin region has nearly full spectrum of altitudinal zones including the belts of Abies sachalinensis-Picea jezoensis forests, Betula ermanii forests, Pinus pumila scrub and alpine tundra. The flora if this region is characterized by a nucleus of alpine species, such as Astragalus tumninensis, Cryptogramma stelleri, Pedicularis koidzumii, Poa arctica, P. nivicola, P. shumushuensis, Popoviocodonia stenocarpa, Ranunculus pygmaeus, R. sulphureus, Rhododendron redowskianum, Salix turczaninowii, S. reticulata, Saxifraga laciniata, Sibbaldia procumbens, Silene acaulis.
To the south of Schmidt's line the number of representatives of Sino-Japanese flora has increased, and Abies sachalinensis became the main dominant in the forests. In the Western Sakhalin region, genera Achnatherum, Actinidia, Aralia, Asparagus, Cardiocrinum, Caulophyllum, Cypripedium, Eleutherococcus, Juglans, Orobanche and species Cerasus nipponica, Cremastra variabilis, Hydrangea petiolaris, Juniperus conferta, Oenanthe javanica, Oreorchis patens, Padus ssiori, Viburnum furcatum, Vitis coignetiae and others have their northern limit of distribution on the island.
In the Southern Sakhalin and Krilion peninsula regions the presence of Sino-Japanese flora is increased and they may occur not only in the forests dominated by Abies sachalinensis but also in the broadleaved-dominated forests. Flora includes a number of species common to Southern Kurils and Hokkaido: Actinidia arguta, Ampelopsis brevipedunculata, Arisaema sadoense, Cynanchum caudatum, Dactylostalyx ringens, Disporum sessile, Ilex crenata, Kalopanax septemlobus, Leptorumohra miqueliana, Morus bombycis, Neottia papilligera, Osmunda japonica, Phacellanthus tubiflorus, Phyllitis japonica, Toxicodendron orientale.
The Holocene climatic fluctuations with thermal maximum in Atlantic (5400 years BP) caused relatively rapid response in flora composition. Well isolated in the late Pleistocene refugia of temperate flora with in the periods of Holocene warming have tended to expansion and integration, migration of cold-tolerant representatives northward, and temporary invasions of Hokkaido thermophilous species. From the other hand, relatively low temperatures on the whole Sakhalin at present (warmth index ranges from 25 to 35°C) causes wide distribution of fir-spruce forests. The enrichment of flora with temperate elements during Atlantic and Subboreal and the existence of modern refugia in the South of Sakhalin explains the position of a boundary separating the Circumboreal and East Asian floristic areas far to the north of boundary separating boreal and temperate vegetation in the island sector of East Asia.
Thus, a scheme of phytogeographical regionalization of Sakhalin island presented in this paper confirms geographical position of Schmidt's line and its status as a boundary between Circumboreal and East Asian floristic areas. The regionalization agrees with the modern species distribution and proportion of boreal, continental and insular temperate elements in the flora of Sakhalin. It can serve as a basis for floristic and biogeographical studies on the island.
Reference:
Krestov P.V., Barkalov V.Y., Taran A.A. 2004. Phytogeographical regionalization of Sakhalin Island. In: Flora and fauna of Sakhalin Island (Materials of International Sakhalin Island Project). Part 1. Dalnauka, Vladivostok. ISBN 5-8044-0467-9. P. 67-92. (In Russian)
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Catalog of flora of Kamchatka (vascular plants)
from Valentine V. Yakubov1 and Olga A. Chernyagina2
1 Institute of Biology & Soil Science, Vladivostok, Russia
2 Kamchatka League of Independent Experts
2 Pacific Geographical Institute, Kamchatka Division, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Russia
Contacts:
yakubov@ibss.dvo.ru
defens@mail.kamchatka.ru
The current research resulted in significant improvements in our understanding of the taxonomic groups to which the species belong and about the status of many plant species. The vast amount of material gathered suggested a need to publish a new review of Kamchatka's flora and the result is the current Catalog.
The many years of research by individuals working at long established and recently created natural reserves is used in preparing the current Catalog. Published data for the Kronotskii State Reserve (Zapovednik) and for the Southern Kamchatskii Reserve (Zakaznik), as well as materials on the regional nature Park Kamchatka were used to prepare this Catalog. Data used to prepare a review of rare plant species in Kamchatskaya Oblast and for the Endangered Species List (Red Data Book) for Kamchatskaya Oblast and for the Koryak National District play a very important role.
The improved understanding of the plant kingdom of the Russian Far East is accompanied by several negative tendencies. The most pernicious is the so-called "narrow species approach" used by several specialists in plant systematics. This concept has been stridently introduced into a series of fundamental reference books (Czerepanov 1973, 1981, 1995) as well as into certain regional floristic surveys. In practice this "narrow species approach" often gives species status to practically any subspecies, variety or poorly defined form or hybrid. This results in floristic data that are burdened with a multitude of taxa and that are factually impossible to differentiate one from the other, even by a botanist specializing in plant and flora systematics. To avoid this pitfall, we attempt to select an optimal variant for the status of each taxon; we rely upon information in floristic and taxonomic literature published in recent decades, material which, in one way or another, encompasses Kamchatka or adjacent regions. It is entirely natural that for many "narrow species" we used "sub-species" or variation (in certain instances they are a synonym for more broadly distributed species). In selecting taxonomic status we were guided, first of all, by the many years of floristic research in the Far East. We have not created new nomenclature combinations for this Catalog, intending to undertake this task, as well as a further revision of an entire series of taxa, in the next phase of our research on Kamchatka.
For the boundaries of Kamchatka as a floristic unit we have adopted the zonation proposed by S.S. Kharkevich (1985); this zoning includes Karaginskii Island and sets the northern boundary along a line running Rekinniki-Anapka. We also follow Kharkevich in viewing the Commander Islands as an independent floristic unit; we do not include them in this study. Although we subdivide Kamchatka into floristic regions in accordance with S.S. Kharkevich (1981), we do so with several modifications. We move the southern boundary of the Western Region to the Yavinskaya River. We refer the Southern Portion of the Eastern Kamchatka Ridge to the Eastern Region and not to the Middle. Instead of joining the entire Klyucevskii volcano group to the Eastern Region, we include it in the Central. Karaginskiy Island is subdivided into an island subregion. And finally, we consider Peresheechnyi Rayon as independent since the territory is a transitional zone between mid-taiga suboceanic flora for Kamchatka and northern taiga subcontinental flora of Northern Koryak. The Kamchatka floristic unit's southern boundary should run along a line from the mouth of Palana River to the mouth of Malamvayam River with its northern boundary extending along a line running Rekinniki-Anapka.
Information on each taxon is presented in brief essay using a set format. The essay includes Latin and Russian names, the most common synonyms, as well as information on distribution (according to geobotanical regions and administration districts), on protection measures, and on biotypes. Some species are provided with a brief note on their systematics, their distribution or their variability. For species that have been recommended for protection in Kamchatskaya Oblast and in the Koryak Autonomous Region, their distribution (both within Kamchatka and beyond its borders) is given more detail and they are noted with an asterisk (*). Introduced plant species are discussed in commentaries, hi several instances species are included in the Catalog that have been incorrectly identified for Kamchatka or that are known only in the literature; these are accompanied with appropriate commentary.
The Catalog contains a complete taxonomic list of the vascular plants on the Kamchatka Peninsula. The list contains 1,166 reliably registered species and subspecies of plants those belong to 410 genera and 89 families. Latin and Russian are provided for each species, along with most common synonyms, as well as information on their distribution (according to geobotanical regions and administrative districts), on protection measures, and on the biotypes in which they occur. The Catalog can be used to evaluate biodiversity, biogeographic structure, to develop rational use and protection strategies for the plant kingdom on the Kamchatka Peninsula.
Reference:
Yakubov V.V., Chernyagina O.A. 2004. Catalog of flora of Kamchatka (vascular plants). Kamchatpress, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy. ISBN 5-9610-0006-0. 165 pp. (In Russian and English)
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© IBSS FEB RAS 2004