Vascular Plants Flora of Mire Ecosystem of the Bolshoy Shantar Island (the Far East of Russia)

Abstract

This article presents the findings of the authors’ study of the mire ecosystem vascular plants of the island of Bolshoy Shantar, which is the largest island in the Shantar archipelago. Bolshoy Shantar Island is an insular ecosystem, the study of which can provide insight into the natural “polygons” of evolution at work. The botanical research was conducted through the application of traditional techniques of floristic and geobotanical studies. The material for this article was drawn from 73 floristic and 54 geobotanical descriptions made between 2016–2018 in the north-eastern part of Bolshoy Shantar Island on four mire massifs associated with various hypsometric surfaces. The findings of this study indicate that the flora of vascular plants of the mires of Bolshoy Shantar Island reflect the peculiarities of a regional mire type that formed in the insular conditions of the Pacific. The species richness of the vascular flora of the island’s mire ecosystems is evidenced by a total species count of 158, composed of 109 genera and 48 families, which accounts for more than one quarter (26.3%) of the Shantar archipelago’s flora. Over half of these species (63.7%) form the core of the mire flora.