Bakalin V.A.1, Cherdantseva V.Ya.1 2006. Bryophytes of northern Kuril Islands (north-west Pacific) // Arctoa. Vol. 15: 131–154 [in English].
1 Institute of Biology and Soil Science, Stoletiya Vladivostoka Avenue, 159, Vladivostok 690022 Russia; e-mail: v_bak@list.ru
KEYWORDS: check-list, mosses, hepatics, biodiversity, phytogeography, Kuril Islands, Paramushir, Shumshu
ABSTRACT. The bryophyte flora of two northern Kuril islands, Paramushir and Shumshu, is studied. The compiled list includes 97 species and 4 varieties of liverworts and 154 species and 1 variety of mosses. The flora is characterized with the considerable proportion of East-Asian species. There is a great difference between these two islands in species composition: Shumshu is characterized with a great number of heliophytes, while Paramushir – with mountain species, mainly epilithic ones. Contemporary volcanic activity considerably affects the flora of Paramushir Island, primarily, due to occasional ashfalls resulting in destruction and degradation of a some of plant communities, as well as in supplying unoccupied substrates.
doi 10.15298/arctoa.15.02