Ecological and habitat ranges of orchids in the northernmost regions of their distribution areas: A case study from Ural Mountains, Russia.

The Orchidaceae, which is one of the most interesting families of angiosperms, contains a large number of rare species. Despite their acknowledged importance, little attention has been paid to the study of orchids distributed in northern territories. In this study, we determined the syntaxonomical diversity and ecological parameters of orchid habitats in two of Europe's largest protected areas, the Pechoro-Ilychsky Reserve and the Yugyd Va National Park (northeastern European Russia), and then compared our findings to those in other parts of orchid distribution ranges. For this purpose, we studied 345 descriptions of plant communities (releves) containing species from Orchidaceae and defined habitat parameters using Ellenberg indicator values with the community weight mean approach, nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMS), and relative niche width. We found that orchids were distributed in eight habitat types and 97 plant associations. The largest number of orchid species is found in forest communities. Half of the orchid species under study occur in the mires and rock habitats with open vegetation. Several orchids consistently occur in areas disturbed by human activity. In addition, our study indicates that the main drivers of orchid distribution across the vegetation types are light and soil nitrogen. Our analysis of the ecological parameters of orchid habitats indicates that some orchid species can be classified as habitat specialists that are confined to a relatively narrow ecological niche in the Urals (e.g., Goodyera repens, Cypripedium guttatum and Dactylorhiza maculata). Several other species (e.g. Neottia cordata and Dactylorhiza fuchsia) grow under diverse ecological parameters.

Occurrences of Threatened Species included in the Third Edition of the Red Data Book of the Komi Republic (Russia).

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the data paper was to introduce into scientific literature the results of scientific work carried out for the third edition of the 'Red Data Book of the Komi Republic'. The article reflects methodological approaches to the formation of a list of rare and in need of protection species and describes the corresponding datasets published in GBIF. NEW INFORMATION: Information about 7,187 occurrences of 438 rare species and infraspecies included in the third edition of the 'Red Data Book of the Komi Republic' have been published.

Moss occurrences in Yugyd Va National Park, Subpolar and Northern Urals, European North-East Russia.

BACKGROUND: This study produced a dataset containing information on moss occurrences in the territory of Yugyd Va National Park, located in the Subpolar and Northern Urals, European North-East Russia. The dataset summarises occurrences noted by long-term bryological explorations in remote areas of the Subpolar and Northern Urals from 1943 to 2015 and from studies published since 1915.The dataset consists of 4,120 occurrence records. The occurrence data were extracted from herbarium specimen labels (3,833 records) and data from published literature (287 records). Most of the records (4,104) are georeferenced.A total of 302 moss taxa belonging to 112 genera and 36 families are reported herein to occur in Yugyd Va National Park. The diversity of bryophytes in this National Park has not yet been fully explored and further exploration will lead to more taxa. NEW INFORMATION: A total of 4,120 moss occurrences records in the territory of Yugyd Va National Park were published.

Striking the balance: Challenges and perspectives for the protected areas network in northeastern European Russia.

Increasing anthropogenic pressure on the largest remaining tracts of old-growth boreal forest in Europe necessitates additional conservation of ecosystems and biodiversity in northeastern European Russia. In a regional network comprising 8 % of the Nenets Autonomous District and 13.5 % of the Komi Republic, 248 areas have varying protected statuses as state nature reserves (zapovedniks), national parks, reserves/sanctuaries (zakazniks), or natural monuments. Due to increased natural resource extraction in this relatively pristine area, designation of additional protected areas is critical for the protection of key ecological sites. The history of ecological preservation in these regions is herein described, and recent recommendations for incorporating additional ecologically representative areas into the regional network are presented. If the protected area network can be expanded, the overall environmental stability in these globally significant ecosystems may remain intact, and can help Russia meet the 2020 Aichi conservation targets, as set forth by the Convention of Biological Diversity.