Scientific publications

The Nature Park Korablekk is located in the biogeographic province Lapponia petsamoënsis, in the northernmost part of the Green Belt of Fennoscandia (Pechenga District, Murmansk Region). The Nature Park Korablekk was established in 2017 for the conservation of old-growth pine forests at the northern limit of their distribution. The total area of the Nature Park is ca. 83.4 km². The current phase of lichen flora studies in the Park commenced in 2012. The main goals of the expedition in 2019 was to study the lichen diversity in the old-aged pine and aspen forests and in mountain tundra habitats of Kas kama Mt. and Korablekk Mt. Based on the material collected in 2019, 281 species have been identified. This article presents information about 217 species that had not been previously known for the lichen flora of the Park, including 195 lichen species, 18 lichenicolous fungi, and 4 species of non-lichenized saprobic fungi. Five species (Cecidonia xenophona, Cercidospora thamnoliae, Lichenoconium lichenicola, Muellerella triseptata, Polycoccum peltigerae) are reported for the first time for the Murmansk Region. Thirteen species and four genera (Brodoa, Caeruleum, Merismatium, Rhymbocarpus) are reported as new to the biogeographic province Lapponia petsamoënsis. Muellerella triseptata is new for European Russia and the second record for the whole Russia. Lichenoconium lichenicola is reported for the first time for North-Western European Russia. An annotated list of species with locations and substrates is provided. As a result, the lichen flora of the Nature Park Korablekk currently comprises 327 species, of which 301 species are lichens, 19 species are lichenicolous fungi, and 7 species are saprobic fungi. Representative specimens of the new records are deposited in the herbarium of the Institute of North Industrial Ecology Problems, Kola Science Centre RAS, Apatity (INEP).