Marine macroalgae and associated flowering plants from the Keret Archipelago, White Sea, Russia

doi:2013.28.3.267

Algae > Volume 28(3); 2013 > Article

Algae 2013;28(3): 267-280. doi: https://doi.org/10.4490/algae.2013.28.3.267

David J. Garbary¹^,* and Elena R. Tarakhovskaya²

¹Department of Biology, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, NS B2G 2W5, Canada
²Department of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg 199034, Russia

*Corresponding Author

Email: dgarbary@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

The marine algal flora of the Keret Archipelago (66° N, 33° E) in the White Sea, Russia was investigated during 2008. Over 250 algal records from more than 15 islands and several sites on the adjoining mainland produced a total of 62 algal species. This raised the total from 56 to 88 species of Chlorophyta (23 species), Phaeophyceae (31 species), Rhodophyta (33 species), and Tribophyceae (1 species) of which seven were new records or verifications of ambiguous records for the White Sea and 11 species are new for the Keret Archipelago. The new or confirmed records included species of Blidingia, Eugomontia, Prasiola, Rosenvingiella, and Ulothrix (Chlorophyta), Acrochaetium, Colaconema (Rhodophyta), and Vaucheria (Tribophyceae). Five species of flowering plants (Aster, Plantago, Triglochin, and Zostera) were associated with the macrophytic algal vegetation of the region. Five fucoid algae in Pelvetia, Fucus, and Ascophyllum provide a picture of a temperate flora. Regardless, the overall species richness is consistent with an arctic nature to the flora. This discrepancy is attributed to the ‘filter’ provided by the Barents Sea of the Arctic Ocean for post-glacial colonization of the White Sea.

Key words: biogeography; Chlorophyta; Keret Archipelago; Prasiolales; Russia; White Sea