Rare And Protected Vascular Plants In Yugyd Va National Park (Russia)

Yugyd va National Park is one of the largest Protected Areas in Russia and Europe, created in 1994. In 1995 it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage site "Virgin Komi Forests". Due to its large area (about 20 000 km(2)) and remoteness, the flora of the Yugyd va National Park still remains insufficiently studied. Systematic studies of its natural complexes have been carried out since 2005. This paper presents data on the composition and distribution of rare and protected species of vascular plants listed in the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation, Red Data Book of the Republic of Komi and Appendices to them in the Yugyd va National Park. We found 120 species of rare and protected vascular plants in the Yugyd va National Park. We recorded 31 taxa listed in the Appendix of the Red Data Book of the Republic of Komi. Among them, there are endemics of the Arctic, Urals, North-East of European Russia, as well as Pleistocene relicts. A high number of plant populations are located on the border of species' ranges or their isolated fragments. Yugyd va National Park provides a territorial protection for nine species included in the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation and its Appendix. The Protected Area plays an important role in preservation of plant populations of the narrow-ranged Arctic endemics Astragalus gorodkovii and Castilleja arctica subsp. vorkutensis. More than a third of all the rare species known in the Yugyd va National Park are under protection in the adjacent Russian regions of the Urals and the North-East of European Russia. In the Republic of Komi, Erysimum pallasii, Kobresia myosuroides, Drauba pauciflora, Achoriphragma nudicaule, Petasites sibiricus, Carex atrofusca, C. williamsii, C. krausei, C. misandra, Gastrolychnis affinis, Oxytropis merlensiana are known exclusively in the Yugyd va National Park. In the mountainous area of its northern part (Kozhim River basin), there are unique locations of Neotorularia humilis and Oxygraphis glacialis for Europe, and an unique location of Kobresia sinipliciuscula for the Republic of Komi. These species could be lost due to the planned exclusion of the Kozhimsky mining site from the area of the Yugyd va National Park. As additional measures to preserve the biological and genetic diversity of a number of particularly the most threatened taxa, it is necessary to develop species conservation programmes, monitor and restore populations, as well as to create a seed bank, and introduce these species to culture.