Macrophytes of the Marine Areas in the Nature Reserves of the Crimean Peninsula (the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov)

摘要

This paper presents a nomenclature-taxonomic revision of the flora of marinemacrophytes of nature reserves of the Crimean Peninsula based on the results of original studies andliterature data. During the one and a half-century period of observations in the coastal-marine areasnow included in Crimean nature reserves, 240 taxa of macrophytes (both of species and intraspecificrank) were recorded, which makes up 53% of the flora of the Azov-Black Sea basin. They belong to5 divisions, 9 classes, 34 orders, 62 families, and 120 genera of algae. Rhodophyta especially standsout because of its taxonomic diversity. Marine macroflora in nature reserves varies in speciesrichness from 191 species found in Karadagsky NR and 154 in Cape Martian to 97 species cited forSwan Islands, 84 for Opuksky, and 73 species found in Kazantipsky NR. The rare taxa fractionconsists of 49 species in total; Cape Martian (39 taxa) and Karadagsky (37) NR are the richest in itsrepresentatives. In the coastal areas of studied reserves, a number of biotopes under the specialprotection of the EU Habitats Directive are located (Council Directive 92/43/EEC). All mentionedNR are structural elements of the Emerald Network, four of them designated as Wetlands ofInternational Importance. The main threat to the natural phytodiversity of the Crimean NR marineareas is the anthropogenic transformation of biotopes. This threat presents the need to review theboundaries and conservation status of some protected sites. The data obtained indicate that CrimeanNRs remain a key link in the system of conservation of natural phytodiversity and maintaining theecological balance in one of the most densely populated areas of Eastern Europe.