Flora and vegetation of the small rivers of the Pregolya River system in the Kaliningrad Region

Abstract

The study presents the results of floristic surveys of small rivers belonging to the Pregolya River system in the Kaliningrad Region, carried out in 2014–2015. The vegetation of the examined rivers is represented by plant communities, being widespread in the region. P. australis, S. fragilis, S. alba, A. glutinosa, S. sagittifolia, S. sylvaticus, P. arundinacea appear to be dominating species in the riparian area. C. acuta, R. amphibia, S. erectum, B. umbellatus have high frequency of occurrence. Water vegetation is mainly represented by the communities with the dominance of P. pectinatus, P. nodosus, S. emersus, N. lutea, M. spicatum. For the first time for the region, the data on the growth of the rare sensitive algae species (H. rivularis, A. chalybaea) and the findings of C. elegans, D. glomerata, V. frigida, V. bursata, V. canaulicularis, whose status is unclear due to insufficient study of macroalgae in the region, are published. In the Krasnaya River, there was found B. trichophyllum, listed in the Red Book of the Kaliningrad Region as a requiring attention species. There was found a new regional habitat of E. telmateia – an endangered species listed in the Red Book of the Kaliningrad Region. Published scientific data for these rivers have not been available so far.