Moss occurrences in the Kuznetsk upland (Altai-Sayan mountain country)

Study Extent

The most detailed studies were focused on the territory of Kuznetsky Alatau Nature Reserve, they were conducted for several weeks during the summers of 1994, 1998, 2000, 2002-2005. In other parts of the territory - Mountain Shoria, Azhendarovsky and Saltymakovsky ridges the work was routed and short-term. Attention has always been paid to both background and rare types of habitats. So, forest, tundra, meadow, high-herbaceous and mire communities of the region were thoroughly examined, as well as rock outcrops and habitats along with crooks.

Sampling

In most cases bryological investigations were in parallel with the geobotanical relevés of the plots; moss samples were collected on each type of substrate. Rock outcrops and habitats along crooks were the objects of special attention. Standard methods of moss collection have been used. Preserved samples are in NSK.

Quality Control

The data were collected and identified by reseachers from the Central Siberian Botanical Gagden of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Some moss specimens were identified by taxonomic specialists from the Faculty of Biology of Lomonosov Moscow State University, and the Tsitsin Main Botanical Garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Method steps

1. The source materials are stored in two personal databases. Geobotanical and bryological materials are stored in the IBIS (Zverev, 2007). Herbarium label data can be found in the Excell table (partially available on the website). The materials were brought together in the Excell table and revised; the names and contents of the fields were aligned with Darwin Core (Wieczorek et al. 2012) and include the following: “occurrenceID”, “taxonID”, “scientificName”, “taxonRank”, “kingdom”, “phylum”, “class”, “family”, “genus”, “acceptedNameUsage”, “country”, “countryCode”, “stateProvince”, “county”, “verbatimLocality”, “habitat”, “locationRemarks”, “fieldNotes” (extended field description of habitat, in Russian), “verbatimElevation”, “decimalLatitude”, “decimalLongitude”, “coordinateUncertaintyInMeters”, “day”, “month”, “year”, “identifiedBy”, “recordedBy”, “basisOfRecord”, “collectionCode”, “catalogNumber” (number of a specimen in herbarium NSK), “datasetName”.

The Kuznetsk upland is situated in the northwest of Altai-Sayan mountain country. Along the Tom River, it is divided into Kuznetsk Alatau and Mountain (Gornaya) Shoria. Kuznetsk Alatau is stretched meridionally northward from the Tom River within 53-56° N and 86-91° E. The western macro-slope is faced with the Kuznetskaya depression; it is steep and formed with a system of large ledges. The eastern one is gently descending to the Minusinskaya depression. Altitudes range from 300- 500 m in the northern part to 2000 m in the south. Elevation intervals from the level of the valleys to the highest peaks are about 600-700 m. The relief has a tiered structure with 2-3 surfaces of peneplainization. Flat watersheds and slightly inclined surfaces are covered with Quaternary sediments. Transition to the upper surface is characterized by a sharp increase in slope steepness; talus and rock fields are common there. The most widespread rocks are gabbros, granodiorites, granites, gneisses, serpentinites, clayish and crystalline slates. Limestone outcrops are rare and revealed in valleys of only some rivers. Mountain (Gornaya) Shoria is situated southward from the Tom River, it is characterized by smooth relief with elevation intervals between valleys and ridges being 200-300 m. Most peaks are lower than 1200 m and do not exceed the tree line. In Kuznetskiy Alatau and Mountain Shoria mean annual precipitation is several times higher than in neighbor regions and varies from 900-1000 up to 3000-3500 mm according to different data and different parts. An average annual temperature is about 0 °C. Winter snow depth varies from 20-40 cm on flat mountain tops to 170-190 cm in the subalpine belt. When the thickness of snow cover exceeds 150 cm, it keeps soil non-freezing during the winter period, temperatures on a soil surface being about 0°C. Snow spots may persist for the whole summertime on northern slopes near ridge tops. In vegetation of the territory, there are 3 mountain belts: a forest belt, a tall-herbaceous belt, and a tundra belt. Mountain Shoria is a warmer region and the prevailing type of primeval vegetation here is chernevaia taiga, the most thermophilic and humid type of forest in South Siberia. In Kuznetskiy Alatau chernevaia taiga occurs also at the lower elevations. Forests of Abies sibirica with a rich herbs layer occupy slopes of all expositions from river valleys up to 1100 m. At 1100-1250 m a.s.l. tall-herbaceous communities prevail. High-mountain tundra is presented as small isolated areas like islands on flat tops of the upper surface of peneplainization. Smooth forms of relief, the huge amount of precipitation and cold climate promote mires development. Mires are diverse and represented in all mountain belts. Materials on the bryoflora of a so-called “Melafir horseshoe” are also included in the dataset. “Melafir horseshoe” is specific geological structures, the basalt mold of Permian age. It is situated near Kuznetsk Alatau foothills and geomorphologically belongs to Kuznetsk depression (Finer, 1969). The highest parts of the mold rise above the Kuznetsk depression at 200-400 m and differ from the last in precipitation and vegetation. In vegetation they are similar to slopes of Kuznetsk Alatau (Lashchinsky et al., 2011).