identifier	taxonID	type	CVterm	format	language	title	description	additionalInformationURL	UsageTerms	rights	Owner	contributor	creator	bibliographicCitation
463C87FAFF87FFE5FF75FD22A004FC57.text	463C87FAFF87FFE5FF75FD22A004FC57.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Sauteria alpina	<div><p>Sauteria alpina -dominated plant communities</p><p>were related to two syntaxa, one variant of association and one type of community.</p><p>Association Distichio capillacei–Saxifragetum oppositifoliae (Gjaerevoll, 1956) stat. nov. hoc loco,  Sauteria alpina – variant (table 2, type relevй III). Diagnostic taxa (DT) of association are  Saxifraga oppositifolia,  S. cernua,  Poa alpina,  Distichium capillaceum . Alpha diversity was from 23 to 45 species. DT of variant, thallose liverworts, dominate in plant cover; most conspicuous is  Sauteria alpina, also present  Preissia quadrata and  Peltolepis quadrata . Most abundant is  Anthelia juratzkana, DT of class  Salicetea herbaceae. Meso-, hygrophytic mosses  Pohlia drummondii,  Polytrichastrum alpinum,  Limprichtia revolvens,  Encalypta alpina,  Philonotis tomentella are constant and dominant species. Vascular plants (DT of alliance and association) are scattered and don’t  form closed cover, among them  Salix polaris,  Saxifraga oppositifolia,  S. cernua and  Oxyria digyna are most prominent. Due to light-colored thallus of  Sauteria alpina communities have very special aspect, especially when liverworts are in ‘fructiferous state’ (Gjaerevoll, 1956).</p><p>Communities were described by Gjaerevoll (1956) in most calcareous areas of northern part of Scandinavian Mts., at 735-1105 m alt., mainly on north-east exposed slopes, usually as ‘pioneer’ communities on moist unstable soil, subject to frost boiling, solifluction and sloping movement. Snow patches were reported to melt in late July-early August. As far as plant communities are regarded as ‘pioneer’, they can be substituted by the next stage of succession, by dwarf shrubs- and herbs-dominated snow-bed plant communities. That was probably the reason why we haven’t found them nearby permanent snow fields on the north-exposed slope of Laktatjakka Mt in August 2010.</p><p>Community  Saxifraga oppositifolia –  Sauteria alpina (Fig. 3, 4, tab. 2, type releve 193-01). Alpha diversity was from 15 to 21 species. DT  Cardamine pratensis ssp. angustifolia,  Cochlearia groenlandica,  Phippsia algida,  Bryoerythrophyllum recurvirostrum,  Pseudocalliergon turgescens,  Drepanocladus polygamus,  Sauteria alpina .</p><p>Sauteria alpina forms almost closed cover, together with mosses  Distichium capillaceum,  Bryoerythrophyllum recurvirostrum,  Pseudocalliergon turgescens,  Drepanocladus polygamous, scattered dwarf shrubs ( Saxifraga oppositifolia) and meso- and hygrophytic forbs and graminoids  Cardamine pratensis ssp. angustifolia,  Phippsia algida,  Draba alpina and  Cochlearia groenlandica . Vascular plants are typical for unstable substrata, some of them prefer rather moist fine earth ( Phippsia algida), and other are indifferent ( Draba alpina) and can be met almost everywhere on Svalbard.</p><p>Rather rare plant communities occur in calcareous substrata, on unstable and moist fine earth of the seashore terrain of the Trygghamna bay, on the first seaside terrace about 1 km to the Protektorfjellet, Svalbard archipelago, on moving slopes of hills and in peripheral zone of solifluction patches and represent first stage of succession on bare soil.</p><p>Prodromus of  Sauteria alpina -dominated plant communities in Svalbard and Scandinavian Mts.</p><p>Class  Salicetea herbaceae Br.-Bl. in Br.-Bl. et al. 1947</p><p>Order  Salicetalia herbaceae Br.-Bl. ap. Br.-Bl.&amp; Jenny 1926</p><p>Alliance Saxifrago–  Ranunculion nivalis Nordh. 1943 em. Dierssen 1984</p><p>Association Distichio capillacei–Saxifragetum oppositifoliae (Gjaerevoll 1956) stat. nov.</p><p>Community  Saxifraga oppositifolia –  Sauteria alpina</p><p>DISCUSSION</p><p>In northern European countries  Sauteria alpina occurs throughout the Scandinavian Mts. from the central part of Norway northwards and is rather rare in the southern parts but in the North it is generally more or less common in subalpine and low alpine, calcareous areas and may be found up to the high-alpine zone (Mеrtensson, 1955). In Finland  Sauteria alpina is known from three biogeographical provinces on the north – Kuusamo, Enontekio Lapland and Inari Lappland (Laaka-Lindberg &amp; al., 2009). Furthermore this species is known in the Fennoscandian regions of Russia: in Murmansk Province – Khibiny Mts., Kutsa area and Salnye Tundry (Borovichev &amp; al., 2012) and Republic of Karelia – only on anthropogenic habitat (on the soil covering industrial limestone) in Petrozavodsk (Borovichev, 2008). In accordance with all data of literature  Sauteria alpina doesn’t take dominance in communities and occurs in minor proportion in plant cover or as single thalli on bare soil. Plant communities with high dominance of  Sauteria alpina described in Svalbard and Scandinavian Mts. are among rarest communities for both areas and were not covered earlier. They are characteristic for unstable and moist substrata, and in both areas represent first succession stages. In communities on following succession stages  Sauteria alpina seems not to compete with latest invaders and ‘run away’ in rather minor microhabitats (soil cracks and solifluction patches).</p><p>1 – Author used a Hult-Sernander scale, which corresponds to the Braun-Blanquet scale as follow:</p><p>Hult-Sernander scale coverage % Braun-Blanquet scale</p><p>1 &lt;6 1</p><p>2 7-12 2а</p><p>3 13-25 2b</p><p>4 26-50 3</p><p>5 51-100 4 and 5</p><p>Composition and number of vascular plants in  Sauteria alpina -dominated communities is quite different in both areas (Svalbard and Scandinavian Mts.) with only  Saxifraga oppositifolia in common (tab. 2), due to location of communities in different natural zones: in the arctic zone on Svalbard and in the boreal zone in Scandes. On the same reason it is not surprising that these communities in Scandinavian Mts. occur in highest points, where plant communities were recorded (at 800- 1000 m), near permanent and long-lying snow-fields, and on Svalbard they were described on the seashore terrain, at 30-40 m a. s. l.</p><p>Almost all vascular plants in Scandinavian communities have rather narrow ecological niche (as  Ranunculus pygmaeus,  Saxifraga cernua,  S. oppositifolia and are typical for moist fine earth of snow bed habitats, near springs and brooks, on moist screes and solifluction patches mainly in high alpine zone. On Svalbard they are among widespread and commonest species.</p><p>Both types of  Sauteria alpina -dominated communities belong to the class  Salicetea herbaceae, which includes snow-bed communities on both acidic and calcareous substrata with dominance of meso-, hygrophytic dwarf shrubs and herbs and abundant mosses and liverworts. Plants distribution patterns reflects variations in time of snow retreat, soil moisture and substrata instability. Diagnostic taxa are  Salix herbacea,  S. polaris,  Omalotheca supina Harrimanella hypnoides,  Ranunculus glacialis,  R. nivalis,  R. pygmaeus,  R. sulphureus,  Saxifraga nivalis,  S. rivularis,  Sibbaldia procumbens,  Minuartia biflora,  Sagina saginoides, Kiaeria starkei,  Polytrichum sexangulare,  Racomitrium sudeticum,  Pohlia drummondii,  Anthelia juratzkana,  Pleurocladula albescens,  Gymnomitrium apiculatum,  Solorina crocea .</p><p>More or less extensive and closed communities dominated by liverworts  Anthelia juratzkana,  Pleurocladula albescens,  Gymnomitrium apiculatum are rather common in late snow-bed and sometimes in some destroyed moist habitats, on acidic and neutral fine earth, clayey and gravelly substrata, in high Arctic and in mountains of boreal zone. These communities are related to alliance Cassiopo–Salicion herbaceae and were described in various, mainly mountainous areas of Europe (Gjaerevoll, 1956; Dierssen, 1996, 2001).</p><p>Communities with dominance of  Sauteria alpina presented in this paper belong to another alliance Saxifrago–  Ranunculion nivalis (syn. Saxifrago oppositifolio– Oxyrion digynae Gjaerevoll 1956,  Salicion polaris Du Rietz 1942, Ranunculo-Oxyrion Nordhagen 1936), which comprises meso-, hygrophytic plant communities in calcareous late snow-bed habitats. DT are  Salix polaris,  S. reticulata,  Oxyria digyna,  Dichodon cerastoides,  Ranunculus nivalis,  Cerastium arcticum,  Arabis alpina,  Saxifraga tenuis,  Veronica alpina,  Trisetum spicatum,  Carex lachenalii . Plant communities of this alliance were described in high Arctic and mountainous Scandinavia (Gjaerevoll 1956; DierЯen, 1996; Nilsen &amp;Thannheiser, 2013), but there are almost no data about communities dominated by liverworts.</p><p>Notes. Species, which were met in 1–2 releves with coverage «+», when higher, then marked in brackets:  Arnellia fennica 193-4;  Asterella lindenbergiana VII (2);  Barbilophozia hatcheri II;  Bartsia alpina III;  Bryum cryophilum II, III;  Campylium sp. 193-3, 193-5;  C. stellatum 193-01, 194-1;  Cephalozia pleniceps I;  Ceratodon purpureus 193-3, 193-5 (r);  Cetraria islandica VI;  Cladonia bellidiflora II,  C. coccifera II;  Cyrtomnium hymenophyllum 194-1;  Dicranella grevilleana 193-3 (r);  Dicranoweisia crispula I, II (1);  Dicranum spadiceum 194-1;  Distichium inclinatum III, 194-1 (1);  Ditrichum flexicaule 194-1;  Encalypta sp. 193-3, 193-4;  Epilobium alpinum III, VII;  Equisetum arvense VII;  E. scirpoides 193-3, 193-5;  Erigeron humilis V;  Euphrasia frigida III;  Fissidens viridulus 193-3, 193-5;  Hylocomium splendens II;  Isopterygiopsis pulchella 193-3;  Jungermannia atrovirens I;  Lecidea sp. V;  Leiocolea gillmanii 193-01, 193-3 (1);  Lophozia wenzelii II;  Lophoziopsis polaris 194-1;  Luzula confusa I;  L. spicata IV;  Nardia geoscyphus I;  Oligotrichum hercynicum V;  Orthocaulis quadrilobus I;  Peltigera aphthosa I, II;  P. malacea IV;  Plectocolea obovata I;  Pleurocladula albescens I, II;  Poa alpigena VII;  Polytrichastrum norvegicum I, II (2a);  Potentilla pulchella 193-01, 193-5;  Psoroma hypnorum I;  Ranunculus acris VII;  Rhodiola rosea 194-1 (r);  Saxifraga stellaris I, II;  S. cespitosa 194-01, 194-5;  Saccobasis polita II,  Sagina caespitosa III;  Salix herbacea IV;  Scapania irrigua II,  S. mucronata I;  Schistochilopsis grandiretis 193-3;  S. incisa I, II (1);  Sibbaldia procumbens V;  Solenostoma sphaerocarpum I, II (1);  Solorina bispora I;  Stereocaulon alpinum IV;  Timmia norvegica VII;  T. austriaca I, III (1);  Tortella fragilis VII;  Tortula hoppeana II;  Tritomaria quinquedentata I, II.</p><p>Releve localities:  Thorne Lappmark (northern Sweden): I and II –  Mt Vasstjakka, NE slope, late snow-bed, irrigated area. 14.VIII.1947. III –  Mt Laktatjakka, N slope. 24.VIII.1947. IV –  Mt Laktatjakka, N slope. 18.VIII.1947. VII –  Mt Laktatjakka, N slope, bottom of cup-shaped snow-bed. 27.VIII.1947.  Bardu, Tromso County (northern Norway): V –  Mt Melhuskletten, S slope. 5.VIII.1950. VI – Mt Veslekletten, steep E slope. 8.VIII.1950. Author of descriptions O. Gjaerevoll (1956)</p><p>West Spitsbergen: 193-01, 193-3, 193-4, 193-5, 194-1 – western shore of the Trygghamna bay, on the first seaside terrace about 1 km to the Protektorfjellet Mt. 06-07.VII.2009. Author of descriptions E. Borovichev.</p><p>Syntaxonomical affiliation of  Sauteria alpina -dominated plant communities to Alliance Saxifrago–  Ranunculion nivalis is preliminary, because of their ‘pioneer’ stage and rather spontaneous assemblage of species, which can typify different alliances, characteristic for moist and unstable, calcareous and alkaline substrata (i.e. Cochleariopsion groenlandicae Hadač 1989, Saxifrago–  Ranunculion nivalis and Puccinellion phryganodis Hadač 1946). Plant communities of mentioned alliances actually occur in different habitats and environmental conditions. Alliance Cochleariopsion groenlandicae includes nitrophytic communities on rich moist soil. Halophytic communities of Puccinellion phryganodis occur on seashore. Meso-, hygrophytic communities of Saxifrago–  Ranunculion nivalis are typical and wide-distributed in snow-beds on terrains and lower mountain slopes. Inspite of such a strong ecological differentiation of habitats, on the ‘pioneer’ stages of all these alliances can be composed by the same species which are presented in community  Saxifraga oppositifolia –  Sauteria alpina (i.e.  Phippsia algida,  Cochlearia groenlandica,  Draba alpina) with most abundant  Sauteria alpina .</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/463C87FAFF87FFE5FF75FD22A004FC57	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Plazi	Koroleva, Natalia E.;Borovichev, Evgeny A.	Koroleva, Natalia E., Borovichev, Evgeny A. (2014): Rare plant communities with abundance of Sauteria alpina (Nees) Nees in the arctic tundra of Svalbard. Arctoa 23 (1): 5-10, DOI: 10.15298/arctoa.23.02, URL: https://doi.org/10.15298/arctoa.23.02
