Bryophytes of the Complex Reserve “Ochenyrd” (Polar Urals, Komi Republic, Russia)

The State Nature Complex Reserve “Ochenyrd” (3,215 hectares) was established on February 7, 2019. It is located on the territory of the municipal formation of municipal district “Vorkuta” at the confluence of the Bolshaya and Malaya Kara Rivers. It was created to preserve reference landscapes and biological diversity of the western slope of the Polar Urals. For the first time, an annotated list of bryophytes collected in the Reserve “Ochenyrd” has been published. Each species is provided with the data on structures associated with reproduction, its geographical locations, substrate, and habitats. The list includes 175 taxa, among them 108 are mosses (107 species and 1 subspecies) from 59 genera and 31 families and 66 are liverworts (63 species, 2 varieties, and 1 subspecies) from 39 genera and 19 families. The liverwort Lophoziopsis excisa var. elegans (R.M. Schust.) Konstant. et Vilnet has been first discovered in the Komi Republic flora. The list of bryophytes in the municipal formation of municipal district “Vorkuta” have got additional 39 taxa (31 mosses and 8 liverworts). The moss Cinclidium arcticum (Bruch & Schimp.) Schimp. and the liverwort Prasanthus suecicus (Gottsche) Lindb. listed in the Red Data Book of the Komi Republic with Conservation Status 3 (rare species) have been found in the flora. The families Mniaceae (13 species), Dicranaceae, and Anastrophyllaceae (11 species each) and the genera Dicranum (11 species), Sphagnum (8), and Scapania (6) are the dominants by species number in the studied bryoflora. The tundra habitats are characterised by a high taxonomic diversity – 57 species of mosses and 49 of liverworts (62.4 % of the total reserve flora). Due to the presence of limestone outcrops, the flora is enriched with a complex of calciphilic mosses and liverworts. These species are not strictly confined to places where rocks emerge but occupy suitable niches in other ecotopes – tundra, willow thickets and hypnum swamps. The reproductive activity of bryophytes is not high. About 34.0 % of the identified species (32 species of mosses and 26 liverworts) form reproductive structures – sporogons. The process of spore formation is active in tundra (33 species) and coastal-aquatic communities (24).