Popova, K.B., E.A. Ignatova, V.E. Fedosov, O.A. Belkina, A.V. Shkurko & A.V. Razumovskaya. 2026. Moss flora of the Rybachy and the Sredny Peninsulas (Barents Sea coast, European Russia)

Arctoa (2026) 35: 55–72

doi: 10.15298/arctoa.35.06

Checklist of mosses of the Rybachy and Sredny peninsulas, the NW extremity of continental Russia, is presented. It includes 327 species, not counting dubious and erroneous records; 116 of them are newly reported for the area based on the field studies in 2008–2015, while 28 species recorded in the older publications remain not repeated by us. Four species are newly reported for the Murmansk Province: Meesia hexasticha, Calcidicranella obtusifolia, Sphagnum talbotianum, and S. alaskense; for three latter species, these are the westernmost localities in continental Europe (previously recorded for the Nenets Autonomous Okrug). Species are annotated with brief characteristic of ecology and distribution throughout the area based both on the original and literature data by Brotherus, Hayren, Elina, and Likhachev. The list of species is supplemented by brief phytogeographic consideration. In addition to widespread hypoarctic, boreal and arctic-montane species, the area is characterized by combination of calciphilous saxicolous species, generally rare in Murmansk Province, Arctic, suboceanic and hemiboreal species, that reflects wide distribution of base rich sedimentary rocks and Gulf Stream impact.