A Floristic Study of Vascular Plants in Ushishir, the Middle Kuril Islands
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
J. Jpn. Bot. 91 Suppl.: 68–82 (2016) A Floristic Study of Vascular Plants in Ushishir, the Middle Kuril Islands a, b Hideki TAKAHASHI * and Vyacheslav Yu. BARKALOV aThe Hokkaido University Museum, Sappporo, 060-0810 JAPAN; bInstitute of Biology and Soil Science, Russian Academy of Sciences, Far Eastern Branch, Vladivostok, 690022 RUSSIA *Corresponding author: [email protected] (Accepted on January 9, 2016) A preliminary list of vascular plants is provided for the southern Yankicha and northern Ryponkicha islets of Ushishir, the middle Kuril Islands, based on herbarium specimens. The list represents 45 families, 114 genera, and 158 species for the whole of Ushishir. Only two species of non-native plants have been recorded from Ushishir- Yankicha. The main dominant families in Ushishir are Asteraceae, Poaceae, Cyperaceae, and Caryophyllaceae. Although the entire flora of Ushishir does not show distinguishing features different from those of adjacent Ketoi and Rasshua, a clear contrast of floristic composition was confirmed between Yankicha and Ryponkicha in Ushishir. Notably, a higher number of species and collections of Cyperaceae in Ryponkicha than in Yankicha was confirmed. A Ryponkicha bias is evident in several taxa, for example Rubus chamaemorus, Vaccinium uliginosum var. alpinum, Carex rariflora, and C. stylosa. The floristic contrast mainly reflects the common occurrence of herbaceous meadows on Yankicha and the presence of a shrubby heath community on the terrace of Ryponkicha. A clear difference of flora and vegetation between Yankicha and Ryponkicha may be due to the different topographical and geological features of the two islets. Key words: Middle Kurils, Ryponkicha, Ushishir, Yankicha. The Kuril Islands extend about 1200 km Hokkaido and 470 km southwest of Kamchatka between Hokkaido and the Kamchatka peninsula (Fig. 1). Ushishir is separated from Ketoi (73 (Fig. 1). The Kuril Archipelago is situated at the km2 and 1166 m at peak) in the southwest by boundary of two floristic regions: Circumboreal the Ketoi Strait, about 26 km in width, and and Eastern Asiatic (Takhtajan 1986). The from Rasshua (67 km2 and 948 m at peak) in archipelago, which crosses the boundary of the the northeast by the Ushishir Strait (Suredo two adjacent floristic regions, is very rare in Strait), about 17 km in width (Fig. 1; Tatewaki the world; the only other case is the Andaman- 1931). Ushishir is small in size (about 5–6 km2 Nicobar Islands between the Indochinese and in total area), and is composed of the southern Malesian Regions. The Kuril Islands are an ideal Yankicha and northern Ryponkicha islets. archipelago for floristic study on a world scale. Yankicha is trapezoidal in outline, about 2.5 km Ushishir belongs to the middle Kurils, and is in width and length (about 3.5 km2 in area), with situated at about 740 km northeast of Nemuro in a famous crater bay (Kraternaya Bay, Kureta- —68— December 2016 Takahashi & Barkalov: Flora of Ushishir Island 69 Fig. 1. Map of the Kuril Islands and Ushishir, composed of Yankicha and Ryponkicha. wan in Japanese) facing south (Fig. 2A). The The geological features of Yankicha are landscape of Kraternaya Bay has been described characterized by andesite, basalt formed by the as having a lush, gentler aspect (Stephan 1974) present Holocene period subvolcanic activities, and has been suggested for inclusion in the Red and those of Ryponkicha by intermediate and Book of Russia as “endangered phenomena” basic lavas, tuffs, and tephra formed in the (Kafanov 2005). Its highest peak is 388 m above Middle-Late Pleistocene period (Yermolayev et sea level. Ryponkicha is narrow and rhomboidal al. 1994). in outline, about 1.2 km in width and about 2.8 Before World War II, a Japanese fox km in length (Tatewaki 1931), and smaller in breeder’s hut was built on Yankicha. After 1945, size than Yankicha. Ryponkicha is characterized the end of World War II, Russian scientists by a flat terrace on the sea cliffs surrounding the (Institute of Oceanology of Russian Academy island (Fig. 2B), at the height of about 100 m of Science) have spent summers on Yankicha above sea level. Its highest peak is 121 m above in order to study the biological activities of sea level. These two islets are connected by a archaebacteria on the ocean floor and how they sandbar, with a length of about 400 m, appearing have been influenced by volcanic activities. at low tide (Fig. 2B). Ryponkicha has been historically uninhabited. 70 The Journal of Japanese Botany Vol. 91 Centennial Memorial Issue Fig. 2. A. Kraternaya Bay, southern side of Yankicha. Subalpine meadows on mountain slopes. B. Ryponkicha connected with the northeastern side of Yankicha by a sandbar. Arrow indicates heath vegetation on the wind-blown terrace on the sea cliffs. The island seen in the distance is Rasshua, situated in the north. The flora of the Kuril Islands has been studied the floristic differences between the two brother by several Japanese and Russian botanists islets, Yankicha and Ryponkicha. The flora was (Miyabe 1890, Vorobiev 1956, Tatewaki 1957). confirmed by voucher specimens deposited in The flora of the whole of Ushishir is included in the herbaria. the modern flora of the Kuril Islands (Barkalov The first plant collection from Ushishir was 2009, Takahashi 2015). However, the difference carried out by Mr. I. Kodama, who surveyed in the topography and vegetation is remarkable marine resources of the Kurils in 1893. The between Yankicha and Ryponkicha (Tatewaki Japanese botanist M. Tatewaki collected actively 1931). The present study shows characteristics on Ushishir in 1928, 1929, and 1930. After of the flora of the whole of Ushishir, and clarifies the end of the World War II, some Russian December 2016 Takahashi & Barkalov: Flora of Ushishir Island 71 Table 1. Dates, collectors, and herbaria of the botanical collections on Ushishir, the middle Kurils Island and dates Collectors (abbreviations and collection numbers; herbaria) Ushishir, Yankicha (South Island) 1893, Jul. I. Kodama (IK s.n.; SAPS) 1927, Jul. 8 Cap. Taketomi (CT s.n.; SAPS) 1928, Sep. 1 M. Tatewaki and Y. Tokunaga (MT & YT 12490–12518; SAPS) 1929, Jul. 30–31 M. Tatewaki and K. Takahashi (MT & KT 15805–15825; SAPS) 1929, Sep. 10, 12–13 M. Tatewaki and K. Takahashi (MT & KT 15829–15901; SAPS) 1930, Jun. 8 M. Tatewaki (MT 17386–17387; SAPS) 1955, Aug. 10–11, 17 Collector unknown at Expedition of the Institute of Oceanology (VLA) 1956, Sep. 12 Collector unknown at Expedition of the Institute of Oceanology (VLA) 1971, Jun. 19–29 G. A. Voronov (GV s.n.; SAK) 1972, Jul. and Aug. 12 V. A. Serdyuk (VS s.n.; VLA) 1986, Jul. 30 A. V. Smirnov (AS 1–30; LE) 1995, Aug. 14 H. Takahashi (HT 19271–19347; SAPS), M. V. Ilushko & Yu. N. Zhuravlev (MI & YZ s.n., 9538–951318; VLA) 1995, Aug. 20 H. Takahashi, M. Ohara (HT 19649–19684, MO s.n.; SAPS) 1997, Aug. 1 H. Takahashi, Y. Kuwahara (HT 22870–22936, YK s.n.; SAPS), M. V. Ilushko & Yu. N. Zhuravlev (MI & YZ 97041–97062; VLA) 1997, Aug. 2 M. V. Ilushko & Yu. N. Zhuravlev (MI & YZ 97064–97112; VLA), S. Gage (SG s.n.; WTU) 1999, Aug. 5 V. Yu. Barkalov (VB 990700–991147; VLA) Ushishir, Ryponkicha (North Island) 1928, Aug. 11 M. Tatewaki and Y. Tokunaga (MT & YT 12521–12591; SAPS) 1929, Jul. 31 M. Tatewaki and K. Takahashi (MT & KT s.n.; SAPS) 1929, Aug. 3 M. Tatewaki and K. Takahashi (MT & KT s.n.; SAPS) 1929, Sep. 14 M. Tatewaki and K. Takahashi (MT & KT 15904–15954; SAPS) 1956, Sep. 12 Collector unknown at Expedition of the Institute of Oceanology (VLA) 1971, Jun. 19–29 G. A. Voronov (GV s.n.; SAK) 1997, Aug. 2 H. Takahashi, N. Minakawa, Y. Kuwahara (HT 22937–23005; NM s.n., YK 100–107; SAPS), M. V. Ilushko and A. S. Lelej (MI & AL 87101; VLA), M. V. Ilushko & Yu. N. Zhuravlev (MI & YZ 97062–97115; VLA), S. Gage (SG s.n.; WTU) researchers collected plants on Ushishsir. Ushishir, but which particular island of Ushishir From 1995 to 1999, international cooperative was not identified. The floristic composition was field studies of the USA, Russia, and Japan compared between Yankicha and Ryponkicha, (IKIP: International Kuril Island Project) were the neighboring Ketoi, and Rasshua (Table 2 and carried out on the Kuril Islands. Ushihir was Fig. 3). For the species list of Ketoi and Rasshua, also a target for these studies. A brief history we utilised the table presented in Appendix 3 of these botanical collections on Yankicha and in Takahashi (2015). In addition to the floristic Ryponkicha is summarized in Table 1. composition, the number of collections was compared between Yankicha and Ryponkicha Materials and Methods (Tables 3, 4). We composed the floristic list of Yankicha and Ryponkicha based on the voucher specimens Results and Discussion deposited in LE, SAK, SAPS, VLA and WTU Vegetation features of Ushishir (see Appendix). Some species were only Tatewaki (1931, 1957) described four typical confirmed by reliable literature as being from plant communities for Ushishir: 1) coastal 72 The Journal of Japanese Botany Vol. 91 Centennial Memorial Issue Fig. 3. A. Relationship of the common species numbers among Ushishir, Ketoi, and Rasshua. B. Relationship of the common species numbers among Yankicha and Ryponkicha constituting Ushishir, and Ketoi and Rasshua. Note the low common species numbers between Yankicha and Ryponkicha despite their close geographical proximity. Table 2. Number of species in dominant vascular plant families for Ushishir (Yankicha and Ryponkicha), and its neighboring Ketoi and Rasshua islands in the middle Kurils KETOI Whole of USHISHIR-