Conservation of the Rare and Endangered Vascular Plants in the Mining and Tourism Area: Khibiny Mountains, Murmansk Region, Russia.

The Khibiny Mountains (hereafter called Khibiny Mts.) are one of the most urbanized and industrialized regions in the Russian Arctic. There are combined a developed mining complex, elaborate infrastructure, a well-known tourist resort, and a large population, all amidst an exceptionally rich biodiversity of plants.

Taxonomic revision of the group (Asteraceae) in Murmansk Region, Russia, reveals a complex pattern of native and alien taxa.

Based on the evidence of morphology and a comprehensive revision of herbarium collections and field records, the taxonomy of the group in Murmansk Region, European Russia, is completely revised. Its accepted diversity is increased from 2 to 8 taxa, including putative hybrids. The only native species, , is distributed in mountainous regions, along sea coasts and in the Kutsa River basin.

New records in non-native vascular plants of Russian Lapland.

Background: The non-native vascular plants of Murmansk Region (European Russia) are under active investigation towards the compilation of the first complete checklist. This work is part of the project 'Flora of Russian Lapland', which ultimately aims at the complete inventory of the taxonomy, distribution and status of vascular plant species in Murmansk Region, based on the comprehensive database of herbarium specimens, field observations and literature.

New Information: New territory-level records of non-native vascular plants emerged during our inventory of herbarium collections and recent fieldwork.

Vascular Plant Herbarium at the Kandalaksha Strict Nature Reserve (KAND), Russia.

Background: The present-day demand for digital availability of distributional data in biodiversity studies requires a special effort in assembling and editing the data otherwise scattered in paper literature and herbarium collections, which can be poorly accessible or little understood to present-day users and especially automatic data processors. Our project on developing the information resource for the vascular plant flora of Murmansk Region, Russia, includes processing and making digitally available all the data on the taxonomy and distribution of this flora. So far, published distribution maps are limited to the old set in the (published in 1953-1966) and the (ed.

Mobilisation of distributional data for vascular plants of Murmansk Region, Russia: Digital representation of the .

Background: The present-day demand for digital availability of distributional data in biodiversity studies requires a special effort in assembling and editing the data otherwise scattered in paper literature and herbarium collections, which can be poorly accessible or little understood to present-day users and especially automatic data processors. Although the vascular plants of Murmansk Region (northern part of European Russia) are well studied and represented in publications, the accessibility of this knowledge is highly insufficient. The most widely known source is the (published in 1953-1966), which remains in use because of its high original quality, detailed elaboration and completeness.