Scientific publications

In the Khibiny Mts. there are three nature monuments established in 1980, as suggested by staff of the Polar-Alpine Botanical Garden-Institute. These areas attracted the attention of botanists during the 20th and the 21st centuries; however, the description of their plant cover was absent in the literature. The article briefly describes the vegetation of the regional-level nature monuments Aikuaivenchorr Gorge, Kriptogrammovoe Gorge, and Juksporrlak, and provides preliminary checklists of the cyanoprokaryotes, lichens, mosses, liverworts, and vascular plants. All the three nature monuments are characterized by similar numbers of species belonging to different groups of plants and lichens, varying within 1/3-1/2 of their diversity in the Khibiny Mts. and 1/10-1/3 in the Murmansk Region at large. The nature monuments are frequently visited by tourists and therefore significantly affected by recreation. However, they are unique botanic areas essential in terms of biodiversity conservation in the Khibiny Mts. and the Murmansk Region.