Data on macrophyte diversity in rivers and streams of the Vologda Region and several other regions of Russia

Study Extent

A list of records of macrophytes in rivers and streams of European Russia and Western Siberia is presented. By macrophytes, we understood macroscopic plants, regardless of their taxonomic position and ecological characteristics. Macrophytes include vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, and large multicellular algae (Papchenkov et al., 2003). We determined the flora of rivers and streams as aquatic species and species directly related to the aquatic environment (helophytes, plants of the water’s edge, amphibious plants, hygrophytes, plants of drying sandbanks).

Sampling

Field studies were carried out from May to October, mainly during the greatest development of macrophytes (July and August). The composition of the flora of rivers and streams was established during route field studies. We studied all available microhabitats in the channel and coastal parts of water bodies, including those differing in current velocity, sediments, depths, and macrophyte canopy development. When studying streams, the route, as a rule, ranged from 50 to 150 m; on rivers, usually from 100 to 1000 m. The studies of the macrophyte community composition were conducted both purposefully and along with the studies of other groups of aquatic organisms.

Quality Control

The data was collected and identified by scientists from the Papanin Institute for Biology of Inland Waters Russian Academy of Sciences (IBIW RAS). The accuracy of determination of some samples was confirmed by experts from the Institute of Biology of Komi Scientific Centre of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Institute of Biology of Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Method steps

1. Research problem formulation.
2. Logistic issues resolution, including the choice of routes, water objects, time and duration of work.
3. Field stage: obtaining samples and other original materials on the flora of rivers and streams. In the field, pictures of plants and floristic lists were made, some species were collected in a herbarium; several hydrochemical parameters (water temperature, total dissolved solids, pH, and electrical conductivity) were measured using portable devices (Philippov et al., 2017).
4. Data collection: analysis of samples not identified in the field or verification of the identification data by the experts. The keys by Tsvelev (2000), Ignatov and Ignatova (2003, 2004), Lisitsyna et al. (2009), and Maevskii (2014) were used in the study. Herbarium materials were transferred for processing to the Herbarium of the Mire Research Group of Papanin Institute for Biology of Inland Waters Russian Academy of Sciences (MIRE).
5. Records list compilation. The dataset fields’ names were chosen according to Darwin Core (Wieczorek et al., 2012) and include the following: «occurrenceID», «basisOfRecord», «scientificName», «acceptedNameUsage», «eventDate», «taxonRank», «kingdom», «phylum», «class», «order», «family», «genus», «taxonomicStatus», «habitat», «decimalLatitude «, «decimalLongitude», «geodeticDatum», «coordinateUncertaintyInMeters», «coordinatePrecision», «countryCode», «country», «stateProvince», «county», «locality», «year», «month», «day», «recordedBy», «identifiedBy», «dateIdentified», «associatedReferences». Georeferencing was made by fixing the coordinates of the middle part of the studied river site using a GPS navigator or Google maps. Coordinates accuracy was set to the fourth digit. In all cases, the WGS-84 coordinate system was used.

The dataset contains 292 taxa of Tracheophyta, Bryophyta, Marchantiophyta, Chlorophyta, Charophyta, Ochrophyta, Rhodophyta, including 280 lower-rank taxa (species, subspecies, varieties) and 12 taxa identified to the genus level.

1. Chromista
   rank: kingdom
2. Plantae
   rank: kingdom

1. Bryophyta
   rank: phylum
2. Charophyta
   rank: phylum
3. Chlorophyta
   rank: phylum
4. Marchantiophyta
   rank: phylum
5. Ochrophyta
   rank: phylum
6. Rhodophyta
   rank: phylum
7. Tracheophyta
   rank: phylum

1. Bryopsida
   rank: class
2. Charophyceae
   rank: class
3. Chlorophyceae
   rank: class
4. Florideophyceae
   rank: class
5. Jungermanniopsida
   rank: class
6. Liliopsida
   rank: class
7. Magnoliopsida
   rank: class
8. Marchantiopsida
   rank: class
9. Polypodiopsida
   rank: class
10. Ulvophyceae
    rank: class
11. Xanthophyceae
    rank: class

1. Alismatales
   rank: order
2. Apiales
   rank: order
3. Asparagales
   rank: order
4. Asterales
   rank: order
5. Batrachospermales
   rank: order
6. Blasiales
   rank: order
7. Boraginales
   rank: order
8. Brassicales
   rank: order
9. Bryales
   rank: order
10. Caryophyllales
    rank: order
11. Ceratophyllales
    rank: order
12. Chaetophorales
    rank: order
13. Charales
    rank: order
14. Cladophorales
    rank: order
15. Cornales
    rank: order
16. Cucurbitales
    rank: order
17. Dipsacales
    rank: order
18. Equisetales
    rank: order
19. Ericales
    rank: order
20. Fabales
    rank: order
21. Fagales
    rank: order
22. Fissidentales
    rank: order
23. Gentianales
    rank: order
24. Grimmiales
    rank: order
25. Hypnales
    rank: order
26. Isobryales
    rank: order
27. Jungermanniales
    rank: order
28. Lamiales
    rank: order
29. Liliales
    rank: order
30. Malpighiales
    rank: order
31. Marchantiales
    rank: order
32. Myrtales
    rank: order
33. Nemaliales
    rank: order
34. Nymphaeales
    rank: order
35. Pelliales
    rank: order
36. Poales
    rank: order
37. Polypodiales
    rank: order
38. Ranunculales
    rank: order
39. Rosales
    rank: order
40. Salviniales
    rank: order
41. Saxifragales
    rank: order
42. Solanales
    rank: order
43. Vaucheriales
    rank: order

The studies were carried out in various parts of European Russian and Western Siberia, mainly in the southern and middle taiga and a lesser number in the northern taiga and the forest-steppe. The analyzed watercourses belong to 5 drainage basins: the Azov Sea, the Baltic Sea, the White Sea, the Caspian Sea, and the Kara Sea. The coordinates of the northernmost site were 64.5729 N, 43.2959 E, the southernmost site 51.8139 N, 39.3836 E, the westernmost site 58.4353 N, 33.2828 E, and the easternmost site 60.8691 N, 76.4263 E.