Botanical and Entomological Expedition to the Zaonezhsky Peninsula on board "Ecolog" research vessel

The south-eastern part of the Zaonezhsky Peninsula and a number of adjacent islands of the Kizhi archipelago are formed of limestone. This determines the fertility of the local soils and the unique diversity of flora and fauna. Numerous rare calciphilous plant and lichen species are to be found here, as well as rich eutrophied wetlands.

In addition, this region has what is possibly the longest history of farming and animal husbandry in Karelia, which has led to a large number of grassland communities existing in the area. The gradual decline of agricultural activity in the region has led to the partial overgrowth of arable lands and meadows. As a result, a mosaic structure has evolved comprising diverse habitats.

Until very recently, the flora and fauna of this area remained largely unexplored. The Atlas of the Distribution of Vascular Plants in Northern Europe (Hulten, 1971) fails to mention a number of local calciphilous and other plants requiring fertile soils to grow. The first data on the flora and entomological fauna of the Kizhi archipelago were published in the works of the RAS Karelian Research Center (Ieshko, ed., 1999).

The new materials were collected by a joint expedition comprising leading Russian and Finnish specialists in the field of floristic and entomological research that traveled on "Ecolog" research vessel of the RAS Karelian Research Center during the period July 2-8, 2004. The expedition included 12 participants: Alexei Kravchenko, Margarita Fadeyeva, Alexei Polevoi, Andrei Khumala (RAS KRC Forest Institute), Oleg Kuznetsov, Margarita Boichuk (RAS KRC Biology Institute), Yelena Gnatyuk (Petrozavodsk University), Rauno Ruuhijärvi, Pertti Uotila, Mikko Piirainen (Helsinki University), Tapio Lindholm (Finnish Environment Institute) and Yevgeny Yakovlev (Finnish Forest Institute).


The expedition began with a visit to the islands of Paleostrov, Rechnoi and Meg-Ostrov located in the vicinity of the northern tip of the Zaonezhsky Peninsula. Various forest (old spruce stands, black alder swamps) and grassland biotopes are to be found here. The following rare plant species were discovered: Asplenium septentrionale, Malaxis monophyllos, Humulus lupulus, Cerastium alpinum, Cotoneaster antoninae, Origanum vulgare, Galium trifidum, as well as Asplenium trichomanes, Polygonatum odoratum, Tilia cordata, and Thymus serpyllum. A large monastery was formerly located on Paleostrov and some monastery meadows and alleys of old trees remain.


The next day was spent exploring the meadows on the south-eastern shore of the Zaonezhsky Peninsula, not far from the village of Kuzaranda and the island of Khedostrov, in the southern part of which there are high quality spruce forests with Tilia cordata underbrush. The following plants were discovered on the island: Epipactis atrorubens, Cypripedium calceolus, Calipso bulbosa, Silene nutans, Dianthus arenarius, Atragene sibirica, Cotoneaster antoninae. The expedition went on to explore meadows and mires in the south-eastern section of the Zaonezhsky Peninsula in the vicinity of the village of Tipinitsy, as well as Shunevsky Island and Yuzhny Oleniy Island, the latter being entirely formed of dolomites. This is the only island of the kind in the area, and one of only three in the whole of Karelia. Here, Cypripedium calceolus, Myosoton aquaticum, Chaerophyllum aromaticum, Cuscuta europaea, Origanum vulgare, as well as Hydrocharis morsus-ranae, Acinos arvensis and Polygala amarelle were found.




On Bolshoi Lelikovsky Island the participants visited Radkolie Cape, where Helianthemum nummularium, which is very rare in Karelia, is to be found. On the southern tip of Bolshoi Klimetsky Island, in the vicinity of where the Klimetsky Monastery once stood, the participants explored old-growth spruce dominated forests of Oxalis-Myrtillys type, mire-spruce stands and lowland forest mires. The following were discovered: Cypripedium calceolus, Neottia nidus-avis, Dactylorhiza traunsteineri, Galium odoratum, Campanula cervicaria, Eupatorium cannabinum. Allium schoenoprasum subsp. sibiricum, Anemonoides nemorosa, Lathyrus sylvestris and Tilia cordata were also found here.


On the majority of islands visited, populations of rare and protected meadow insect species were found: the Mnemosyne, or Clouded Apollo, butterfly (Parnassius mnemosyne) and a number of other rare butterfly species: Adscita staticis, Zygaena osterodensis, Pyrgus alveus, Argynnis paphia, Pontia daplidice, Hypodryas maturna; hymenopterous species: Ancistrocerus antilope, Discoelius dufourii, Sparasion rufipes, Corynis obscura, Bombus humilis, Psithyrus rupestris; beetles: Rhizophagus puncticollis, Cyllodes ater, Phryganophilus ruficollis, Phytoecia cylindrical, etc.



The expedition concluded with a visit to the eastern shore of Lake Onega (Besov Cape, Bolshoi and Maly Goltsy islands), where ancient rock drawings made by primitive man were discovered, as well as old growth forests (the age of the trees is up to 300 years) on the southern tip of Suisar Island.

The studied region contains unique biotopes and related plant and insect species. As a result, more detailed research into the area is required. The borders delineating the habitats of these species could serve as the basis for the design of protected areas that would include the existing Kizhi Skerries Reserve and the adjacent sections of the Zaonezhsky Peninsula.

Text and photos by:
Yevgeny Yakovlev
Finnish Forest Institute
e-mail: jevgeni.jakovlev@metla.fi

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