By now, the Red Book of the Omsk Region (Omsk Priirtyshiye) does not include any species of algae. The high level of anthropogenic load exerted on the water bodies of the region requires close attention to this aspect of environmental activities. According to the multi-year research (1998–2018) of the phytoplankton of rivers, lakes and urban water bodies of the Omsk Priirtyshiye, a preliminary Red List of Algae species was composed, including 459 species and intraspecific taxa (ist) found only in one water object of the region. Rare algae species were identified on the basis of the frequency of occurrence and the level of threat to the existence of the species by categories and criteria of the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), taking into account regional features. Among the rare algae species are representatives of all algal groups found in the plankton of water bodies of the Omsk Priirtyshiye – Cyanobacteria, Cryptophyta, Miozoa, Ochrophyta, Euglenophyta, Bacillariophyta, Chlorophyta and Charophyta. The fraction of rare species was 68.23% of the total number of ist (1149) identified by now. The largest number of rare species of the first category (173 ist) belongs to the Bacillariophyta. The leading positions in the number of rare species are also occupied by Euglenophyta (65 ist), Cyanobacteria (60 ist) and Chlorophyta (57 ist), which generally corresponds to the importance of these groups in the formation of the phytoplankton taxonomic structure of the Omsk Priirtyshiye. The maximum number of rare algae species was found in the plankton of urban water bodies (165 ist) and the transboundary Irtysh River (127 ist). The forest area lakes of the region are richest in rare algae from the class Conjugatophyceae. The Irtysh tributaries are characterized by a high number of rare species of the Xanthophyta (Om River) and Euglenophyta. By geography, the majority of rare species (133 ist or 67.2% of the total number with known geographic distribution) belong to cosmopolitans. By an order of magnitude smaller the number of sit dwelling in the Holarctic (30), boreal (18) or circumboreal (14) areas. Proposed measures to protect water bodies in the region, taking into account the habitat of rare algae species.
Keywords: algae, distribution, Omsk Region, plankton, protection, rare species
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