Riga, Sept. 1, LETA. Laura Grīnberga, a researcher at the Laboratory of Hydrobiology at the Institute of Biology of the University of Latvia (UL), discovered a new aquatic plant species in Latvia – “Caldesia parnassifolia” – in mid-August, informing LETA at the institute.
The deposit is considered to be the northernmost point of the range of this species. “Caldesia parnassifolia” is found in the protected landscape area “Augšzeme”, Medumu parish, on the shore of an overgrown lake, at a depth of about one meter.
“Caldesia parnassifolia” is a species of the ax family found in shallow lakes and ponds, as well as in swampy areas. Although it has a wide range of distribution – found in Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe – in regions where it has been studied in Europe and North Africa, it is considered endangered.
In Europe, “Caldesia parnassifolia” is a rare and specially protected species included in the lists of specially protected species of the Habitats Directive and the Bern Convention. The species is considered extinct in Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia and Switzerland and is critically endangered in Poland.
Until 2015, three deposits of this species were known in the southern part of Lithuania, one of which has been reported since the beginning of the 19th century. Twice the species was found in the middle of the 20th century. In 2015, Lithuanian botanist Zofija Sinkevičiene discovered a new deposit of “Caldesia parnassifolia” in the lake near the border of Belarus and Latvia, which was the furthest northern point in the range of the species.
Zofija Sinkevičiene and Uvis Suško provided assistance in identifying the species.
The lake survey was conducted with the support of the Latvian-Lithuanian cross-border cooperation program project “Joint Management of Latvian-Lithuanian Cross-Border Rivers and Lake Basins” (“TRANSWAT”) to assess the condition and ecological quality of lake ecosystems.
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