Laura Grīnberga, a researcher at the Hydrobiology Laboratory of the Institute of Biology of the University of Latvia (UL), who discovered the lakes on the Latvian-Lithuanian border in mid-August, discovered a new species of aquatic plants in Latvia, according to information published by the institute.
Laura Grīnberga, a researcher at the Hydrobiology Laboratory of the Institute of Biology of the University of Latvia, has discovered a new aquatic plant species in Latvia – “Caldesia parnassifolia”. 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”, Medumi 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 and in marshy areas. Although it has a wide distribution range – found in Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe, in regions where its distribution has been studied (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.
Three deposits of this species were known in the southern part of Lithuania until 2015, one of which has been reported since the beginning of the 19th century. The species was found twice 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 survey of lakes was carried out within the framework of the Latvian-Lithuanian cross-border co-operation 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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