Table Of ContentREPORTS OF THE FINNISH ENVIRONMENT
INSTITUTE 40 | 2014
Biogeography, landscapes,
ecosystems and species of
Zaonezhye Peninsula,
in Lake Onega, Russian Karelia
Tapio Lindholm, Jevgeni Jakovlev & Alexey Kravchenko (eds.)
Finnish Environment Institute
REPORTS OF THE FINNISH ENVIRONMENT
INSTITUTE 40 | 2014
Biogeography, landscapes, ecosystems
and species of Zaonezhye Peninsula,
in Lake Onega, Russian Karelia
Tapio Lindholm, Jevgeni Jakovlev & Alexei Kravchenko (eds.)
Helsinki 2014
Finnish Environment Institute
REPORTS OF THE FINNISH ENVIRONMENT INSTITUTE 40 | 2014
Finnish Environment Institute
Natural Environment Centre
Layout: Pia Kauppinen
Cover photo: Clouded Apollo, Parnassius mnemosyne and Rough Hawkbit,
Leontodon hispidus meet in Zaonezhye. Andrei Humala.
English revision: Minna Hartikainen
The publication is also available in the internet:
www.syke.i/julkaisut | helda.helsinki.i/syke
Juvenes Print, 2015
ISBN 978-952-11-4404-2 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-952-11-4405-9 (PDF)
ISSN 1796-1718 (printed) 441 729
ISSN 1796-1726 (online) Painotuote
FOREWORD
Anna Kuhmonen
Zaonezhye Peninsula has a distinctive and diverse natural heritage, and its unique habi-
tats are included in regional nature conservation plans. Although the value of its habitats
and landscapes has been known for a long time, the documentation necessary for the
establishment of a protected area has been lacking and high conservation value forests
have been threatened by forest logging.
The Barents Protected Area Network (BPAN) project promotes and supports the estab-
lishment of a representative network of protected areas in the Barents Region. Protected
area networks are an important tool in biodiversity conservation as well as climate change
adaptation and mitigation. A representative network of protected areas safeguards bi-
odiversity, supports natural ecosystems and maintains ecosystem services. In addition
to evaluating the network of protected areas in Northwest Russia, the BPAN project
has implemented pilot projects in high conservation value areas in order to support the
establishment of new protected areas.
All the countries in the Barents Region - Russia, Finland, Sweden and Norway - are
parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. In 2010, the parties committed to halt-
ing the loss of biodiversity by 2020 and set the 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets. The Aichi
Target 11 calls for at least 17% protection of terrestrial and inland water areas, especially
areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services, by 2020. Protected
areas cover 13.4 % of the Barents Region, while the level of protection in the Republic
of Karelia is 4.7 % (2013). Regional and national conservation plans include 59 400 km2
of planned protected areas in the whole Barents Region. However, implementation of
conservation plans takes time, and the global targets have been set for 2020. The results
of the BPAN project show that the implementation of conservations plans should be
quicker and more effective.
In 2012, the BPAN project selected ive territories in Northwest Russia where nature
conservation was to be promoted through ield studies as well as other activities. In the
Republic of Karelia, a pilot project was implemented in the high conservation value
forests of Zaonezhye Peninsula. Earlier studies on the peninsula showed that the area
supported valuable habitats and species. However, even though forests were included in
the regional conservation plan, they were at the same time leased by forestry companies
and threatened by logging.
Between 2013 and 2014, the BPAN project carried out ield work and documented
natural values within the planned Zaonezhye nature park, focusing on high conservation
value forests. These activities were conducted by the Finnish Environment Institute, Ka-
relian Research Centre and the Directorate of regional protected areas of the Republic of
Karelia in cooperation with experts from the Universities of Helsinki and Eastern Finland,
and the Finnish Nature League.
This publication presents information on hundreds of red-listed species and valuable
habitats. Promoting the protection of high conservation value forests on Zaonezhye Pen-
insula has been an important part of the BPAN project. We are grateful to all researchers
for their valuable input into the ield work as well as this publication. For inancing this
work we thank the Nordic Council of Ministers, Ministry of the Environment and Min-
istry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Sweden and Norway, and WWF-Russia.
We hope that this publication contributes to establishing the valuable nature areas
of Zaonezhye Peninsula as statutory protected areas.
CONTENTS
Foreword ............................................................................................................................3
Zaonezhye Peninsula – The pearl of Lake Onega ..........................................7
Introduction ........................................................................................................7
Old villages and traditional land use in Zaonezhye ....................................9
Nature studies in Zaonezhye .........................................................................10
Conservation activities in Zaonezhye ...........................................................12
Threatened species and proposals for their protection ..............................13
Acknowledgements .........................................................................................14
1 Geology and physical geography of Zaonezhye Peninsula area ............17
1.1 Geological description of Zaonezhye Peninsula......................................17
Introduction ......................................................................................................17
Geomorphology and Quaternary deposits of Zaonezhye ........................26
Igneous rocks, mineralogeny and commercial minerals
of Zaonezhye Peninsula ..................................................................................29
1.2 Geomorphology and Quaternary deposits of Zaonezhye .....................35
Introduction ......................................................................................................35
Geomorphology ...............................................................................................37
1.3 Hydrological characteristics of Zaonezhye Peninsula ............................41
Introduction ......................................................................................................41
Results................................................................................................................41
1.4 Soils and their characteristics on Zaonezhye Peninsula ........................53
Introduction ......................................................................................................53
Soil types and their characteristics ...............................................................53
Conclusions ......................................................................................................55
1.5 Paleogeography of Zaonezhye Peninsula ..................................................57
Introduction ......................................................................................................57
Geological Periods ...........................................................................................60
1.6 Nature protected areas in Zaonezhye .........................................................75
Introduction ......................................................................................................75
Overview of protected areas in Karelia ........................................................75
Protected areas on Zaonezhye Peninsula and its adjacent islands ...........76
Planned protected areas on Zaonezhye Peninsula .....................................77
2 Biomes and biogeography of Zaonezhye Peninsula area .........................81
2.1 Modern landscapes of Zaonezhye Peninsula ...........................................81
2.2 Landscape structure of Zaonezhye Peninsula ........................................103
Introduction ....................................................................................................103
Results..............................................................................................................104
2.3 The structure of forest land and forest stands in
Zaonezhye Peninsula ...................................................................................111
Introduction ....................................................................................................111
Results..............................................................................................................111
2.4 Forest structures and human impact on Zaonezhye Peninsula:
a classiication and case studies .................................................................125
Introduction ....................................................................................................125
Methods ...........................................................................................................126
Results and discussion ..................................................................................126
2.5 Mires of the Zaonezhye Peninsula............................................................131
Introduction ....................................................................................................131
Study area .......................................................................................................132
Material and methods ...................................................................................132
Results and discussion ..................................................................................132
Mires conservation in Zaonezhye ...............................................................137
2.6 Meadows in Zaonezhye ...............................................................................147
Introduction ....................................................................................................147
History of the study of the Zaonezhye’ grasslands .................................148
Future of grasslands in Zaonezhye .............................................................150
Reports of the Finnish Environment Institute 40 | 2014 5
3 Flora and fauna in Zaonezhye Peninsula area.............................................153
3.1 Vascular plant lora of Zaonezhye Peninsula .........................................153
Introduction ....................................................................................................153
History of loristic studies on the peninsula .............................................155
The following century ...................................................................................156
Recent decades ...............................................................................................157
Present knowledge .........................................................................................160
List of vascular plant species of Zaonezhye,
with annotations for threatened and indicator species ............................164
3.2 Bryophyte lora of Zaonezhye Peninsula ...............................................193
Abstract ...........................................................................................................193
Introduction ....................................................................................................193
Conclusions .....................................................................................................198
Appendix List of mosses from Zaonezhye Peninsula ..............................200
3.3 List of lichens and allied fungi collected on
Zaonezhye Peninsula ...................................................................................207
History of the studies of lichens in
Zaonezhye Peninsula and adjacent islands ...............................................207
Acknowledgements .......................................................................................209
3.4 Red-listed and indicator lichens of Zaonezhye Peninsula ...................223
Introduction ....................................................................................................223
Material and methods ...................................................................................224
Results..............................................................................................................224
Epiphytes of deciduous trees .......................................................................224
Usnea lichens and other fruticose epiphytes ............................................226
Epiphytes of spruce .......................................................................................227
Lichens on dead wood .................................................................................228
Basic and siliceous cliffs................................................................................229
Discussion .......................................................................................................230
3.5 Aphyllophoroid fungi of Zaonezhye Peninsula.....................................233
Introduction ....................................................................................................233
Mycological studies in Zaonezhye Peninsula and adjacent areas ..........233
Results..............................................................................................................234
Species conined to pine................................................................................236
Species conined to spruce ............................................................................236
Species conined to aspen .............................................................................236
The most noteworthy indings of threatened
and rare species of saproxylic fungi ...........................................................237
Appendix .........................................................................................................244
3.6 Insect fauna of Zaonezhye Peninsula and adjacent islands ................257
Introduction ....................................................................................................257
History of entomological studies on Zaonezhye Peninsula ....................257
Study area and methods ...............................................................................258
Results..............................................................................................................260
Conclusions .....................................................................................................262
Acknowledgements .......................................................................................263
Annotated list of the insect species included in Red Data Book of the
Republic of Karelia (Ivanter & Kuznetsov 2007) and other noteworthy
insect species ..................................................................................................263
List of insect species recorded in Zaonezhye and adjacent islands .......275
3.7 Localities in Zaonezhye area used in species lists of vascular plants,
bryophytes, lichens, fungi and insects, and their toponyms ..............339
Document page ........................................................................................................357
Лист описания публикации ...................................................................................358
Kuvailulehti ..............................................................................................................359
Presentationsblad .....................................................................................................360
6 Reports of the Finnish Environment Institute 40 | 2014
Zaonezhye Peninsula
– The pearl of Lake Onega
Tapio Lindholm*, Jevgeni Jakovlev * and Alexei Kravchenko**
* The Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), P.O.Box 140,
00251 Helsinki, Finland.
** * Forest Research Institute of the Karelian Research Center of
the Russian Academy of Sciences, Petrozavodsk, 11 Pushkinskaya St.,
RU-185910 Petrozavodsk, Karelia, Russia
Introduction
The Republic of Karelia is located mostly in the eastern part of the Baltic shield, which
is composed of Precambrian crystalline rock. However, it includes areas that differ
markedly in their geological background, soils and vegetation. Zaonezhye Peninsula
is a particularly interesting area in terms of the variety of landscapes, habitats and
species.
Zaonezhye Peninsula (Zaonezhsky Peninsula; Заонежский полуостров in Russian
transcription) is situated on the northwestern coast of Lake Onega. Its eastern shores
are washed by the Gulf of Zaonezhye. In the north the peninsula is bordered by Pov-
enetskiy Bay, while to the west it is bounded by Lizhma Bay and the Gulf of Bolshoe
Onego (Fig. 1). “Zaonezhye” is used here in a wider sense to include Zaonezhye
Peninsula as well as two adjacent peninsulas, Lizhma and Sjar, which are separated
by the long and narrow bays of Lake Onega. In the south, Zaonezhye Peninsula
shelters an archipelago of numerous islands, also known as Kizhi skerries or the
Kizhi archipelago. The archipelago includes two relatively large islands, Bolshoy
Klimenetsky and Bolshoy Lelikovsky, which have several old villages, fertile valleys
of unique grassland and patches of old-growth forest. The most famous among the
islands is Kizhi Island where monumental 17th century churches, included in the UN-
ESCO World Heritage List, are preserved. Often the whole area on the opposite shore
of Lake Onega is called Zaonezhye. It is separated from the city of Petrozavodsk by
a mere few dozen kilometers of water and has therefore good connections by boat.
Zaonezhye is considered a separate biogeographic region (Ramenskaya 1983).
According to modern estimates (e.g. Elina et al. 2010), the territory of Zaonezhye is
unique in that it contains nearly every type of terrain and unconsolidated sediment
known in the vast expanses of northwest Russia. It is characterized by a high diversity
of basic limestone and carbonate rocks that determine the fertility of local soils as well
Reports of the Finnish Environment Institute 40 | 2014 7
as the unique diversity of habitats, lora and fauna. Numerous rare calciphile plant
and lichen species are found here, as well as rich, eutrophic wetlands. Long-term
farming and animal husbandry have led to a large number of grassland communi-
ties in the area. As a result, a mosaic structure of diverse habitats has evolved here.
Europe’s second largest lake, Lake Onega, with its clear and deep waters also affect
the local climate by making it milder.
Fig.1. Geographical location on Zaonezhye Peninsula
8 Reports of the Finnish Environment Institute 40 | 2014
