Abstract

Elven, R., Hansen, K.T. og Steen, S.W. 2001. Islandsstarr Carex krausei ny for Svalbard, og litt om arktisk hårstarr Carex capillaris ssp. fuscidula. Blyttia 59: 186-189.
Carex krausei new to Svalbard, and a note on Carex capillaris ssp. fuscidula.

Carex krausei Boeck. of Sect. Capillares is here reported as new to Svalbard from Stjerthøgda, James I Land, in the inner fjord areas of the middle arctic tundra zone of Spitsbergen. It was found in 1996 to be frequent on a dry, partly stabilized talus slope associated with scattered Dryas octopetala and Carex misandra, in a calcareous heath vegetation. This seems be its northernmost known site, at 78°40'N, and the occurrence is strongly isolated. The species is disjunctly circumpolar but otherwise absent from Europe between Polar Ural and Iceland. It is a specialist of dry, continental middle to southern arctic and northern boreal areas, and the occurrence in Svalbard may be a relic from the warmer parts of the Postglacial period. Its only relative in Svalbard (and Europe) – C. capillaris L. – is known from the thermal springs at Bockfjorden in northern Spitsbergen. The material has been reinvestigated and found to belong to the arctic circumpolar ssp. fuscidula (V.I.Krecz. ex T.V.Egorova) Á.Löve & D.Löve, not the mainly European ssp. capillaris. Its nearest occurence is in northeastern Greenland.

Reidar Elven, De naturhistoriske museer og Botanisk hage, Universitetet i Oslo, Boks 1172 Blindern, N-0318 Oslo, reidar.elven@nhm.uio.no
Kjell Tore Hansen, Svalbard Science Forum, Postboks 506, N-9171 Longyearbyen, ssf@lby.npolar.no
Snorre Winger Steen, Alvernlia 39, N-1453 Bjørnemyr

Blyttia 59 (4)
Blyttias hjemmeside
Lagt ut 05.01.2002 JW