Species diversity of seaweeds in different areas of the Barents Sea

The report on species diversity, distribution and abundance of red, brown and green seaweeds on the coastal zone of the Barents Sea has been presented. The authors' own data of benthic vegetation of the Murman coast, Arctic archipelagos (Novaya Zemlja, Franz Joseph Land, Svalbard), southeast part of the sea as well as available literature data have been analyzed. The maximum possible list of benthic macroalgae species has been compiled in accordance with modern concepts of these groups systematics. According to the obtained results the flora of the Barents Sea consists of 178 species: 74 - red, 70 - brown, and 34 - green seaweeds. The algae diversity of the Murman coast is the highest one with 153 species, while the diversity of seaweeds of the Arctic areas coast is much poorer, i. e. the southeastern part of the sea - 64 species, Arctic archipelagos of Franz-Joseph Land - 60 species and Novaya Zemlya - 41 species. On Svalbard, the main species diversity of algae is confined to the western coast; whereas there are only 39 species of seaweeds on the Barents Sea coast. The light diving gear has been used for hydrobotanical methods with sample areas. This has been resulted in a more definite classification of the species structure and condition of seaweeds communities depending on the type of the benthic deposit which is a necessary substratum for benthic seaweeds. The previously established fact about the obvious correlation between the distribution of seaweeds of different systematic groups and microfacies and macrofacies in intertidal zones, tides, the wave force and ice motions in the coastal zone of the sea has been confirmed. The research carried out taking into account the hydrological conditions can be used to assess the condition of seaweeds communities, to explore stocks of commercial seaweeds and to detect the fields for development of mariculture in different biogeographical areas of the Barents Sea.