New species of organisms discovered in Kenozersk National Park

The press service of the Ministry of Natural Resources reported on the results of a summer expedition to the vicinity of the Porzhensky pogost in the Plesetsk sector of the Kenozersky National Park. Its participants discovered rare species of organisms new to the region.

In particular, a compressed sphinctrin was found for the first time. This is the only such find in the region. Scientists noticed it on the wall of an old wooden shed. Lichen experts call this mushroom carnations. They can only be viewed under a microscope.

"Such finds are very rare and unique, since in Russia the sphinctrin is known only in the Vologda Region and the Komi Republic. At the moment, the population of the species has been lost in the Komi Republic. This small mushroom is very rare and is considered endangered in the world," the report says.

Scientists have also discovered another previously unknown species for the region — a young shoot-bearing. Sometimes this plant is called a "stone rose" because of the unusual structure of the rosette, consisting of fleshy and thick leaves. This perennial succulent plant has the ability to accumulate and retain water in its body. Scientists have discovered two small groups of these plants in the meadow expanses near the Porzhensky churchyard. In Russia, the juvenile is found mainly in the European part. The appearance of the plant in the Kenozerye may be associated with the expansion of its range to the north due to climate change.

Another type of lichen is already included in the Red Book of the Arkhangelsk Region, but it is new to the Kenozersky National Park. This is Tuckermannopsis ciliate. This species occurs in the crowns of birch trees, wide floodplains of rivers, less often in coniferous, mixed forests and swampy birch forests. It is very rare and is under protection in the Vologda and Murmansk regions, as well as the Republics of Karelia and Komi.