The vegetation of Kunashir Island is unique due to its peculiar climatic conditions and geological past. Targeted studies of forage plants on Kunashir Island were conducted more than 40 years ago. Taking into account climate changes, dynamics of flora species composition, analysis of natural fodder lands of the island and studying the prospects of their use become an urgent task. To achieve the aim of our research – to study the species diversity of forage species of the Kurilsky Nature Reserve (Kunashir Island) – we set the following tasks: to compile a list of species of the Reserve’s flora, used as forage species or promising for this purpose, on the basis of long-term floristic observations of the reserve’s staff using literature and herbarium data; to analyze this list using the standard floristic analysis methods with the identification of taxonomic composition, geographical and ecological and cenotic diversity of species, occurrence and abundance of species in phytocenoses of the reserve; to identify the share of invasive species; and to give recommendations on promising forage species. As a result, we included 168 species from seven families (Poaceae, Polygonaceae, Fabaceae, Brassicaceae, Apiaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Valerianaceae) in the list, which amounted to almost 16% of the total number of vascular plant species in the reserve. Taxonomic analysis showed that the Poaceae family (92 species from 35 genera) is the leader by the number of species and genera, followed by Polygonaceae (29 species from 7 genera), Brassicaceae (18 species from 10 genera), and Fabaceae (18 species from 9 genera). The most multispecies genera are bluegrass (Poa) and sasa (Sasa). Perennial grasses predominate among the studied species; annuals are also common. Among ecological and cenotic groups, we revealed the predominance of broad-leaved forest and synanthropic groups; the group of coastal-water species is less common. Almost 24% of them belong to introduced species. Among native forage plants, the most numerous groups are represented by circumpolar, East Asian, and South Kuril-South Sakhalin-Japanese geographic elements. Among the range types, the Japanese type is the leader. We show the possibility to use species of Kunashir Island flora in fodder production. It is necessary to continue analyzing the natural fodder lands of the island and studying the prospects of their use to increase the efficiency of animal husbandry
Keywords
Wild relatives of cultivated plants, plant genetic resources, forage grasses, special protected natural areas, fodder production, Kunashir Island