Multi-approach inventory of aquatic vascular plants in Kyrgyzstan provides new data on biodiversity of Central Asia

Abstract

Freshwater plants of Central Asian Mountains (a global biodiversity hotspot) remain poorly studied. We performed extensive field inventory of vascular plants in different types of waterbodies in northeastern Kyrgyzstan. By joint morphological and genetic analysis, we revealed a new, previously undetected, hybrid (Utricularia macrorhiza × U. vulgaris) and demonstrated that Stuckenia amblyphylla should not be treated as a separate species, being rather a lineage of S. filiformis. Besides these new data for global biodiversity, we report three new taxa for Central Asia (Lemna × japonica, Potamogeton berchtoldii × P. pusillus and Sparganium rothertii). We listed seven new species for Kyrgyzstan, that are not rare in Central Asia (Caulinia minor, Lemna gibba, Najas major, Potamogeton berchtoldii, P. nodosus, Spirodela polyrhiza, Zannichellia repens), and provided new data on distribution of nine species in the country. We conclude that focused multi-approach studies of aquatic vascular plants in Central Asia should be continued.