Study of the almost woolly skull on the eastern shore of Lake Baikal

September 2023 – present

Craniospermum subvillosum Lehm. is an endemic of Lake Baikal, included in the Red Book of the Republic of Buryatia (2023) and in the Red Book of the Irkutsk Region (2020), a relict plant. It grows in limited places along the shore of Lake Baikal, on coastal berms in the surf zone and beaches, weakly sodded shores, rarely on stony slopes.

The population is threatened by unregulated recreational activities (trampling of individuals, damage to the root system by motor vehicles) and the level regime of Lake Baikal. Scientists note the lack of data to track the dynamics of the species – there are no precise geographical data available

The project is implemented by the Baikal Institute of Nature Management of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences with the support of the Lake Baikal Foundation.

Goal:

To obtain information on the current status of Craniospermum subvillosum populations and to create a digital basis for further high-precision monitoring of the species.

Which has been and will be done:

  • For the first time, a census of the almost woolly skull of the southeastern and eastern shores of Lake Baikal within the boundaries of the Kabansky and Pribaikalsky districts of the Republic of Buryatia was carried out.
  • The area, abundance, density, age and spatial structure of the populations of the south-eastern and eastern shores of Lake Baikal were determined.
  • 270 km of coastline was surveyed, 20 aerial surveys were carried out using a quadrocopter and field mapping of 5 square metre sample plots was carried out at 5 key sites. Scientists identified 22 cenopopulations and more than 70 thousand individuals.

The project is ongoing – based on this research, a digital geospatial database has been created, which will be available to conservationists to develop conservation strategies and restoration programmes for rare species. The project results can also be used to update information in the Red Data Book of the Republic of Buryatia. It is planned to continue desk work, analyse the results obtained, and create and design databases on species records.

Publications

The Lake Baikal Foundation funded projects to study rare lake inhabitants, Babr24.com, 30.09.2023

In Buryatia will try to save from extinction the almost woolly skullcap from extinction, MK in Buryatia, 03.10.2023

In Buryatia, scientists conducted a study of the Nearctic Skullcap in Lake Baikal, ГазетаРБ, 09.11.2024

The Baikal Institute of Natural Resources Management of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences conducted a study of the almost-shaggy skullcap with the support of the Foundation, The Lake Baikal Foundation, 08.11.2024



Biodiversity Conservation