Dynamics of the Phytodiversity of Natural Ecosystems Affected by Oil Products in the Norilsk Industrial District

This article presents the results of the transformation of natural ecosystems due to an emergency diesel fuel spill at CHPP-3 in the Norilsk Industrial District. Oil products have negatively affected the vegetation of the floodplains of the Bezymyanny and Daldykan creeks and Ambarnaya River. Some of the plant communities have been significantly transformed due to direct contact with diesel fuel, which is expressed in a noticeable decrease in the indices of alpha, beta, and gamma diversity. The vegetation of the lower reaches of the Ambarnaya River is the most polluted. No effect of oil products has been recorded in the floodplain of the Pyasina River. Here, the indices of phytodiversity of conditionally disturbed communities are comparable to those of background vegetation. All bryophytes and some species of vascular plants of dry and drained habitats are extremely nonresistant to oil pollution. Conversely, aquatic and streamside-aquatic species of perennial long- and short-rhizome grasses are resistant to pollution. The diversity of vegetation affected by oil products is represented by five associations and three subassociations of three classes of floristic-sociological classification. We describe three associations ( Chamaenerio latifolii–Sanguisorbetum officinalis ass. nova, Eleocharo acicularis–Arctophiletum fulvae ass. nova, and Equiseto arvensis–Salicetum dasycladi ass. nova) and three subassociations ( Chamaenerio latifolii–Sanguisorbetum officinalis typicum subass. nova, Chamaenerio latifolii–Sanguisorbetum officinalis angelicetosum decurrentis subass. nova, and Caricetum aquatilis cerastietosum jenisejensis subass. nova) for the first time.