FLORISTICS, SYSTEMATICS, AND THE STUDY OF ARCTIC VEGETATION - A COMMENTARY

Some remarks are made on the special problem encountered in arctic pla nt geography and vegetation studies, viz. the circumpolar distribution of many taxa, which may have been described independently in differen t countries. 80 % of the arctic bryophytes, 70 % of the lichens and 50 % of the vascular plants have a circumpolar distribution and especial ly amongst the vascular plants there are several cases of confusion. S pecial attention is paid to Dupontia fisheri s.l., Carex aquatilis s.l . and C bigelowii s.l. Especially for a classification of vegetation b ased on floristic data, having a list of accepted plant names and know ing their synonyms is of paramount importance. An electronic database for arctic vegetation will foster, if not require, more unified approa ches to the description of plant communities.