Abstract: The article deals with the topic of species diagnosis in the genus Diphasiastrum. At the moment, all the methods available to researchers require the removal of whole plant samples or parts of plants from populations. In this paper we propose a new express method for obtaining morphometric data of species of the genus Diphasiastrum without plant damage and give its hardware implementation. The method allows the identification of species directly in the field. Field and desktop testing of the proposed method was carried out. The low variance of repeated measurements of species-specific traits suggests that the method is suitable. Three new locations of Diphasiastrum in the Moscow region have been discovered and described. The plants were described according to a set of diagnostically relevant qualitative and quantitative indicators and identified as D. complanatum (L.) Holub subsp. complanatum. For each finding, a standard description of the biotope is given and a conclusion is made as to the degree to which the location is potentially suitable for the long-term existence of the species population. We consider the proposed method to be potentially suitable for many members of the Lycopodiaceae family. The relative rarity of many of these plants in nature makes the appearance of the method timely.

METHOD OF FIELD AND COMPUTER MORPHOMETRY IN DIAGNOSTICS OF DIPHASIASTRUM (LYCOPODIACEAE S.L.) TAXA IN THE MOSCOW REGION

JOURNAL ARTICLE published 2022 in Acta Botanica Caucasica

https://doi.org/10.30546/abc.2022.1.1.31