7 Annales Universitatis Paedagogicae Cracoviensis Studia Naturae, 6: 7–24, 2021, ISSN 2543-8832 DOI: 10.24917/25438832.6.1 Andriy Novikov1*, Józef Mitka2, Mariia Sup-Novikova3 1State Museum of Natural History, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Teatralna St. 18, 79008 Lviv, Ukraine;*noviko�av@gmail.com 2Institute of Botany, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa St. 3, 30-387, Kraków, Poland 3Ukrainian Catholic University, Stryiska St. 29A, 79000 Lviv, Ukraine Hot-spots of the genus Aconitum in the Ukrainian Carpathian Region Introduction �e genus Aconitum in the World �ora comprises about 300–400 species distribut- ed mainly in the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere (Li, Kadota, 2001; Mitka et al., 2021). In the Carpathians is located one of the main centres of the genus diversity in Europe (Mitka, 2003). �e Ukrainian Carpathian Region (UCR), being part of the Eastern Carpathians and including surrounding foothills and lowlands, is subdivided into 57 geomorphological mesoregions (Novikov, 2021a). In general, in the UCR, there are present 21 unequally distributed Aconitum taxa of the speci�c and infraspeci�c level, including ten species of the native �ora (Noviko� et al., 2016; Onyshchenko et al., 2021). �e preliminary analysis of the genus Aconitum distribution in the Ukrainian Car- pathians was published in 2011 (Noviko�, Mitka, 2011). However, only some of the localities were included in our previous research, and no modern GIS-based approaches were applied. �e aim of this research was to reveal main centres of the genus Aconitum diversity and distribution (so-called hot-spots) in the UCR. Here we represent the results of the genus’ hot-spot analysis basing on the most comprehensive data gathered from herbaria, �eld surveys, and published sources. Material and methods In general, 2054 Aconitum occurrences from the UCR were included in the analysis and shared as a  GBIF dataset (Novikov, 2021b). �e data mining was conducted from all available data sources, including published materials, databases, herbarium A nd riy N ov ik ov , J óz ef M itk a, M ar iia S up -N ov ik ov a 8 collections, and personal �eld surveys during 2007–2019. In particular, data gathered personally or distantly from the 27 herbaria (see Tab. 1 – Appendix 1) were involved in the analysis. �e spatial distribution analysis was entirely performed in the QGIS 3.10.2 envi- ronment (QGIS Development Team, 2020) with an installed hot-spot analysis plug-in (Oxoli et al., 2017) and using Getis-Ord Gi* statistics implementation (Getis, Ord, 1992; Ord, Getis, 1995). For the purposes of the hot-spot analysis, a 10×10 km hexagonal grid was preliminarily constructed in QGIS. Hexagons were chosen due to the most reduced edge e�ect biasing the spatial data (Birch et al., 2007). �e species richness (SR) was calculated per each of 57 delimited geomorpholog- ical mesoregions of the UCR that served as operational geographical units (OGUs) throughout all the investigation. However, SR poorly performs for analysis of OGUs (Albuquerque, Beier, 2015). �erefore, an analysis of rarity-weighted richness (RWR) following Williams et al. (1996) has been performed too. Similarly RWR, which has found its wider application for the calculation of the weighted endemism (Crisp et al., 2001), we applied another technique that is also widely used in the analysis of endemism areas. �e principles of Parsimony Analysis of Endemism (PAE) allow delimiting the areas of endemism (in our case – areas of Aconitum species concentration) and analysing the OGUs similarity basing on the matrices with taxa presence/absence serving as character states (Morrone, 1994; Ol- iveira et al., 2015; Fattorini, 2017; Li et al., 2017) were extrapolated to our research. To perform PAE, the OGUs having zero presence (eight OGUs) of the Aconitum were excluded, and, at the same time, a  hypothetical OGU having zero presence of investigated taxa was introduced as a  zero-outgroup. �e maximum parsimony analysis was performed in the TNT 1.5 environment (Golobo�, Catalano, 2016) with tree bisection reconnection (TBR) set as collapsing rule and 1000 replications. �e consensus tree was obtained using the majority rule set to 50% cut-o�. A�er that, the consensus tree was exported to Mesquite 3.70 (Maddison, Maddison, 2021), where it was rooted to zero-outgroup, set up to display the bootstrap support, visualised, and clades were coloured. Results and discussion Species richness and general distribution pattern Most of the registered occurrences were distributed within the Outer (76.77%) and Inner Eastern Carpathians (20.16%), considering together the Carpathian Mountain Range in the strict sense, while the adjacent sub-mountainous territories comprised only 3.07% from a total number of occurrences. Namely, 54 occurrences (2.63%) were scattered 9 H ot-spots of the genus Aconitum in the U krainian C arpathian R egion in the Ciscarpathia and only nine (0.44%) – in the Pannonian province corresponding to the Transcarpathia (Fig. 1). �e OGUs oc23 (Chornohora – 720 occurrences, all ten species registered), oc22 (Svydovets – 234 occurrences, all ten species registered), ic10 (Maramures – 363 oc- currences, nine species registered), oc6 (Syvuliansko-Stanymyrski Gorgany – 60 occur- rences, eight species registered), oc14 (Torunsko-Bertianski Gorgany – 77 occurrences, eight species registered), and oc19 (Polonyna Rivna – 51 occurrences, eight species registered) demonstrated the highest SR (Fig. 2A–B – Appendix 2). As we can see, the number of occurrences per OGU (in other words – sampling frequency) does not strictly correlate with SR. For example, Chornohora demonstrated both the highest sampling frequency and species richness. However, another OGU with a  relatively high sampling frequency (oc12 – Waterdivided Mountain Range) having 69 registered occurrences comprises only �ve di�erent Aconitum species. It is important to note that Waterdivided Mountain Range is o�en considered the part of Eastern Beskyds (= Bieszczady Wschodnie) following the classi�cation of Kondracki (1989, 2002). How- ever, here Waterdivided Mountain Range is considered as independent mesoregional Fig. 1. Distribution of all registered Aconitum occurrences in the UCR (For abbreviations see Tab. 2. – Appendix 1) A nd riy N ov ik ov , J óz ef M itk a, M ar iia S up -N ov ik ov a 10 OGU, following Ukrainian approach (Slyvka, 2001; Hiletskiy, 2012; Novikov, 2021a). Similarly, oc7 (Dovbushanski Gorgany) having 60 registered occurrences comprises only �ve di�erent Aconitum species too. Sampling frequency and SR can be a�ected by several distorting factors, i.e., higher popularity of certain OGUs among collectors; repeated collection from the same pop- ulations; absence of the information from the hardly accessible places (Baltanás, 1992). To correctly analyse the distribution data, it is important to treat all test areas equally, i.e. assuming that all species are detected and that the detectability of the di�erent species is the same (Boulinier et al., 1998). We could not be sure that all Aconitum species were detected for each certain OGU. However, the high number of registered occurrences relating to a  low number of tested species analysed at the high spatial resolution allowed to minimise the distortion e�ect (Graham, Hijmans, 2006; Gotelli, Colwell, 2011; Chao, Chiu, 2016). Considering the limitations of the SR analysis and unequal rarity of the analysed Aconitum species (from ten studied species, six are threatened and with limited distri- bution in the UCR – see Novikov (2021b) for details), other advanced data processing techniques were applied. We calculated the RWR index for all OGUs and found that oc23, oc22, and ic10 had the highest RWR values, while oc6, oc14, and oc19 also demon- strated a relatively high RWR level (over 0.5). Hence, the RWR results were found to be concordant with SR outcomes. Additionally, oc21 (Polonyna Krasna) showed the RWR value very close to 0.5 points (0.48), while other analysed OGUs di�ered much distinctly and did not reach 0.3 RWR value (Fig. 2C – Appendix 2). Hot-spot analysis Getis-Ord Gi* statistics allowed to primarily reveal four hot-spot centres in the UCR (Fig. 3A – Appendix 2): 1 – located mainly in the OGUs oc23, oc22, and ic10 (i.e., Chornohora, Svydovets, and Maramures); 2 – located mainly in oc12 and oc19 (i.e., Waterdivided Mountain Range and Polonyna Rivna); 3 – located mainly in the oc6 (i.e., Syvuliansko-Stanymyrski Gorgany); 4 – located mainly in the oc14 (Torunsko-Bertianski Gorgany). Normalisation of the hot-spot analysis eliminated the last two hot-spots (Fig. 3B – Appendix 2). Hence, also taking into account the data on the species richness and sampling frequency, we can conclude that there are two centres of the genus Aconitum diversity and distribution within the UCR. �e main centre is located in the south-east- ern part of the UCR and covers Svydovets, Chornohora, and Maramures. At the same time, the second small isolated centre exists in the Polonyna Rivna and Waterdivided Mountain Range. A similar result was obtained while studying the centres of phenetic coherence of the Aconitum sect. Aconitum (= Napellus) in the Eastern Carpathians, based on Mahanalobis distances among regions’ centroids in Discriminant Function Analysis (Mitka, 2002). Here, the Svydovets-Negrovets region and Chornohora formed 11 closely related regions in terms of the taxon morphological variability. Another centre (partially outside the Ukrainian Carpathians) is in Maramures and Bistrica Mts-Čeahlău region (Mitka, 2002). �e high Aconitum diversity and distribution in the Svydovets, Chornohora, and Maramures are not surprising due to the highest altitudes in the region. �ese mountain ranges reach the alpine belt and generally have the highest �oristic diver- sity (Malynovskiy, 1991; Tasenkevich, 2003; Cherepanyn, 2017). Moreover, in the Maramures is located one of the main areas of plant endemism in the Carpathians, partly spread to the north-west and separated by a strong barrier from surrounding mountain ranges (Pawłowski, 1970; Tasenkevich, 2014; Hurdu et al., 2016). Much en- gaging is the presence of a small hot-spot of the genus Aconitum in the Waterdivided Mountain Range and Polonyna Rivna. In the Ukrainian Carpathians, Waterdivided Mountain Range is not as high as other surrounding ranges and is considered a rela- tively older geomorphological construction hosting the relict �oristic complexes and unique plant taxa (Popov, 1949; Stoyko et al., 1997). Moreover, Mt. Pikui, located in this mountain range, has the beech dwarf forest delimiting a short subalpine belt with rocky outcrops, making unique isolated habitats (Stoyko et al., 1997). In particular, here exists isolated and the most abundant in the UCR population of the Aconitum bucovinense Zapał. (Noviko�, Mitka, 2011). �ere are no reports about such unique �oristic conditions on the Polonyna Rivna, and most analysed Aconitum occurrences related to Runa-Plai Mt. and its slopes. Cladistics analysis Maximum parsimony analysis following the principles of PAE has been performed to reveal the similarity of the analysed OGUs basing on their species composition. Li et al. (2017) reported that PAE analysis at the multiple taxa level is not well-performing. �erefore we cut o� all taxa at the same (i.e., species) level. Most of the analysed OGUs did not demonstrate a statistically signi�cant di�erence in PAE (perhaps, due to a low number of studied species). It showed eight well-dis- tinguishing clades of Aconitum diversity in the UCR (Fig. 4A – Appendix 2, marked on by color). �e OGUs oc23 (Chornohora) and oc22 (Svydovets) were found to be the most outstanding (bootstrap support = 1) and sharing the common node with clades ic10 (Maramures) and oc14 (Torunsko-Bertianski Gorgany). Interestingly, that �oristically poor regions oc19 (Polonyna Rivna) and oc21 (Polonyna Krasna) appeared to be distinctly separated from oc20 (Polonyna Borzhava) that belongs to the same mountainous group. Moreover, PAE did not allow for the distinguishing oc12 (Waterdivided Mountain Range) that was found to be distinct in the previous analyses. Despite this, PAE ampli�ed the clades of OGUs oc5, oc6, and oc14 belong- ing to di�erent mesoregions of the Gorgany Mts. Extrapolation of the PAE results on H ot-spots of the genus Aconitum in the U krainian C arpathian R egion A nd riy N ov ik ov , J óz ef M itk a, M ar iia S up -N ov ik ov a 12 the map (Fig. 4B – Appendix 2) con�rmed that there exists the main centre of the genus Aconitum diversity in the UCR with its core in the Chornohora and Svydovets that is spread to adjacent mountain ranges. �e second isolated centre of Aconitum diversity was revealed in the Polonyna Rivna, which is also partly concordant with mentioned above �ndings. Perhaps, a  continuous distribution pattern of the genus Aconitum from the SE toward NW of the UCR existed before. �e gap in the oc20 (Polonyna Borzhava) could arise as a  result of anthropogenic pressure. In the Pol- onyna Borzhava, just like in Polonyna Rivna and Polonyna Krasna, the forest level was arti�cially lowered, and open spaces were overgrown by Vaccinium myrtillus L. (Felbaba-Klushina, Bizilya, 2015). Conclusions Di�erent methods of spatial distribution analysis were tested for the genus Aconitum in the UCR. It was found that Chornohora and Svydovets Mts., with a  signi�cant contribution of Maramures, form the core of the genus diversity and distribution in this region. Basing on maximum parsimony analysis (adopted PAE), it was found that Chornohora and Svydovets Mts. form the most distinct clades with high bootstrap support. �e Polonyna Rivna was found to have surprisingly high RWR value and clustering together with Polonyna Krasna, while Polonyna Borzhava disrupts these two OGUs from the main hot-spot of the genus in the SE part of the UCR. Perhaps, a  continuous gradient of Aconitum diversity and/or distribution from SE toward NW of the UCR existed before, and the gap in Borzhava secondarily resulted from anthropogenic transformation. Acknowledgment �e authors thank all supporting agencies that allowed performing this investigation. 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New York Botanical Garden’s Virtual Herbarium. http://sweetgum.nybg.org/science/ih/ Williams, P., Gibbons, D., Margules, C., Rebelo, A., Humphries, C., Pressey, R.L. (1996). A comparison of richness hot-spots, rarity hot-spots and complementary areas for conserving diversity using British birds. Conservation Biology, 10, 155–174. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1523-1739.1996.10010155.x A nd riy N ov ik ov , J óz ef M itk a, M ar iia S up -N ov ik ov a 16 Ta b. 2 . D is tr ib ut io n of th e A co ni tu m sp ec ie s i n of th e U C R m es or eg io ns d es ig na te d ac co rd in g to N ov ik ov (2 02 1a ) O G U s I D O G U s ( m es or eg io ns ) O G U sy no ny m s Number of noticed species N um be r o f d is co ve re d oc cu rr en ce s su bg en . Ly co ct on um D C . su bg en . A nt ho ra D C . su bg en . A co ni tu m se ct . C am m ar um D C . se ct . A co ni tu m A. moldavicum A. lasiocarpum A. anthora A. degenii A. × gayeri A. variegatum A. bucovinense A. × czarnohorense A. �rmum A. × nanum cc 1 Te rn og or od P la te au Pł as ko w yż T ar no gr od zk i 0 - - - - - - - - - - cc 2 Pe re m ys he l-D ob ro m yr H ig hl an d Po gó rz e Pr ze m ys ki e 1 2 - - - - - - - - - cc 3 Si an -D ni es te r L ow la nd O ve rs ia n Ba si n 1 - - - - - 1 - - - - cc 4 St ry vi go r- Bo lo zi vk a H ig h - la nd St ry vi go r H ig hl an d 0 - - - - - - - - - - cc 5 U pp er -D ni st er D ep re ss io n D ni st er -S vi ch a Lo w la nd 1 4 - - - - - - - - - cc 6 D ro ho by ch H ig hl an d 3 2 3 - 1 - - - - - - cc 7 M or sh yn H ig hl an d Bo le kh iv -Z hu ra vn e re gi on 2 5 1 - - - - - - - - cc 8 Z al is si a H ig hl an d D ol yn o- Bo lo kh iv sk yi re gi on 1 2 - - - - - - - - - cc 9 R oz hn ia tiv -K al us h D e - pr es si on Li m ny ts ia re gi on 1 1 - - - - - - - - - cc 10 Pr yl uk va H ig hl an d Lu kv a H ig hl an d 2 3 - - 3 - - - - - - cc 11 By st ry ts ia D ep re ss io n 0 - - - - - - - - - - cc 12 In te rb ys tr yt si a H ig hl an d M iz hb ys tr its ke H or bo gi r - ri a, G vi zd ts ke H or bo gi rr ia 1 2 - - - - - - - - - 17 cc 13 D el ia ty n- N ad vi rn a H ig h- la nd Pr ut -B ys tr its ia H ig hl an d 0 - - - - - - - - - - cc 14 Pr ut -L yu ch ka H ig hl an d 1 - 1 - - - - - - - - cc 15 T lu m ac h- O be rt yn H ig h - la nd 2 2 1 - - - - - - - - cc 16 K ol om yi a- C he rn iv ts i P la in 4 3 2 - 3 - 6 - - - - cc 17 Po ku tti a H ig hl an d 0 - - - - - - - - - - cc 18 Se re t- C he re m os h H ig hl an d 1 - - - 1 - - - - - - cc 19 Se re t- Pr ut H ig hl an d 1 1 - - - - - - - - - cc 20 Bu ko vi na H ig hl an d 1 1 - - - - - - - - - ic 1 U pp er D ni st er B es ky ds Ve rk hn io dn is te rs ki B es ky - dy 1 20 - - - - - - - 1 1 ic 2 Sk ol e Be sk yd s 4 4 - - - - - 1 - - - ic 3 Sv its ko -M iz un sk i G or ga ny 1 - - - - - - - - - - ic 4 A rs hy ts ia -I le m sk i G or ga ny 5 - - - 1 - - - - - - ic 5 Ve rk hn io lim ny ts ki G or - ga ny 5 5 - - - - - - - - - ic 6 Sy vu lia ns ko -S ta ny m yr sk i G or ga ny 8 6 - - - - - - - - - ic 7 D ov bu sh an sk i G or ga ny 5 - - - - 1 - - - - - ic 8 Z ap ru ts ki G or ga ny 3 2 1 - 1 1 - - - - 2 ic 9 Po ku tti a M ts . 1 - - - - - - - - - - ic 10 Bu ko vy na M ts . 3 12 6 17 75 81 29 - 1 15 8 10 oc 1 St ri y- Si an V er kh ov yn a 4 3 - - - - - - - - - oc 2 W at er di vi de d M ou nt ai n R an ge 5 17 10 - 5 - - 2 - - - oc 3 Vo lo ve ts -M iz hg ir iy a Ve r - kh ov yn a 3 - - - 7 - - - - - - oc 4 To ru ns ko -B er tia ns ki G or - ga ny 8 8 2 - 9 1 - - - - 1 H ot-spots of the genus Aconitum in the U krainian C arpathian R egion A nd riy N ov ik ov , J óz ef M itk a, M ar iia S up -N ov ik ov a 18 oc 5 Br at ki vs ki G or ga ny 2 15 1 - 3 - - - - 1 1 oc 6 Ya si ni a D ep re ss io n 4 14 2 - 21 2 - 3 8 4 6 oc 7 Vo ro kh ta -P ut yl a Va lle y 4 33 4 - 17 3 3 - - - - oc 8 H ig h Bi es zc za dy Bi es zc za dy W ys ok ie 4 4 - - 1 1 - - - - - oc 9 Bu ko vs ke V rc hy Bu ko vs ké V rc hy 8 - - - - - 1 - - - - oc 10 Po lo ny na R iv na Po lo ny na R un a 4 11 - 1 - 1 - - - - - oc 11 Po lo ny na B or zh av a 6 8 1 - 7 2 - - - - - oc 12 Po lo ny na K ra sn a 10 26 5 - 1 - - 33 - 3 - oc 13 Sv yd ov et s 10 3 2 - - - - - - 1 - oc 14 C ho rn oh or a 4 12 - 1 15 1 - 7 4 17 19 oc 15 G ry ni av a 5 3 - - 7 - - - - - - oc 16 Ts yr ok h- Bo rz av a Va lle y Be re zn e- Li ps ha ns k Va lle y 3 34 2 - 14 - - 1 - - - oc 17 V yg or la t 2 10 2 - 10 - 1 - - - - oc 18 M ak ov yt si a 0 7 12 5 1 - - - - - - oc 19 Sy ni ak 1 17 8 - 4 6 1 6 - 2 5 oc 20 Ve ly ki y D il 1 17 1 - 5 - - 1 - - - oc 21 Tu pi y 1 7 - - 4 - - 2 2 15 1 oc 22 O as G ut yn 1 70 2 8 37 7 3 2 16 55 34 oc 23 Te re bl ia M as si f 5 17 8 7 24 13 7 32 1 6 17 8 63 83 oc 24 A ps hy ts ia M as si f 0 13 - 1 10 3 - - - - - oc 25 M ar am ur es M ts . M ar m ar os h M ts . 9 25 3 1 8 1 - - - - - tc 1 Tr an sc ar pa th ia n Lo w la nd Ty sa L ow la nd , P ry ty se ns ka D ol in a, T ys en sk a D ol in a 3 6 - - - - - 2 - - 1 19 H ot-spots of the genus Aconitum in the U krainian C arpathian R egion Appendix 1 Tab. 1. List of applied herbaria’s acronym following �iers (2021) No. Acronym Herbarium Location 1. B Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin, Zentraleinrichtung der Freien Universität Berlin Germany, Berlin 2. BM �e Natural History Museum U.K. England, London 3. BP Hungarian Natural History Museum Hungary, Budapest 4. BRNU Masaryk University Czech Republic, Brno-Bohunice 5. CHER Yu. Fedcovich Chernivtsi National University Ukraine, Chernivtsi 6. CL Babes-Bolyai University Romania, Cluj-Napoca 7. GJO Universalmuseum Joanneum Austria, Graz 8. HBG University of Hamburg Germany, Hamburg 9. JE Friedrich Schiller University Jena Germany, Jena 10. KRA Jagiellonian University Poland, Kraków 11. KRAM W. Szafer Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences Poland, Kraków 12. KW M.G. Kholodny Institute of Botany, Na-tional Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Ukraine, Kyiv 13. KWHA National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Ukraine, Kyiv 14. KWHU O. V. Fomin Botanical Garden of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv Ukraine, Kyiv 15. LI Upper Austrian State Museum Austria, Linz 16. LW Ivan Franko National University of Lviv Ukraine, Lviv 17. LWKS Institute of Ecology of the Carpathians Ukraine, Lviv 18. LWS State Museum of Natural History Ukraine, Lviv 19. O University of Oslo Norway, Oslo 20. OHN Biological Museum, Oskarshamn Sweden, Oskarshamn 21. PR National Museum in Prague Czech Republic, Praha 22. PRC Charles University, Prague Czech Republic, Praha 23. SAV Slovak Academy of Sciences Slovakia, Bratislava 24. SIB Natural History Museum Romania, Sibiu 25. UU Uzhhorod National University Ukraine, Uzhhorod 26. WU Universität Wien Austria, Wien 27. ZT Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich Switzerland, Zürich A nd riy N ov ik ov , J óz ef M itk a, M ar iia S up -N ov ik ov a 20 description Fig. 2AB on the next page Appendix 2 21 H ot-spots of the genus Aconitum in the U krainian C arpathian R egion Fig. 2. �e number of registered occurrences (A), species richness (B), and rarity weighted richness (C) of the genus Aconitum in the Ukrainian Carpathian Region A nd riy N ov ik ov , J óz ef M itk a, M ar iia S up -N ov ik ov a 22 Fig. 3. Standard (A) and normalised (B) Getis-Ord hot-spot analysis of the Aconitum distribution in the UCR. H ot-spots of the genus A conitum in the U krainian C arpathian R egion 23 Fig. 4. Cladogram of the adopted PAE analysis of the Aconitum diversity in the UCR (A) extrapolated to the map (B) A nd riy N ov ik ov , J óz ef M itk a, M ar iia S up -N ov ik ov a 24 Abstract Basing on 2054 georeferenced occurrences of ten Aconitum species, the initial map of the species richness per each of 57 operational geographic units (OGU) of the Ukrainian Carpathian Region (UCR) has been developed. Next, to avoid unequal data distribution, we counted absolute species presence per OGU, based on which we calculated ‘rarity-weighted richness’ (RWR) and performed parsimony analysis. As a result, we found that Chornohora and Svydovets made a strongly supported cluster with the highest Aconitum species diversity and demonstrated the highest RWR values, hence being the main hot-spot of the genus distribution in the UCR. �is main hot-spot also spreads to adjacent mountain ranges, including Maramures and Gorgany. Probably, a continuous gradient of Aconitum taxonomic richness from southeast toward northwest of the UCR existed before. �e gap in Polonyna Borzhava, located between Polonyna Rivna and Polonyna Rivna, can be secondarily resulted by the high level of anthropogenic transformation of this region. Contrary, the high RWR value and distinct clustering of the Polonyna Rivna supported the presence of a local isolated Aconitum hot-spot related to two prominent mountain peaks located here – Runa-Plai Mt. (in Polonyna Rivna) and Pikui Mt. (in adjacent Waterdivided Mountain Range). Key words: Aconitum, biogeography, hot-spot analysis, Ranunculaceae, Ukrainian Carpathians Received: [2021.09.21] Accepted: [2021.10.18] Hot-spoty rodzaju Aconitum w Ukraińskim Karpackim Regionie Streszczenie Na podstawie analizy 2054 georeferencyjnych wystąpień dziesięciu gatunków rodzaju Aconitum opracowano wstępną mapę bogactwa gatunkowego w każdym z 57 operacyjnych jednostek geogra�cznych (OGU) Ukra- ińskiego Karpackiego Regionu (UKR). Następnie, aby uniknąć nierównego rozkładu danych, policzyliśmy bezwzględną obecność gatunków w każdym OGU, obliczyliśmy bogactwo ważone rzadkością (RWR) i wyko- naliśmy analizę parsymonii. W rezultacie stwierdziliśmy, że Czarnohora i Svydovets utworzyły silnie poparte ugrupowanie o najwyższym bogactwie gatunków Aconitum i wykazywały najwyższe wartości RWR, będąc tym samym głównym hot-spotem rozmieszczenia rodzaju w UCR. Ten główny hots-pot rozciąga się również na sąsiednie pasma górskie, w tym Maramures i Gorgany. Prawdopodobnie w UKR istnieje gradient bogactwa taksonomicznego Aconitum z południowego wschodu na północny zachód. Luka w Borżawie, położonej mię- dzy Równą a Krasą, może być wtórnie spowodowana wysokim stopniem antropogenicznej transformacji tego regionu. Natomiast wysoka wartość RWR i wyraźna odrębność Połoniny Rivna wskazuje na obecność lokalnego, izolowanego hot-spotu rodzaju Aconitum, związanego z dwoma jej głównymi szczytami górskimi – Runa-Plai (na Połoninie Rivna) i Pikui (na Werchowynśkim Wododilnim Chrebetie). Słowa kluczowe: Aconitum, biogeogra�a, analiza hot-spotów, Ranunculaceae, Karpaty Ukraińskie Information on the authors Andriy Novikov https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0112-5070 Ukrainian scientist specialising in plant morphology and phytogeography in the Carpathians. His inte- rests are framed by but not limited to the taxonomy, conservation, and distribution of genus Aconitum in this region. Józef Mitka https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8472-1742 He is a specialist in the taxonomy, morphology and genetics of the genus Aconitum. Specialised in biodi- versity, conservation, and ecology of plants. Mariia Sup-Novikova https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8542-3605 Professor of the Ukrainian Catholic University, assisting in the data mining, transcription, and processing, as well as during the botanical �eld surveys. She has no special scienti�c interests, contributes sporadically but signi�cantly to di�erent research activities of Andriy Novikov.