Hacquetia

The very early-succession herbaceous vegetation in the ‘Vaia’ windstorm clearings within the Italian southeastern pre-Alpine mountain belt (Veneto and Trentino)

Stefano Tasinazzo — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The very early herbaceous vegetation which established in the clearings following 2018 ‘Vaia’ storm was investigated in some pre-Alpine areas of Northeast Italy, on calcareous as well as acidic substrata. Sixty-two original vegetation-plot records were executed in spruce or mixed beech-silver fir-spruce blowdown forests, within two years after the salvage logging had been completed. According to different origin and degree of soil disturbance, different communities were recognised. Galeopsis pubescens and G. tetrahit rich stands develop as ephemeral annual associations at the beginning of the regeneration succession where partially decomposed coniferous needles and twigs have accumulated in the litter. Soils with altered profiles due to forestry machineries harbour dominance of perennial herbaceous species (especially Senecio nemorensis agg., Atropa bella-donna, Epilobium angustifolium) as many already recognised associations or vegetation types we ascribed to community level. All coenoses belong to Epilobietea angustifolii class, with the exception of Calamagrostis arundinacea-rich stands on undisturbed base-rich as well as base-poor soils, whose syntaxonomic positions are unclear.

Phytosociological analysis of the Sidi Boughaba Biological Reserve, Kénitra, Morocco

Dounia Challi, Jamila Dahmani, El Habib Jdi, Nadia Belahbib — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The biological reserve of Sidi Boughaba has a unique plant biodiversity, with many animals, including birds, finding refuge there. Data on this biodiversity is old and incomplete. This phytosociological study was carried out to define the vegetation structure of the area. Stratified sampling was carried out and 124 relevés were recorded. Multivariate statistical analyses (correspondence factorial analysis and hierarchical ascending classification) used to process the relevés revealed the presence of 9 plant groups, including 4 plant associations and 5 subassociations, which belong to 3 phytosociological classes (Ammophiletea, Quercetea ilicis and Querco roboris-Fagetea sylvaticae). Quercetea ilicis is the most widespread in the area, showing several successional stages on grey and consolidated dunes. Vegetation of Ammophiletea can only be found on mobile sand. Vegetation of the class Querco roboris-Fagetea sylvaticae occupies an inter-dunar depression on hydromorphic soil. The association Pterido aquilinum-Populetum albae is newly described as five sub-associations of Clematido cirrhosae-Juniperetum lyciae.

New checklist and the red list of the mosses (Bryophyta) of Slovenia

Andrej Martinčič — Wed, 03 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0100

The new Checklist of mosses (Bryophyta) of Slovenia within current political boundaries comprises 667 species, 6 subspecies and 18 varieties. Aditional 13 species are denoting by a question mark since reports are considered questionable for whatever reason. An alphabetically arranged tabular presentation of genera and species, as well as lower taxa, also shows their presence in individual phytogeographical units of Slovenia. Corresponding symbols present records from the period before and after 1959. Each species has also Red List status in Slovenia. The Checklist includes the data from literature and LJU herbarium. Annotations give a critical evaluation of special literature and herbarium data. A list of taxa that should be excluded from the flora of Slovenia and the synonyms used in the floristic literature for Slovenia are also added.

New records of coniferous species (Gymnospermae, Pinidae) to the woody non-native flora of Tunisia and North Africa

Ridha El Mokni — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Ten new taxa of gymnosperms are added to the non-indigenous woody flora of Tunisia. Four of them (Cryptomeria japonica, Pinus brutia var. pityusa, Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca, Taxodium distichum var. distichum) are also new for the flora of North Africa. Pinus coulteri is here first reported for the Mediterranean Basin. Three genera (Cryptomeria, Pseudotsuga and Taxodium) are firstly recorded for the non-native vascular flora of Africa whereas two genera (Cedrus and Platycladus) are reported for the first time only for the woody flora of Tunisia. Brief descriptions together with filed photographs, global distributions and habitats at national scale are provided. Some taxonomic comments on their distinguishable features as well as updated keys are also presented.

Distribution and conservation status of Scutellaria rupestris subsp. cephalonica (Rech.f.) Greuter & Burdet

Tue, 26 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Scutellaria rupestris subsp. cephalonica (Rech.f.) Greuter & Burdet (Lamiaceae) is a perennial herb endemic to Mounts Ainos and Roudi on the island of Cephalonia. Until now, information about the taxon’s distribution has been sketchy: two fairly localized populations on Mt. Ainos have been reported, one of them extinct, and two on Mt. Roudi, without specifics. Because we thought that the taxon is much more common, we designed a survey along contours encircling the two peaks totaling 80 km. We recorded 112 locations of the taxon. We found that S. rupestris subsp. cephalonica prefers sunny clearings within fir forest as well as crevices among limestone rock on somewhat flat terrain. On Mt. Roudi, the taxon grows above 800 m, and is rather uncommon. On Mt. Ainos, the taxon is quite common above 1100 m; below that altitude it has not been confirmed. The findings were more abundant on the NE slope of Mt. Ainos which is wetter and possibly cooler than the SW slope due to being shaded and more forested, less eroded, and with a deep organic layer. The main threat to the survival of the taxon is illegal grazing. The proposed Red List assessment according to IUCN is EN B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii).

Dipsacus gmelinii (Caprifoliaceae), a wetland species new to the Bulgarian flora

Georgi Kunev, Ivan Kostadinov, Daniela Karakasheva — Fri, 12 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0100

Dipsacus gmelinii is here reported as a new addition to the vascular flora of Bulgaria. It was recorded on Belene Island, in the Danube River. In the present paper, the species is described morphologically with an emphasis on carpomorphological characters. The distinctive differences from related species of the genus are also highlighted. Additionally, ecological conditions and floristic composition at the localities of the species, and phytosociological relationships of the communities in which it participates are discussed.

Genetic diversity and morphological variability of Iranian Silene aucheriana populations inferred from nrDNA ITS sequences and morphological analysis

Masoumeh Safaeishakib, Mostafa Assadi, Shahina A. Ghazanfar, Iraj Mehregan — Mon, 26 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

We conducted a comprehensive study on the diversity of Silene aucheriana Boiss. populations by analyzing both morphological data and nrDNA ITS sequences. Maximum parsimony and Bayesian methods on representative material from 15 populations throughout Iran demonstrated that they did not form a monophyletic group. Strong positive correlation occurred between epipetalous filaments length to claw (EFLC), basal leaf length (BLL), basal leaf width (BLW), and plant height (PLH) with elevation. While negative correlation achieved between anthophore length (AnL) with the average air temperature and rainfall. Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) showed that most morphological traits were more correlated to elevation than to average rainfall and temperature. Multivariate analysis of morphological traits with ITS analysis displayed a slight divergence between two types of regions based on their elevation.

Reflections on the life and contributions to vegetation science of Lojze Marinček (1932-2023)

Andraž Čarni, Igor Dakskobler, Petra Košir, Aleksander Marinšek, Urban Šilc — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0100

On April 8, 2023, Lojze Marinček passed away, one of the leading researchers of forest vegetation in the second half of the twentieth century, whose work significantly contributed to knowledge of the forest vegetation of Slovenia.