0000000001319461

AUTHOR

Stephen Mifsud

showing 3 related works from this author

What is a tree in the Mediterranean Basin hotspot? A critical analysis

2019

Background: Tree species represent 20% of the vascular plant species worldwide and they play a crucial role in the global functioning of the biosphere. The Mediterranean Basin is one of the 36 world biodiversity hotspots, and it is estimated that forests covered 82% of the landscape before the first human impacts, thousands of years ago. However, the spatial distribution of the Mediterranean biodiversity is still imperfectly known, and a focus on tree species constitutes a key issue for understanding forest functioning and develop conservation strategies. Methods: We provide the first comprehensive checklist of all native tree taxa (species and subspecies) present in the Mediterranean-Europ…

Tree distributions010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciencesPlant biogeography Mediterranean region Threatened trees Tree definition Tree distributionsBiodiversityThreatened treeFunctional diversityPlant biogeography01 natural sciencesMediterranean Basinbassin méditerranéenbiogeographie historiqueTrait valuesPlant biogeography;Mediterranean region;Threatened trees;Tree definition;Tree distributionslcsh:QH540-549.5Threatened treesTree definitionIUCN Red ListMediterranean regionEndemismMilieux et Changements globauxEcology Evolution Behavior and Systematics0105 earth and related environmental sciencesNature and Landscape Conservationécosystème forestiertaxonNear-threatened speciesEcologyEcologyTree distributionForestry04 agricultural and veterinary sciences15. Life on landsystème vasculaire des plantesTraitsEcology Evolution Behavior and SystematicBiodiversity hotspotGeographyThreatened speciesSettore BIO/03 - Botanica Ambientale E Applicata[SDE]Environmental Sciences040103 agronomy & agriculture0401 agriculture forestry and fisheriesSpecies richnesslcsh:EcologyForest Ecosystems
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Reviewing the identity of the Maltese Polypodium (Polypodiaceae) – new evidence from morphology and flow cytometry

2020

The first record of Polypodium from Gozo (Maltese Islands) was described as a new endemic taxon, Polypodium vulgare subsp. melitense, based on its unique set of morphological characters. It was treated as a novelty and designated as a subspecies of P. vulgare mainly due to the lack of paraphyses, the presence of 10–16 annular cells, and a mean spore length of 64 μm. The fern was reassessed by us employing a more rigid morphological analysis and the application of flow cytometry. The absence of paraphyses was confirmed, but the number of annular cells (5–11) and the spore length (70–79 μm) differed from the previous study. These and other morphological traits, the phenology (leaf-shedding in…

Central Mediterranean Regionbiologymedicine.diagnostic_testSettore BIO/02 - Botanica SistematicaIdentity (social science)Morphology (biology)Plant ScienceFlora of Maltabiology.organism_classificationlanguage.human_languageNuclear DNA amountPolypodium vulgare subsp. melitenseFlow cytometryPolypodiumMaltesePolypodiaceaeEvolutionary biologySettore BIO/03 - Botanica Ambientale E ApplicataFernsmedicinelanguageParaphysesEcology Evolution Behavior and SystematicsNova Hedwigia
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Additional file 1: of What is a tree in the Mediterranean Basin hotspot? A critical analysis

2019

Table S1. Checklist of the tree taxa (species and subspecies) occuring in theMediterranean-European region, from Portugal to Cyprus. The definition of the families follows the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG III 2009; APG IV 2016). Theretained nomenclature of the tree taxa is compared with those of the Euro+Med database ( http://www.emplantbase.org/home.html ), the volume series Chorology of trees and shrubs in south-westAsia and adjacent regions (Browicz 1982–1996) and the World Checklist Kew. For the occurence of eachtree taxa in a country or a large island, we indicate the endemism status, the cultivated status, theautochthonous (native: N) or allochthonous (introduced: I) status. Taxa f…

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