Search results for " PHYTOSOCIOLOGY"
showing 10 items of 45 documents
The forest vegetation from the Garda lake
1998
A study about the forest vegetation occurring along the shores of the Garda lake is presented. The investigation emphasized a noteworthy vegetation diversity, related both to the habitat heterogenity and to the still present traces of several climatic changes that affected the area beginning from the Quaternary period. The examinated woodlands are the result of a compenetration between evergreen characteristic species of the Quercetea ilicis class, representing relicts of the climacic vegetation during the peak of the post-glacial anathermic phase, and deciduous mesothermophilous elements belonging to the Querco-Fagetea class order, which better reflect the present macroclimate. On the basi…
A syntaxonomical survey of the Sicilian dwarf shrub vegetation belonging to the class Rumici-Astragaletea siculi
2005
Basing on literature data and unpublished relevés from Sicily, a survey of the syntaxa belonging to the class Rumici-Astragaletea siculi Pignatti & Nimis 1980 em. Mucina 1997 (= Cerastio-Carlinetea nebrodensis Brullo 1984) is presented. The class groups orophilous plant communities dominated by dwarf- shrubs, often with a pulvinate and thorny growth form. The class is represented in Sicily by two orders: Rumici-Astragaletalia siculi Pignatti & Nimis 1980, including the sole alliance Rumici-Astragalion siculi Poli 1965, restricted to Mount Aetna, and Erysimo-Jurinetalia bocconei Brullo 1984, including two alliances: the acidophilous Armerion nebrodensis Brullo 1984 and the basiphilous Cerast…
The Sicilian taxa of Genista sect. Voglera and their phytosociological framework
2012
The phytosociological role of taxa of Genista sect. Voglera in the vegetation context of Sicily is here examined. It was carried out on plant communities characterised by the Sicilian endemics G. aristata, G. madoniensis and G. cupanii. These taxa and their floristic settlement have been examined from the biogeographical point of view. Basing on our results, the popu- lations of G. madoniensis are to be referred to a new association named Cisto salvifolii- Genistetum madoniensis, ascribed to the class Cisto-Lavanduletea. Multivariate analysis shows a clear ecological differentiation of G. madoniensis with respect to the other Sicilian species. Instead, its habitus and ecology are closer to …
Contribution to the phytosociological characterization of the forest vegetation of the Sicani Mountains (inland of north-western Sicily).
2016
The results of a phytosociological survey on the main forest vegetation aspects of the Sicani Mountains (inland of north-western Sicily), in turn included in the homonymous Regional Park recently established, are presented. This expansive territory (43,687 hectares), located between the Agrigento and Palermo provinces, is mainly composed by carbonate and silico-carbonate formations of the Sicani Units, whose highest peaks are represented by Mount Cammarata (1578 m a.s.l.), Mount delle Rose (1436 m), Pizzo Cangialoso (1420 m) and Mount Pernice (1393 m). Under the bioclimatic aspect, the area falls within the thermo- and supramediterranean belts, with ombrotype ranging from upper dry (annual …
The role of Characeae in the communities of the vegetation class Potametea
2018
The stonewort vegetation is commonly classified into the phytosociological class Charetea fragilis F. Fukarek ex Krausch 1964; however, the Characeae are not exclusively found in vegetation stands ascribed to this class but also in other habitat types. In our preliminary investigations, we draw the attention to the relationship between the classes Charetea fragilis and Potametea pectinati Klika in Klika & Novák 1941 in some Sicilian biotopes. In some cases, the Charetea vegetation is ecologically and spatially distinct, although close, from that referable to the Potametea. In some other cases, one or more species of Characeae are structurally intrinsic to the vegetation of Potametea: on…
The Olea europaea L. var. sylvestris (Mill.) Lehr. forests in the Mediterranean area
2019
This paper examines the forest communities dominated by Olea europaea L. var. sylvestris (Mill.) Lehr. that have been described up until now in the Mediterranean Region (including other isolated extrazonal areas in the northwestern Iberian Peninsula and in Northern Turkey) as more or less evolved aspects of woods, microwoods and high maquis that principally tend to make up climacic and edapho-climacic “series heads”. These forma- tions maintain a significant large-scale distributive potential within the infra- and thermomediterranean bioclimate belts (with a few penetrations into the mesomediterranean) with a dry-subhumid (and sometimes humid) ombrotype; however, they are currently quite ra…
Phytosociological and distributional researches on the grasslands of the class Lygeo-Stipetea in western Sicily.
2009
The thermo and meso-xerophilous pseudo-steppic vegetation is widespread in the driest areas of the Mediterranean Region and is primarily referred at the class Lygeo-Stipetea. This sintaxon includes communities dominated by several hemicryptophytes, which are also associated to some geophytes and therophytes. In Sicily this vegetation is distributed from sea level to 1300-1400 m, on different substrates (limestone, gypsum, schists, calcarenites, conglomerates, etc.), within the thermo and mesomediterranean belt dry to subhumid. Principally, are secondary grasslands used for grazing, localized on previously deforested areas, where the periodic burnings play a fundamental role in maintaining t…
Osservazioni fitosociologiche su aspetti di vegetazione a Quercus ilex di Monte Sparagio (Trapani)
2010
Phytosociological observation on some aspect of Quercus ilex vegetation located on the Monte Sparagio (Trapani- N-NW Sicily) – The study of some Quercus ilex residual formations occurring on the Monte Sparagio in the Trapani district (NW Sicily) is presented here. These formations testify that in the past thermophilous Quercus ilex woods were widespread along the littoral mountains facing to Tyrrhenian sea. They are assigned to the Rhamno alaterni-Quercetum ilicis pistacietosum terebinthi.
Biodiversity of the orophilous communities of Pino-Juniperetea class in the Central and Eastern Mediterranean area.
2000
The authors examine the orophilous communities, occuring in the Central and Eastern Mediterranean area, characterized by the dominance of trees and shrubs belonging to the genera Juniperus, Abies and Pinus. These communities are localized in the supra- and oromediterranean belt and show a relict role. From the structural point of view, this kind of vegetation is usually bistratified, with a low dense shrubby layer and spaced tree layer; sometime the latter one is absent. This vegetation is floristically poor and characterized by prevalence of Coniferous, such as Juniperus sabina, J. foetidissima, J. excelsa, J. oxycedrus. J. hemisphaerica, J. communis, J. nana, Abies nebrodensis, A. alba, A…
The orophilous dwarf-shrub vegetation of Mt. Troodos (Cyprus).
2005
A phytosociological survey on the orophilous dwarf-shrub vegetation of Mt. Troodos (Cyprus) is presented. Four associations are described, the first three being linked to the upper supramediterranean bioclimatic belt: Nepeto troodi-Hypericetum stenobotryos, dwelling the summit plateaux on ultramaphic sediments, Salvietum willeanae, substituting the previous one in hollow sites, where the snow-cover lasts longer, Onosmo troodi-Astragaletum chionistrae, colonizing eroded soils on steep, windy slopes, Alysso cyprici-Genistetum crudelis replacing the Nepeto troodi-Hypericetum stenobotryos at lower altitudes, within the lower supramediterranean belt. Due to the noteworthy floristic autonomy of t…