Prioritization of endemic, threatened species and the habitats where they live is a crucial\ud point of conservation actions, particularly in areas with rich endemic floras. In this\ud study we have developed a new procedure to define the conservation priorities among\ud endemic plants and habitats by evaluating eight criteria. Five criteria deal with the\ud geographic and ecological range of the evaluated species, whereas the other three refer\ud to threats. After the evaluation of each criterion, we combined the partial scores to\ud obtain a Priority Index (PI). Finally, we characterized the EU habitat categories of\ud conservation concern on the basis of the average PI value of the plants living in each\ud habitat. We tested the method on a list of 260 endemic plants from a biodiversity\ud hotspot (Sardinia), that had an average PI of 3.66 ± 0.16. Even if the habitat categories\ud that are most rich in endemic plants were rocky habitats, and coastal/ halophytic\ud habitats, the most endangered habitat was coastal sand dunes (PI = 6.75 ± 1.15). The\ud method herein presented is complementary with the application of IUCN criteria.This\ud integrated approach is a concrete solution that adapts IUCN criteria and categories to\ud local contexts
Sardinia is a major centre of diversity of Anchusa, but the systematics, phylogenetic relationships and conservation status of the taxa endemic to the island are still poorly known mainly because of their remarkable rarity. We present a study on these endemics based on the results of field research focusing on the distribution, the number and size of the populations, the characteristics of the habitat and the factors of threat. Combined with observations on aspects of reproductive biology, on wild populations and cultivated plants, we evaluate the conservation status of the taxa and propose Red List IUCN categories of vulnerability. Original descriptions, nomenclatural types and karyological data are added. The following Anchusa taxa are endemic to Sardinia: A. capellii, A. crispa ssp. crispa, A. crispa ssp. maritima, A. formosa, A. littorea, A. sardoa and A. montelinasana sp. nov. The latter is described, based on the discovery of a morphologically distinct entity on a mountain in southwest Sardinia. Anchusa littorea was found at a single site after c. 25 years from the last record and 7 years of unsuccessful field research; this species is at the brink of extinction due to the extremely reduced size of the only remaining population. Our complete collection of taxa allowed an analysis of phylogenetic relationships based on DNA sequences from the ITS 1 ribosomal genome. In spite of the low variation, this marker produced Maximum Parsimony and Neighbour-Joining phylograms suggesting that the group is monophyletic and that the split between the two clades of the mountain and coastal endemics has been a key evolutionary event. We assume the three mountain species to be relict schizoendemics ancestral to the coastal taxa, and the Paleozoic siliceous massifs of central and south Sardinia as the centre of origin of the group.
Abstract.-Astragalus maritimus Moris and A. verrucosus Moris are two endemic threatened species exclusive of South West Sardinia. In this study the populations of both species were characterized and their seed germination investigated. The in situ results allowed reviewing their conservation status in compliance with the IUCN criteria, confirming the CR category by new subcriteria for both species. The germination study allowed identifying as well their dormancy breaking requirements.
IntroduzioneIl massiccio di origine vulcanica del Monte Arcuentu, situato nell'Arburese, è un area per la quale non esistono sino ad oggi analisi di tipo botanico se si eccettuano la segnalazione floristica di Picci (Picci, 1969) Most of the recored taxa were belonging to Asteraceae (71), followed by Fabaceae (52) and Poaceae (51). Most frequent genera are: Trifolium (11), Euphorbia (9), Allium, Geranium, Juncus, Medicago, Ophrys, Orobanche (7). The biological spectrum highlights the remarkable Mediterranean connotation of the studied district, being the therophytes (40.8%), followed by hemicriptophytes (27.0%) and geophytes (14.7%) being the most frequent growth forms. Indeed, the chorologic spectrum is dominated by the Mediterranean chorotype (48.4%), whose main partitions are: steno-Mediterranean (22.8%), endemic (9.7%) and W-Medit. (9.3%). Taxa with a broader distribution range, but centred in the Mediterranean basin, represent the 26.6%. The endemic taxa were 54 , among which Asteraceae (8) and Fabaceae (5) were the most represented families. The chorologic spectrum of the endemic units is dominated by Sardo-Corsican taxa (20), followed by Italo-Tyrrhenian ones (14). The analysis of rarity, according to the categories of Rabinowitz, highlighted the fact that the largest group (231) consists of WBL (i.e. species diffused over the territory, with a wide ecology and a large local population, in some places dominant), while the smallest one (5) is formed by the NBL (i.e. species with a limited spread over the territory, a wide ecology and a large local population, at times dominant). The taxa protected by international regulations are all the recorded orchids (19) and Cyclamen repandum subsp. repandum, included in the attached II of CITES, Brassica insularis in the Berne Convention, 2 in the Habitat Directive (Brassica insularis and Ruscus aculeatus), plus 3 (Soleirolia soleirolii, Hyoseris taurina and Genista morisii) cited in the IUCN-red lists.
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