Halophytic vegetation is very complex and diverse, and the main factors for its development are salinity and moisture. Investigations into different types of halophytic vegetation have been compiled in vegetation databases as scientific tools for classification analyses and interpretation of European saline habitats. Two major types of halophytic habitats exist in Europe: inland (continental) and coastal (maritime), with different halophytic plant communities. Inland halophytic vegetation is classified into two main classes: Thero-Salicornietea: annual succulent vegetation of extreme salt-rich soils, and Festuco-Puccinellietea: saline steppe grasslands. Coastal halophytic vegetation is represented by five classes: Saginetea maritimae: ephemeral vegetation, Crithmo-Staticetea: vegetation of salt-sprayed coastal cliffs, Cakiletea maritimae: pioneer vegetation of sandy and shingle beaches, Ammophiletea: tall-grass vegetation on mobile coastal dunes and Helichryso-Crucianelletea maritimae: dwarf shrub and grassland vegetation on stabilized dunes. Saline habitats are globally endangered; major threats are thought to be ploughing and melioration, as well as abandonment of traditional management (grazing and mowing), eutrophication and ruderalization. Several species of continental and maritime halophytic vegetation are listed in Annex I of the Habitats Directive, and saline habitats are part of the Natura 2000 network (Council Directive 92/43/EoEC 1992).
We compared the zonation of vegetation and connectivity of coastal plant communities between two distinct areas, one in Montenegro and another in Albania, that differ in terms of human impact, mainly through tourism activities. Transect plots were used to gather data about plant cover and communities, their zonation and connectivity. For description of communities multivariate methods were used and for distribution zonation we used gamma connectivity and richness of boundaries. We found that the transects of vegetation zonation from Albania, with better preserved sites, were richer in the number of boundaries, with more varied combinations of boundaries and the pattern of zonation was also more diverse. On the other hand, there were two plant communities found only in Montenegro. The more impacted transects on the disturbed beaches from Montenegro were also more unidirectional from sea to hinterland but with less ideal zonation. Plant communities from Albania were distributed more straightforwardly but contacts between them were in both directions. The less disturbed beach had zonation very similar to potential vegetation, while plant communities of the touristic beach were fragmented or even substituted by replacement communities. Coastal dune systems in Albania are still well preserved, therefore monitoring and protection measures are recommended.
Closely related to traditional agriculture consumption of wild plants it significantly contributes to the existence of the human species. The aim of this paper is to determine the value of ethnobotanical parameters (RFC, CI, CV) for the most important species that participate in creating the gastronomic offer of ecotourism destinations. The research was conducted in the area of the Biosphere Reserve (BR) "Golija-Studenica" as one of the attractive ecotourism destinations and sites with a high degree of biodiversity. As part of the site visit and research, during the period 2018-2020, the authors used the ethnobotanical questionnaire to quantify and determine the value of each individual species that plays a role in local traditional gastronomy, and today is part of the tourist offer. The results indicate the existence of a culture of using natural resources and a high degree of use of wild species in traditional recipes. Among the most exploited species, wild berries like blueberries stand out, but some species of mushrooms.
Continental saline habitats represent unique, authentic and rare ecosystems. These ecosystems are typically distributed in arid and semi-arid regions; however, they are also found in inland areas in temperate climate zones. Usually, the general public is not familiar with this particular type of ecosystem. In order to present saline habitats to tourists, a broadly applied method of ecosystem suitability assessment (ESI-ecosystem suitability index) was used and adjusted to the purposes of this research. The research aims to estimate the nature-based tourism potentials of selected sites. Thus, six representative halophytic habitats distributed along the geographic gradient, from the Pannonian Plain to the south of Serbia, were chosen. In terms of each site, seven indicators (e.g., flora and vegetation, bird fauna, landscape, protection status, accessibility, and ecotourism facilities), important for nature-based tourism, were analyzed. The results show that the Pannonian saline habitats have greater opportunities for development of this type of tourism in almost all categories compared to southern sites.
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