The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) aims at the conservation of all three levels of biodiversity, that is, ecosystems, species and genes. Genetic diversity represents evolutionary potential and is important for ecosystem functioning. Unfortunately, genetic diversity in natural populations is hardly considered in conservation strategies because it is difficult to measure and has been hypothesised to co-vary with species richness. This means that species richness is taken as a surrogate of genetic diversity in conservation planning, though their relationship has not been properly evaluated. We tested whether the genetic and species levels of biodiversity co-vary, using a large-scale and multi-species approach. We chose the high-mountain flora of the Alps and the Carpathians as study systems and demonstrate that species richness and genetic diversity are not correlated. Species richness thus cannot act as a surrogate for genetic diversity. Our results have important consequences for implementing the CBD when designing conservation strategies.

The plastid matK gene, trnL/F spacer, and nuclear rDNA ITS were sequenced for 36 species of Leontodon and 29 taxa of related genera of tribe Lactuceae. Phylogenetic relationships inferred from the independent and combined data are largely congruent and reveal that Leontodon sensu lato (s.l.) as presently defined is diphyletic: L. subgenus Leontodon forms a clade with Helminthotheca, Picris and Hypochaeris as sister genera, whereas L. subgenus Oporinia appears as a separate clade with strong bootstrap support and is thus better treated as a separate genus. Previous sectional classifications of Leontodon s.l. are considered in the light of DNA and additional morphological and karyological data. Support is presented for a core group of Hypochaeridinae sensu stricto (s.s.) with the two clades of Leontodon s.l., Helminthotheca, Picris, and Hypochaeris, whereas Urospermum, Hyoseris, Aposeris, and Rhagadiolus appear to be positioned more distantly.

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Anton Kerner together with his brother Joseph Kerner described five taxa of Gentianella, then classified as species within Gentiana sect. Endotricha. Of these, four were based on material distributed in his seminal Flora exsiccata Austro-Hungarica series. In the following decades a multitude of names was created in this intricate group due to ecotypic polymorphism. We here provide the lectotypes, currently accepted names and synonymies of these five names coined by the Kerner brothers: Gentiana austriaca, G. norica, G. praecox, G. rhaetica and G. sturmiana.

-Pteris vittata, formerly doubtfully indicated for Dalmatia, is recorded for Montenegro based on a hitherto disregarded collection preserved in the Vienna University herbarium.

Schon sehr früh wurde die Verwandtschaft um Ficaria verna [Ranunculus ficaria] wegen einer Reihe morphologischer Besonderheiten (ein einzelnes, apikal gekerbtes Keimblatt, meist nur 3 äußere, aber vermehrte innere Blütenhüllblätter, Wurzelknollen) als Satellitengattung von der formenreichen Gattung Ranunculus abgetrennt, bei einer Vereinigung mit ihr aber zumindest als eigene Sektion hervorgehoben. Jüngste, auf molekular-genetischen Analysen von Kern- und Chloroplasten-Gensequenzen beruhende, phylogenetische Untersuchungen bekräftigen die Separierung als eigene, monophyletische Gattung, die am engsten mit Coptidium (mit ebenfalls 3-zähligem Kelch) als eher basaler Gattung der Ranunculeae und nicht unmittelbar mit Ranunculus verwandt ist.

Androsace vitaliana (syn. Vitaliana primuliflora; Primulaceae) has been subject to several taxonomic treatments, whose conclusions ranged from a single species with numerous infraspecific taxa to several species usually without infraspecific taxa. Here, following molecular investigation, several taxonomic changes are made. A single species with the following infraspecific taxa is recognized: subsp. vitaliana (Pyrenees), subsp. cinerea (south-western Alps), subsp. lepontina (Pennine Alps), subsp. sesleri (south-eastern Alps), subsp. praetutiana (Apennines) and subsp. assoana (Iberian Peninsula excluding the Pyrenees), the last of which is divided into the four allopatrically distributed varieties assoana, centriberica, flosjugorum and nevadensis. Contrary to some previous assertions, all taxa are allopatric and, especially for subspp. vitaliana, cinerea and lepontina, where clear diagnostic characters are lacking, they can best be determined by their geographic origin.