Utricularia ochroleuca and U. minor new‐found in nutrient‐poor waters of northern Greece

Abstract

Nutrient-poor waters with small Utricularia species have been unknown in most of southern Europe and the Balkans. All the more notable are occurrences of Utricularia ochroleuca and Utricularia minor in north Greece. The records presented in this paper extend the known southeast European distribution boundaries of both species southward, and constitute U. ochroleuca a new species to Greece and southern Europe. U. ochroleuca was found in small peaty pools and seepage sites with base-poor water within subalpine fens and headwaters, U. minor in very shallow base-containing waters of spring brooks in upper montane ophiolite environments. The plant species composition of the Utricularia vegetation and its habitats are described. The pertinent vegetation types -Utricularietum ochroleucae and Scorpidio-Utricularietum, respectively, as well as their higher-ranking syntaxa -are new to Greece and the Balkans. The vegetation with U. ochroleuca forms part of the Annex I habitat type 3160 of the EU Habitats Directive, which is also new to Greece. Nature conservation status and management conditions of the detected plant communities and habitats with Utricularia in northern Greece are discussed.

New and noteworthy bryophyte records in Greek mountain wetlands and at woodland ecotones with notes on the phytosociological affiliation

“…Several of these units reach the southern limits of their range in northern Greece. Evidence for the occurrences of fen vegetation in northernmost Greece was provided by Jiménez-Alfaro et al (2014), Peterka et al (2017), Strid et al (2020) and Bergmeier (2023). Our observations of the syntaxon affiliation of the bryophytes match basically the phytosociological annotations by Dierssen (2001) and Peterka et al (2017).…”

“…It is the third-highest mountain in Greece and the highest with a summit area consisting of gneiss and schist (IGME 1983). The area is well-known for its phytogeographically exceptional flora with occurrences of several vascular plant species of mires at their southernmost distribution limits in SE Europe ( Voliotis 1981, Strid & Papanicolaou 1981, Bergmeier 2023). It is also a highly important bryological site ( Parent & De Zuttere 2006, Tsakiri et al 2006, Papp et al 2011, Blockeel 2020), and we were able to reconfirm several species mentioned in these works and to specify the phytosociological and habitat affinities.…”