Plant taxa and communities on three islets in south Croatia, NE Mediterranean

Abstract

the flora and vegetation of three small islets with surface areas from 1.04 to 3.31 hectares, lying between the mainland and the Pelješac peninsula in south Croatia, were investigated in 2014 and 2015. the floristic data have been used to analyze life-form and chorological spectra and to assess speciesarea relationship, the occurrence of islet specialists and to assess the risk of alien plants invasion. altogether, 126 vascular plant taxa (species and infraspecific units) were recorded on all the islets combined. the richest islet is Gospin Škoj with 72 taxa, followed by srednjak (68) and Goljak (48). a total of five plant associations, one subassociation and two stands within five vegetation classes have been identified on the islets. Benthic cormophyte communities in the eulittoral and infralittoral zones are represented by Posidonietum oceanicae, Cymodocetum nodosae and Nanozosteretum noltii. the halophytic vegetation of the coastal rocks belongs to the proposed new subassociation Limonietum anfracti helichrysetosum italici. shrubland vegetation was composed of the Myrto communis-Pistacietum lentisci and Oleo sylvestris-Pistacietum lentisci associations, macchia with Erica arborea and the Olea sylvestris-Narcissus tazetta community. Clear signs of the degradation of the macchia, due to the high anthropogenic influence, particularly the presence of european rabbit populations have been observed. Flora i vegetacija tri mala otočića površine od 1,04 do 3,31 hektara, smještenih između kopna i poluotoka Pelješca u južnoj hrvatskoj, istraživani su 2014. i 2105. analizirani su spektri životnih oblika i koroloških elemenata, diskutiran je odnos broja svojta i površine otočića, prisutnost biljaka svojstvenih samo za otočiće te opasnost od unosa i širenja alohtonih biljaka. Na sva tri otočića ukupno je utvrđeno 126 svojta (vrsta i nižih taksonomskih kategorija) vaskularnih biljaka. Floristički je najbogatiji Gospin Škoj (72 svojte), zatim srednjak (68) i Goljak (48). utvrđeno je ukupno pet biljnih asocijacija, jedna subasocijacija i dvije sastojine unutar pet vegetacijskih razreda. morske pridnene kormofitske asocijacije u eulitoralu i infralitoralu su Posidonietum oceanicae, Cymodocetum nodosae i Nanozosteretum noltii. halofitska vegetacija niskih obalnih stijena pripada novopredloženoj subasocijaciji Limonietum anfracti helichrysetosum italici. Vegetaciju makije čine asocijacije Myrto communis-Pistacietum lentisci i Oleo sylvestrisPistacietum lentisci, makija s vrstom Erica arborea te sastojine Olea sylvestris-Narcissus tazetta. Zbog značajnog antropogenog utjecaja, poglavito uslijed unesenog patuljastog kunića, utvrđena je značajna degradacija vegetacije makije.

Flora and habitats of Vendicari Islet (Isola di Vendicari) in South East Sicily

“…All over the Mediterranean Basin the flora of small and very small islands has long been a subject of interest not only for the sake of pure floristic knowledge but also for the understanding of the mechanisms of the colonization of these isolated micro-territories in relation to the flora of the mainland (see e. g. Arrigoni & Bocchieri, 1996;Pandža, 2002;Bogdanović & Mitić, 2003;Panitsa et al, 2006;Lo Cascio & Pasta, 2012;Iliadou et al, 2014;Pasta et al 2014;Pandža & Milović, 2015;Jasprica et al, 2015;Fois et al, 2016;Sciandrello et al, 2017).…”

Contribution to the study of Adriatic island flora: Vascular plant species diversity in the Croatian Island of Olib

“…The largest proportion of taxa belong to Poaceae, Fabaceae and Asteraceae, which are among the families adapted best to the ecological conditions of the Mediterranean area, as confirmed by many floristic studies of eastern (e.g. Pandža, 2003;Jasprica et al, 2006Jasprica et al, , 2015aJasprica & Ruščić, 2013;Milović et al, 2013;Pandža & Milović, 2015) Tab. 4. and western Adriatic (Cristofolini et al, 1967), as well as other Mediterranean insular areas (f.e.…”

“…Most recent investigations (e.g. Jasprica et al, 2015a) emphasized the importance of continuous floristic and phytocoenological investigations on the Croatian islands and islets, as done by local and foreign authors for other sites in the Adriatic basin and in some other Mediterranean countries (Jeričević et al, 2014 and references therein).…”

The vegetation of the islet of Badija (south Croatia), with some notes on its flora

“…Southern winds prevail throughout the year. The entire area is characterized by frequent sunny weather, with the most westerly parts having in excess of 2700 hours of sunshine a year, while the east has about 300 hours less (Jasprica, 2010). The area has a Mediterranean pluviseasonal-oceanic bioclimate, and it is situated within the lower meso-Mediterranean belt (Jeričević et al, 2014; sensu Rivas-Martínez et al, 2004).…”

“…It belongs, as a part of the island of Korčula, to the Important Plant Areas (IPAs) in Croatia (Jasprica, 2010). In addition, the islet is part of the NATURA 2000 European Ecological Network (Anonymous, 2013a(Anonymous, , 2015 of sites important for birds (site code HR1000036: Middle Dalmatian islands and the Pelješac peninsula).…”