The Paliurus spina-christi dominated vegetation in Europe

Abstract

The revision of the Paliurus spina-christi dominated vegetation of Europe is presented here. The study area includes the north-eastern part of Iberian Peninsula and Provence to the west, and spreads through the Apennine Peninsula to the Balkan Peninsula and up to Eastern Mediterranean areas. The phytosociological releves of Paliurus spina-christi dominated vegetation found in the literature for these European territories were gathered together in a phytosociological table. Floristic analysis, cluster analysis, and indirect gradient analysis were performed to determine the similarities and differences between the different Paliurus spina-christi dominated communities and their correlations with the main bioclimatic indices described in the literature. The various analyses highlight the existence of nine different associations (one of which is described here for the first time) that are attributed to different syntaxonomic levels.In the conclusion, a syntaxonomical scheme is proposed that classifies the European vegetation of shrublands in the class Rhamno-Prunetea which includes the class Paliuretea. Currently, we recognized three orders within this class: Prunetalia spinosae for central and south-central Europe; Pyro spinosae-Rubetalia ulmifolii within the Temperate oceanic bioclimate of the sub-Mediterranean variant; Paliuretalia spinae-christi with a central Mediterranean and sub-Mediterranean distribution, that mainly occurs in the central-eastern Mediterranean (Southern Apennine Peninsula) and the Balkans.Finally, a part of the shrub vegetation dominated by Paliurus spina-christi is referred to the class Quercetea ilicis, the order Pistacio lentisci-Rhamnetalia alaterni, the alliance Oleo sylvestris-Ceratonion siliquae and the suballiance Oleo sylvestris- Paliurenion spinae-christi that refers to thermophilous shrub communities that require high edaphic humidity.

Vegetation units of wetland and terrestrial habitats: the case study of Spercheios River and Maliakos Gulf (Sterea Ellas, Greece), a Natura 2000 Site

“…They also recognised a strong affiliation of this type of vegetation with the order Pistacio lentisci-Rhamnetalia alaterni, and classified these communities within the alliance Oleo-Ceratonion siliquae, suballiance Oleo sylvestris-Paliurenion spinaechristi considering it includes coenoses of recovery on abandoned or burned areas. The Paliurus spina-christi formations encountered in our case affiliate to the coenoses classified by Casavecchia et al (2015) to the alliance Oleo-Ceratonion siliquae. Some species such as Olea europaea, Crataegus monogyna, Pyrus spinosa and Smilax aspera, which according to Casavecchia et al (2015) are characteristics and differential of the suballiance Oleo sylvestris-Paliurenion spinae-christi were found within the Paliurus spina-christi formations of the study area.…”

“…The Paliurus spina-christi formations encountered in our case affiliate to the coenoses classified by Casavecchia et al (2015) to the alliance Oleo-Ceratonion siliquae. Some species such as Olea europaea, Crataegus monogyna, Pyrus spinosa and Smilax aspera, which according to Casavecchia et al (2015) are characteristics and differential of the suballiance Oleo sylvestris-Paliurenion spinae-christi were found within the Paliurus spina-christi formations of the study area. We consider that our relevés belong to the pre-forest vegetation of the order Pistacio lentisci-Rhamnetalia alaterni but their assignment to the Oleo-Ceratonion siliquae alliance would be wrong, as this eastern Mediterranean alliance is only distributed to the Liguro-Tyrrhenian seaboards.…”

“…Together with Cercis siliquastrum, Pistacia terebinthus and Carpinus orientalis, Paliurus spina-christi participates in distinct syntaxa of the Illyrian shrublands found in the coastal and subcoastal sectors of the Balkans (class Crataego-Prunetea, alliance Paliuro-Petterion), commonly indicated as "Šibljak" (Blasi & Di Pietro 2001). The Paliurus spina-christi dominated vegetation cited in the literature from many European territories was revised recently by Casavecchia et al (2015). They identified nine different associations that are attributed to different syntaxonomic levels and amongst them a thermophilous shrub vegeta-tion type dominated by Paliurus spina-christi that occurs within a lower mesomediterranean thermotype of the Mediterranean macrobioclimate.…”

A novel insight into the remnants of hygrophilous forests and scrubs of the Po Plain biogeographical transition area (Northern Italy)

“…4, col. 9 by Willner 2007a, 2007b Biondi (1999) suggested a possible inclusion of this community in Pruno spinosae-Rubion ulmifolii (Pyro spinosae-Rubetalia ulmifolii), including termophilous Mediterranean and submediterranean scrub communities with abundant Rubus ulmifolius occurring on moist soils and characterized by the presence of a large group of Mediterranean species (Biondi et al 2014a;Biondi and Blasi 2015). The coenosis was not analysed in the subsequent revision of the Paliurus spina-christi-dominated vegetation of Europe by Casavecchia et al (2015) because of the limited cover values of Paliurus spina-christi in the relevès published by Poldini and Vidali (1995).…”

The study of agrobiological features in some Mediterranean woody plants introduced to Apsheron

“…Цель нашей работы. Cоздание экспозиций и использование этих полезных растений в различных областях, как народного хозяйства, так и в работах озеленения [15].…”