DOCSLIB.ORG

Influence of Seasonal Weather Variations on Fuel Status for Some Shrubs Typical of Mediterranean Basin

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Influence of Seasonal Weather Variations on Fuel Status for Some Shrubs Typical of Mediterranean Basin P1.16 INFLUENCE OF SEASONAL WEATHER VARIATIONS ON FUEL STATUS FOR SOME SHRUBS TYPICAL OF MEDITERRANEAN BASIN Grazia Pellizzaro1*, Andrea Ventura1, Pierpaolo Zara1 1CNR – IBIMET, Institute of Biometeorology, Sassari, Italy 1. INTRODUCTION Therefore, the knowledge of seasonal variation of ignitability and vegetation moisture The term flammability refers to the ability of content could contribute to identify critical a particular fuel to ignite and sustain fire. periods of high fire risk in Mediterranean maquis Although there is not an accepted standard for ecosystems. flammability vegetation measurement, most The main objectives of this work were (i) to methods are based on measuring the “ignition describe the seasonal pattern of live fine fuel delay time” (ID time) or time to ignition, which is moisture content (LFMC) and ignitability values the time required for the fuel to start ignition in for some Mediterranean shrubs, and (ii) to presence of a constant heat source (Trabaud, evaluate the influence of weather seasonality, on 1976; Valette, 1990; Dimitrakopoulos and LFMC variation. Papaioannou, 2001). Ignitability of living vegetation is influenced by several factors 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS including structural properties, chemical properties and moisture content. The moisture The study was carried out in a natural content of living plant is a critical parameter reserve located in North Western Sardinia, Italy affecting fire ignition (Van Wagner, 1977; (40° 36’ N; 8° 09’ E, 30 m a.s.l.). The climate is Chandler et al., 1983; Carlson and Burgan, Mediterranean with a water deficit from May 2003). Depending on the moisture content, through September and precipitation mainly living vegetation may act as a heat source or a concentrated in autumn and winter. The mean heat sink, either contributing to the energy of fire annual rainfall is 640 mm and the mean annual or retarding fire propagation and intensity (Pyne air temperature is 16.8 °C. The soils are Luvi et al., 1996; Ralph and Nelson, 2001). and Litosoils, neutral, with depth rarely Evergreen sclerophyll shrubland is a exceeding 0.2-0.3 m. The study area is covered prominent feature of Mediterranean Basin. by Mediterranean maquis and gariga, developed Moreover, Mediterranean shrub species are an after a fire event occurred in middle 1970s. A important component of the understorey detailed site vegetation description has been vegetation that constitutes the surface fuels reported in previous works (Pellizzaro et al., primarily responsible for the ignition and the 2003). spread of wildland fires in Mediterranean forests ID time and LFMC were measured from (Dimitrakopoulos and Bemmerzouk, 2003). In October 2003 to October 2004, monthly or bi- Mediterranean areas, where climate is monthly, on four dominant species of the study characterized by variable winter precipitation area that are very common in the Western and prolonged summer drought, vegetation has Mediterranean Basin: Cistus monspeliensis L., flammable structure and chemistry that allow live Phillyrea angustifolia L., Pistacia lentiscus L., fuels to propagate wildfire. Moreover, a and Rosmarinus officinalis L. decrease in vegetation moisture, due to a Samples of live fine fuel, consisting of seasonal decrease of soil water availability, can terminal portions of twigs were collected from determine severe fire danger when combined outer crown. Phenological observations were with high meteorological risk (i.e. strong summer made at the moment of sampling. Ignitability wind) (Dennison et al., 2003). test was performed using a standard epiradiator of 500 W constant nominal power with a pilot *Corresponding author address: flame located 0.04 m above the center of the Grazia Pellizzaro, CNR-IBIMET, Institute of disk, according to the methodology described by Biometeorology, Sassari. Via Funtana di Lu Valette (1990). For each species, a total of 45 Colbu 4/A, 07100 Sassari, ITALY; samples were prepared. According to the e-mail: [email protected] method proposed by Valette (1990), species were classified as low or moderately flammable Hernando Lara et al., 1994; Dimitrakopoulos and when ID time values were higher than 27 s, as Papaioannou, 2001). Water must be vaporized flammable when ID time values ranged between before the fuel can be ignited, so that higher 17 and 26, and very or extremely flammable moisture content means a higher quantity of when ID time values were smaller than 17 s. heat needed to reach the temperature of ignition Moreover, four samples of 5 grams were (Pyne et al. 1996). dried in a oven for 24 hours at 104 °C to determine live fine fuel moisture content (LFMC) Table 1 – Regression statistics of ID time versus for each species. LFMC was expressed as LFMC. Regression model percentage of dry weight. During the whole period of experimentation, y = α + βx meteorological variables were recorded by an Species α β R2 Sign. automatic weather station located in the study site, and the soil moisture content at 0.2 m deep Cistus monspeliensis 8.70 0.09 0.73 ** was monitored by TDR probes (Campbell, CS Rosmarinus officinalis 5.61 0.13 0.85 *** 615). Cumulated values of the daily precipitation Phillyrea angustifolia 1.52 0.17 0.72 ** over different periods before sampling date (15, Pistacia lentiscus 1.78 0.20 0.94 *** 30, 60, and 90 days) were calculated. In * p ≤ 0.05; **p ≤0.01; ***p ≤0.001 addition, a Canopy Drought Stress Index (CDSI) (Baldocchi, 1997) was calculated. CDSI is defined as the ratio between the cumulative Although the seasonal behavior of time to precipitation (ΣP) and cumulative reference ignition was very close to that one observed for evapotranspiration (ΣETo) over a period of time. fuel moisture content for all the studied species, ETo was estimated using the Hargreaves the seasonal trend and the range of LFMC and equation (1975). ID time values were very different. The results of the ignitability test were Cistus and Rosmarinus showed the highest subjected to regression analysis in order to seasonal variability on LFMC and ID time describe for each species the relations between (Fig 1). The lower LFMC and ID time values time to ignition and seasonal variation of fuel were recorded in summer, whereas a clear moisture content. A one way ANOVAs with increase of values was observed in autumn measured plant parameters (LFMC and ID time) when rainfall occurred. The highest LFMC and as dependent variable, and date of sampling as ID time values were observed in winter and independent factor, was performed to test the spring. Cistus and Rosmarinus LFMC values effect of season. Finally, correlation analysis were highly correlated with ΣP or CDSI when was performed in order to test the significance of period of 15, 30 or 60 days before sampling linear relationships between (i) LFMC and ΣP or were considered (table 2). Significant CDSI, calculated over different period before correlations were also observed between LFMC sampling; (ii) between LFMC and soil moisture and soil moisture content values or mean value content values and (iii) between LFMC and the of maximum air temperature calculated over 10 mean value of daily maximum air temperature days before sampling (table 3). Pistacia calculated over 10 days before sampling. lentiscus and Phillyrea angustifolia showed low LFMC and ID time seasonal variability (Fig. 1). 3. RESULTS and DISCUSSION These species showed values of LFMC and ID time almost constant during the cold period, Highly significant relations between LFMC whereas small decreases were observed in late and time to ignition were observed for all species summer. In late spring an increase of LFMC and the moisture content variation accounted for values was observed for Phillyrea angustifolia most of the variance in the time to ignition values when the plants were in resprouting phase. (table 1). These results confirm what other authors reported about the relationship between live fine fuel moisture and ignitability in Mediterranean species (Trabaud, 1976; Bunting et al., 1983; 300 45 b Cistus monspeliensis 40 Cistus monspeliensis 250 b c ce 35 a ) 200 30 e (s ) ac ac ac (% 25 150 me cd MC a ti 20 d ID LF 100 15 d d d 10 50 ad 5 300 45 l t 3 c b y n l t 4 3 c b y Ronsmariunus ofpficina4lis 40 0 e e a Rosmu arinuJu s opfficinalis0 0 e e a u J e 0 t_ D F M J e t_ 250 t_ D F M J S t_ c S c c O b O Oc Oc 35 ) ab ) ab 200 bc 30 a be e (s (% ac 25 c 150 me ae ae i MC c t 20 ID LF 100 a 15 d d 10 50 5 300 45 l 3 c y l t 4 3 c b y Phnillyrea angustt ifoli4a 40 0 e b a Phnillyreua angpustifo0lia 0 e e a u Ju p 0 _ e Ju J e _ 250 _ D F M J e _ t D F M S t ct S ct c c O O 35O O ) 200 (s ) 30 % ( 25 150 me ti a MC c 20 ab ab a ab a a bc ab bd ad ab ID bc LF 100 e 15 c 10 50 5 300 45 l t 3 c b y n l t 4 3 c b y Pisn taciau lentiscp us4 40 0 e e a uPistacJuia lentiscusp 0 0 e e a u J e 0 t_ D F M J e t_ 250 t_ D F M J S t_ c S c c O O Oc O 35 ) 200 30 a (% 25 ab ab ab 150 b me (s ) ab b b ab ti b MC ab ab ac ac c ac 20 ID LF 100 15 10 50 5 0 0 l t 3 c b y n l t 4 3 c b y n u p 4 0 e e a u Ju p 0 0 e e a u J e 0 t_ D F M J e t_ t_ D F M J t_ c S c c S O O O Oc Figure 1.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • What Is a Tree in the Mediterranean Basin Hotspot? a Critical Analysis
    Médail et al. Forest Ecosystems (2019) 6:17 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40663-019-0170-6 RESEARCH Open Access What is a tree in the Mediterranean Basin hotspot? A critical analysis Frédéric Médail1* , Anne-Christine Monnet1, Daniel Pavon1, Toni Nikolic2, Panayotis Dimopoulos3, Gianluigi Bacchetta4, Juan Arroyo5, Zoltán Barina6, Marwan Cheikh Albassatneh7, Gianniantonio Domina8, Bruno Fady9, Vlado Matevski10, Stephen Mifsud11 and Agathe Leriche1 Abstract Background: Tree species represent 20% of the vascular plant species worldwide and they play a crucial role in the global functioning of the biosphere. The Mediterranean Basin is one of the 36 world biodiversity hotspots, and it is estimated that forests covered 82% of the landscape before the first human impacts, thousands of years ago. However, the spatial distribution of the Mediterranean biodiversity is still imperfectly known, and a focus on tree species constitutes a key issue for understanding forest functioning and develop conservation strategies. Methods: We provide the first comprehensive checklist of all native tree taxa (species and subspecies) present in the Mediterranean-European region (from Portugal to Cyprus). We identified some cases of woody species difficult to categorize as trees that we further called “cryptic trees”. We collected the occurrences of tree taxa by “administrative regions”, i.e. country or large island, and by biogeographical provinces. We studied the species-area relationship, and evaluated the conservation issues for threatened taxa following IUCN criteria. Results: We identified 245 tree taxa that included 210 species and 35 subspecies, belonging to 33 families and 64 genera. It included 46 endemic tree taxa (30 species and 16 subspecies), mainly distributed within a single biogeographical unit.
    [Show full text]
  • Report of Two Spontaneous, Rare Phenotypic Traits in the Genus Phillyrea L
    Flora Montiberica 70: 80-86 (III-2018). ISSN: 1138-5952, edic. digital: 1988-799X REPORT OF TWO SPONTANEOUS, RARE PHENOTYPIC TRAITS IN THE GENUS PHILLYREA L. José Luis MEDINA-GAVILÁN SOCEAMB, Sociedad de Estudios Ambientales. C/Perú, 4, 1ª planta. 41100-Coria del Río (Sevilla). [email protected] ABSTRACT: In this note, I document two previously unreported, spontane- ous and exceptionally rare phenotypic expressions affecting reproductive traits in adult plants of the Mediterranean genus Phillyrea (Oleaceae): (i) a morph with an abnormally elongated stigma and lobes transformed in two long branches (i.e. deeper-stigma phenotype), detected in a population of Phillyrea latifolia L. from NE Spain, and (ii) a morph with fruits lacking anthocyanins (i.e. colourless-fruit phenotype), in a population of Phillyrea angustifolia L. from SW Spain. Both phenotypes occurred at a very low frequency within their respective populations. Despite this, the novel traits acquired are discussed in an eco-evolutionary con- text, revealing their potential use as a study model, limited but suggestive, to test adaptive hypothesis in natural conditions. Keywords: phenotypic expression; adaptive value; anemophilous syndrome; selection mediated by frugivorous birds. RESUMEN: Descripción de dos caracteres fenotípicos, raros y espontáneos en el género mediterráneo Phillyrea L. En esta nota documento la presencia de dos expresiones fenotípicas desconocidas, espontáneas y excepcionalmente raras, que afectan a caracteres reproductivos en plantas adultas del género mediterráneo Phillyrea (Oleaceae): (i) un morfo con un estigma anormalmente largo y lóbulos transformados en dos ramas (i.e. fenotipo de estigma profundo), detectado en una población de Phillyrea latifolia L. en el noreste de España, y (ii) un morfo con frutos carentes de antocianinas (i.e.
    [Show full text]
  • Species: Cytisus Scoparius, C. Striatus
    Species: Cytisus scoparius, C. striatus http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/cytspp/all.html SPECIES: Cytisus scoparius, C. striatus Table of Contents Introductory Distribution and occurrence Botanical and ecological characteristics Fire ecology Fire effects Management considerations References INTRODUCTORY AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION FEIS ABBREVIATION SYNONYMS NRCS PLANT CODE COMMON NAMES TAXONOMY LIFE FORM FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS OTHER STATUS Scotch broom Portuguese broom © Br. Alfred Brousseau, Saint Mary's © 2005 Michael L. Charters, Sierra Madre, College CA. AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION: Zouhar, Kris. 2005. Cytisus scoparius, C. striatus. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/ [2007, September 24]. FEIS ABBREVIATION: CYTSCO CYTSTR CYTSPP 1 of 54 9/24/2007 4:15 PM Species: Cytisus scoparius, C. striatus http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/cytspp/all.html SYNONYMS: None NRCS PLANT CODE [141]: CYSC4 CYST7 COMMON NAMES: Scotch broom Portuguese broom English broom scotchbroom striated broom TAXONOMY: The scientific name for Scotch broom is Cytisus scoparius (L.) Link [48,55,57,63,105,112,126,132,147,154,160] and for Portuguese broom is C. striatus (Hill) Rothm. [55,63,132]. Both are in the pea family (Fabaceae). In North America, there are 2 varieties of Scotch broom, distinguished by their flower color: C. scoparius var. scoparius and C. scoparius var. andreanus (Puiss.) Dipp. The former is the more widely distributed variety, and the latter occurs only in California [63]. This review does not distinguish between these varieties.
    [Show full text]
  • Structural Diversity and Contrasted Evolution of Cytoplasmic Genomes in Flowering Plants :A Phylogenomic Approach in Oleaceae Celine Van De Paer
    Structural diversity and contrasted evolution of cytoplasmic genomes in flowering plants :a phylogenomic approach in Oleaceae Celine van de Paer To cite this version: Celine van de Paer. Structural diversity and contrasted evolution of cytoplasmic genomes in flowering plants : a phylogenomic approach in Oleaceae. Vegetal Biology. Université Paul Sabatier - Toulouse III, 2017. English. NNT : 2017TOU30228. tel-02325872 HAL Id: tel-02325872 https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-02325872 Submitted on 22 Oct 2019 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. REMERCIEMENTS Remerciements Mes premiers remerciements s'adressent à mon directeur de thèse GUILLAUME BESNARD. Tout d'abord, merci Guillaume de m'avoir proposé ce sujet de thèse sur la famille des Oleaceae. Merci pour ton enthousiasme et ta passion pour la recherche qui m'ont véritablement portée pendant ces trois années. C'était un vrai plaisir de travailler à tes côtés. Moi qui étais focalisée sur les systèmes de reproduction chez les plantes, tu m'as ouvert à un nouveau domaine de la recherche tout aussi intéressant qui est l'évolution moléculaire (même si je suis loin de maîtriser tous les concepts...). Tu as toujours été bienveillant et à l'écoute, je t'en remercie.
    [Show full text]
  • Olea Europaea) Disentangles Ancient Allo- and Autopolyploidizations in Lamiales
    bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/163063; this version posted July 13, 2017. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-ND 4.0 International license. Page 1 of 36 Phylogenomics of the olive tree (Olea europaea) disentangles ancient allo- and autopolyploidizations in Lamiales. Irene Julca1,2,3,*, Marina Marcet-Houben1,2,*, Pablo Vargas4, and Toni Gabaldón1,2,5,# 1) Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Dr. Aiguader 88, Barcelona 08003, Spain 2) Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF). 08003 Barcelona, Spain. 3) Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). 08193 Barcelona, Spain. 10 4) Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid (CSIC-RJB). 28014 Madrid, Spain. 5) ICREA, Pg. Lluís Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain. *Both authors contributed equally # Author for correspondence: [email protected] 15 Abstract Background Polyploidization is one of the major evolutionary processes that shape eukaryotic genomes, being particularly common in plants. Polyploids can arise through direct genome doubling within a species (autopolyploidization) or through the merging of genomes from distinct 20 species after hybridization (allopolyploidization). The relative contribution of either mechanism in plant evolution is debated. Here we used phylogenomics to dissect the tempo and mode of duplications in the genome of the olive tree (Olea europaea), one of the first domesticated Mediterranean fruit trees. Results bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/163063; this version posted July 13, 2017. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity.
    [Show full text]
  • Analysis of the Olive Genome Irene Consuelo Julca Chávez
    ADVERTIMENT. Lʼaccés als continguts dʼaquesta tesi queda condicionat a lʼacceptació de les condicions dʼús establertes per la següent llicència Creative Commons: http://cat.creativecommons.org/?page_id=184 ADVERTENCIA. El acceso a los contenidos de esta tesis queda condicionado a la aceptación de las condiciones de uso establecidas por la siguiente licencia Creative Commons: http://es.creativecommons.org/blog/licencias/ WARNING. The access to the contents of this doctoral thesis it is limited to the acceptance of the use conditions set by the following Creative Commons license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/?lang=en Analysis of the Olive genome Irene Consuelo Julca Chavez´ Universitat Autonoma` de Barcelona Faculty of Bioscience Department of Animal Biology, Plant Biology and Ecology TESI DOCTORAL UAB 2017 Analysis of the Olive genome A thesis submitted by Irene Consuelo Julca Chavez´ for the degree of Doctor in Plant Biology and Biotechnology under the direction of Dr. Toni Gabaldon,´ Dr. Pablo Vargas, and tutored by Dr. Josep Allue` This thesis has been inscribed in the Plant Biology and Biotechnology PhD program from the Universitat Autonoma` de Barcelona Director Codirector Dr. Toni Gabaldon´ Dr. Pablo Vargas Centre for Genomic Regulation Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid Tutor PhD student Dr. Josep Allue` Irene Julca Universitat Autonoma` de Barcelona Universitat Autonoma` de Barcelona Barcelona, September 2017 A mis padres Delia Ch´avezy Jos´eJulca. ”Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen, and thinking what nobody has thought.” Albert Szent-Gy¨orgyi Acknowledgments A veces pequenas˜ decisiones cambian el curso de nuestras vidas. Todo empezo´ cuando decid´ı dejar el laboratorio y las pipetas por bioinformatica.´ Que idea mas´ loca, iniciar todo de nuevo y encima trabajando en genomas de plantas! En esta historia hubo un poco de suerte porque encontre´ un grupo muy agradable, aqu´ı en Barcelona.
    [Show full text]
  • Study of Functional and Physiological Response of Co-Occurring Shrub Species to the Mediterranean Climate ⇑ Daniela Ciccarelli, Stefania Bottega, Carmelina Spanò
    Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences xxx (2018) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences journal homepage: www.sciencedirect.com Original article Study of functional and physiological response of co-occurring shrub species to the Mediterranean climate ⇑ Daniela Ciccarelli, Stefania Bottega, Carmelina Spanò Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Via Luca Ghini 13, 56126 Pisa, Italy article info abstract Article history: The Mediterranean basin is characterised by increasingly dry summers and the study of the adaptive Received 5 February 2018 traits developed by plants living in this stressful environment is of great interest, also in relation to cli- Revised 22 August 2018 mate projections for this area. Accepted 22 August 2018 Cistus monspeliensis, Myrtus communis and Phillyrea angustifolia are three co-occurring shrubs typical of Available online xxxx the Mediterranean maquis. Their functional and physiological parameters were studied in spring, sum- mer and autumn in order to highlight adjustments of these traits and to test eventual different adaptive Keywords: strategies. Antioxidants Soil and leaf chemical characteristics were determined in the different seasons. Leaf area, specific leaf Functional traits Hydric balance area, leaf dry matter content, succulence index, pigment contents hydric status and main markers of Hydrogen peroxide oxidative stress and antioxidant response were detected. Non-Metric Multidimensional Scale (NMDS) The stressful summer season induced disturbance in hydric balance, decrease in succulence index and Oxidative stress chlorophyll content and high contents of hydrogen peroxide. Thanks to higher enzymatic activities and total glutathione content, in the two evergreen species M. communis and P. angustifolia oxidative damage remained at levels equal to or lower than the other seasons.
    [Show full text]
  • Comparative Anatomy of Leaf Petioles in Temperate Trees and Shrubs
    bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.04.01.438018; this version posted April 2, 2021. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. 1 Comparative anatomy of leaf petioles in temperate trees and shrubs 2 3 Arinawa Liz Filartigaa,*, Adam Klimeš a,b, Jan Altmana, Michael Peter Nobisc, Alan 4 Crivellarod,e, Fritz Schweingruberc, Jiří Doležala,f 5 6 aInstitute of Botany, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Třeboň, Czech Republic 7 bDepartment of Botany, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic 8 cSwiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland 9 dDepartment of Geography, University of Cambridge, Downing Place, CB2 3EN Cambridge, 10 UK 11 eForest Biometrics Laboratory, Faculty of Forestry, "Stefan cel Mare" University of Suceava, 12 Str. Universitatii 13, 720229 Suceava, Romania 13 fFaculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic 14 *Corresponding author: Institute of Botany of the CAS, v.v.i. Dukelská 135, 379 01 Třeboň, 15 Czech Republic. E-mail address: [email protected] (A.L. Filartiga) 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.04.01.438018; this version posted April 2, 2021. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. 26 Abstract 27 Petioles are important plant organs connecting stems with leaf blades and affecting light- 28 harvesting leaf ability as well as transport of water, nutrient and biochemical signals.
    [Show full text]
  • What Is a Tree in the Mediterranean Basin Hotspot? a Critical
    https://doi.org/10.1186/s40663-019-0170-6 What is a tree in the Mediterranean Basin hotspot? A critical analysis Frédéric Médail1* , Anne-Christine Monnet1, Daniel Pavon1, Toni Nikolic2, Panayotis Dimopoulos3, Gianluigi Bacchetta4, Juan Arroyo5, Zoltán Barina6, Marwan Cheikh Albassatneh7, Gianniantonio Domina8, Bruno Fady9, Vlado Matevski10, Stephen Mifsud11 and Agathe Leriche1 Abstract Background: Tree species represent 20% of the vascular plant species worldwide and they play a crucial role in the global functioning of the biosphere. The Mediterranean Basin is one of the 36 world biodiversity hotspots, and it is estimated that forests covered 82% of the landscape before the first human impacts, thousands of years ago. However, the spatial distribution of the Mediterranean biodiversity is still imperfectly known, and a focus on tree species constitutes a key issue for understanding forest functioning and develop conservation strategies. Methods: We provide the first comprehensive checklist of all native tree taxa (species and subspecies) present in the Mediterranean-European region (from Portugal to Cyprus). We identified some cases of woody species difficult to categorize as trees that we further called “cryptic trees”. We collected the occurrences of tree taxa by “administrative regions”, i.e. country or large island, and by biogeographical provinces. We studied the species-area relationship, and evaluated the conservation issues for threatened taxa following IUCN criteria. Results: We identified 245 tree taxa that included 210 species and 35 subspecies, belonging to 33 families and 64 genera. It included 46 endemic tree taxa (30 species and 16 subspecies), mainly distributed within a single biogeographical unit. The countries with the highest tree richness are Greece (146 taxa), Italy (133), Albania (122), Spain (155), Macedonia (116), and Croatia (110).
    [Show full text]
  • Leaf Xeromorphic Adaptations of Some Plants of a Coastal Mediterranean Mac- Chia Ecosystem
    JournalJournal of Mediterranean of Mediterranean Ecology Ecology vol. 4, No.3-4,vol. 4, No.3-4, 2003: 25-35 2003 © Firma Effe Publisher, Reggio Emilia, I Leaf xeromorphic adaptations of some plants of a coastal Mediterranean mac- chia ecosystem Annalisa Rotondi1* Federica Rossi1, Corrado Asunis2 & Carla Cesaraccio3 (1) Istituto di Biometeorologia - Sezione di Bologna Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Via P. Gobetti 101. 40129 Bologna - Italy (2) Dipartimento di Economia e Sistemi Arborei - Università di Sassari Via E. De Nicola, 9 - 07100 Sassari Italy (3) Istituto di Biometeorologia Sezione di Sassari - Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Via Fontana di lu Colbu - 07100 Sassari Italy *Corresponding author Annalisa Rotondi, CNR- IBIMET, Via P.Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna Italy - Tel 0039.051.6399005 - Fax: 0039.051.6399024 E.mail: [email protected] Key words: Drought, leaf anatomy, histology, ecophysiology, gas exchanges. Abstract Water appears as the major environmental constraint in Mediterranean climate, and global change effects are likely to provide more frequent and longer drought periods. Water shortage has significant demographic effects on ecosystem composition, being some plant species thriving in arid environments because of a combination of several anatomical and physiological adaptations. In this study, co-occurring species of a typical thermo-Mediterranean macchia ecosystem were studied to survey the main anatomi- cal features. Observations performed confirmed the presence of several adaptive properties for the macchia ecosystem to couple with the high temperature and solar radiation and the lack of summer rainfall typical of the Mediterranean climate. Most of the species examined show the presence in their internal leaf tissues of ergastic substances, mainly tannins and calcium oxalate, with defensive functions, crucial in the adaptive resistance of plants to water stress.
    [Show full text]
  • Preliminary Report for Key Biodiversity Area Karaburun – Çika Mountain
    Project: “Land of Eagles and Castles: Pilot Sustainable Tourism Model for the Albanian Adriatic Coastline” Preliminary Report for Key Biodiversity Area Karaburun – Çika Mountain Association for Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania September 2013 Project: “Land of Eagles and Castles: Pilot Sustainable Tourism Model for the Albanian Adriatic Coastline” Preliminary Report for Key Biodiversity Area Karaburun – Çika Mountain Prepared by: Mirjan TOPI, Oresta SALIAJ Kujtim MERSINAJ Abstract This preliminary report for the Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) of Vlora - Karaburun - Çika Mountain is prepared on the frame of the project “Land of Eagles and Castles: Pilot Sustainable Tourism Model for the Albanian Adriatic Coastline”. This project is granted by the “Ecosystem Partnership Fund and Implemented” (CEPF) and implemented by the “Association for the Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania” (PPNEA) in collaboration with project partner “Bulgarian Society for Protection of Birds” (BSPB). “The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund is a joint initiative of l’Agence Française de Development, Conservation International, the European Union, the Global Environment Facility, the Government of Japan, the MacArthur Foundation and the World Bank. A fundamental goal is to ensure civil society is engaged in biodiversity conservation”. The project duration is 36 months and the ending date is 30 July 2016. More information on the project is available on this link: http://ppnea.org/land of eagles and castles.html. The aim of this report is to provide a general description and context for the KBA, as a base for designing and implementing the further project activates in this area. This report has been prepared based on desk research alone.
    [Show full text]
  • (Hesperelaea, Oleaceae) Known from an 1875 Collection from Guadalupe Island, Mexico
    Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2016, 117, 44–57. With 2 figures. Museomics illuminate the history of an extinct, paleoendemic plant lineage (Hesperelaea, Oleaceae) known from an 1875 collection from Guadalupe Island, Mexico LOUBAB ZEDANE1†, CYNTHIA HONG-WA2†,JER OME^ MURIENNE1, CELINE JEZIORSKI3,4, BRUCE G. BALDWIN5 and GUILLAUME BESNARD1*† 1CNRS-UPS-ENFA, UMR5174, EDB (Laboratoire Evolution & Diversite Biologique), Université Paul Sabatier, 118 route de Narbonne, 31062, Toulouse, France 2Missouri Botanical Garden, PO Box 299, St. Louis, MO, 63166-0299, USA 3INRA, UAR1209, departement de Gen etique Animale, INRA Auzeville 31326, Castanet-Tolosan, France 4GeT-PlaGe, Genotoul, INRA Auzeville 31326, Castanet-Tolosan, France 5Jepson Herbarium and Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720-2465, USA Received 21 October 2014; revised 29 January 2015; accepted for publication 30 January 2015 Museum collections are essential for understanding biodiversity and next-generation sequencing methods (NGS) offer new opportunities to generate genomic data on specimens of extinct species for phylogenetic and other studies. Hesperelaea is a monotypic Oleaceae genus that was collected only once, 140 years ago on Guadalupe Island, Mexico. This lineage is almost certainly extinct, and has been considered an insular paleoendemic of unknown relationship within subtribe Oleinae. Here, a genome skimming approach was attempted on the H. palmeri specimen to generate genomic data in order to interpret the biogeographic history of Hesperelaea in a phylogenetic framework. Despite highly degraded DNA, we obtained the complete plastome, the nuclear ribosomal DNA cluster (nrDNA), and partial sequences of low-copy genes. Six plastid regions and nrDNA internal transcribed spacers were used for phylogenetic estimations of subtribe Oleinae, including data from previous studies.
    [Show full text]