Diachronic Analysis of the Floristic Diversity of the Special Area of Conservation (SAC) 'Bosco di Santo Pietro' (South-Eastern Sicily): A Mediterranean Biodiversity Hotspot

Bibliographic Details
Title: Diachronic Analysis of the Floristic Diversity of the Special Area of Conservation (SAC) 'Bosco di Santo Pietro' (South-Eastern Sicily): A Mediterranean Biodiversity Hotspot
Authors: Dario Azzaro, Salvatore Cambria, Manuela Porrovecchio, Pietro Minissale
Source: Plants, Vol 14, Iss 5, p 788 (2025)
Publisher Information: MDPI AG, 2025.
Publication Year: 2025
Collection: LCC:Botany
Subject Terms: alien plants, conservation, endemic plants, flora, Natura 2000 network, rare plants, Botany, QK1-989
More Details: This study presents a complete and updated checklist of the vascular flora of the SAC “Bosco di Santo Pietro”, an important natural area located in south-eastern Sicily. Through an integrated approach combining field research, analysis of historical herbariums and a literature review, 583 taxa belonging to 78 families and 339 genera were identified. A comparison with an older floristic list of the Santo Pietro Forest dating back to 1889 highlights some significant changes, such as a decrease in several hygrophilous and nemoral species probably due to climate change and habitat degradation. In particular, our diachronic analysis reveals the disappearance of 178 taxa and the persistence of 199 taxa representing 47% and 53% of the 377 taxa listed in the first inventory, respectively. From the study of the Ellenberg indicator of the two lists, lower values of L and T and higher values of M and N emerge in the older flora, testifying to the significant environmental modifications for more than a century of this Sicilian and Mediterranean hotspot.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 2223-7747
Relation: https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/14/5/788; https://doaj.org/toc/2223-7747
DOI: 10.3390/plants14050788
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/fb9e86c11bfc4b74889f508eeaca4b35
Accession Number: edsdoj.fb9e86c11bfc4b74889f508eeaca4b35
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:22237747
DOI:10.3390/plants14050788
Published in:Plants
Language:English