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Cogoni D, Calderisi G, Collu D, Fenu G. Tourist Trampling on a Peripheral Plant Population Restricted to an Urban Natural Area in the Capo Sant'Elia Promontory (Sardinia, W-Mediterranean Basin). Plants (Basel) 2024; 13:881. [PMID: 38592883 PMCID: PMC10975548 DOI: 10.3390/plants13060881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2024] [Revised: 03/11/2024] [Accepted: 03/15/2024] [Indexed: 04/11/2024]
Abstract
Urban natural areas provide important ecological services such as biodiversity conservation, as well as opportunities for people to connect with nature and preserve cultural heritage. However, the increasing demand for access to natural areas and the expansion of human recreational activities, such as hiking and biking, pose threats to these ecosystems, especially for animal and plant species, finally resulting in biodiversity loss. This study explores the intricate link between human trampling, plant density, and the morphological and reproductive characteristics of Globularia alypum L., a plant with a peripheral population in Sardinia restricted to a natural area within an urban context. The study examined trampling effects on 75 plots along a frequently used path crossing the plant's core population. Similar environmental conditions were assumed, with differences attributed to human trampling intensity and plant density, and morphological and reproductive traits were measured within each plot. Our results showed that human trampling caused differences in the morphological traits of plants, whereas, in contrast, reproductive traits are less vulnerable to human trampling than morphological ones. As a result, trampled areas may experience decreased plant recruitment, which can have long-term implications for plant population dynamics. Understanding the relationship between trampling effects and the sensitivity of peripheral plant populations is crucial for effective conservation and management strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Giuseppe Fenu
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Cagliari, Via S. Ignazio da Laconi 13, I-09123 Cagliari, Italy; (D.C.); (G.C.); (D.C.)
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Cambria S, Azzaro D, Caldarella O, Aleo M, Bazan G, Guarino R, Torre G, Cristaudo AE, Ilardi V, La Rosa A, Laface VLA, Luchino F, Mascia F, Minissale P, Sciandrello S, Tosetto L, Tavilla G. New Data on Native and Alien Vascular Flora of Sicily (Italy): New Findings and Updates. Plants (Basel) 2023; 12:plants12091743. [PMID: 37176800 PMCID: PMC10181230 DOI: 10.3390/plants12091743] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Revised: 04/19/2023] [Accepted: 04/20/2023] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
In this paper, based on fieldwork and herbaria surveys, new data concerning the presence of 32 native and alien vascular species for Sicily (Italy) are provided. Among the native species, the occurrence of the following taxa is reported for the first time or confirmed after many decades of non-observation: Aira multiculmis, Arum maculatum, Carex flacca subsp. flacca, Mentha longifolia, Oxybasis chenopodioides, Najas minor and Xiphion junceum. Furthermore, we document the presence of three native species (Cornus mas, Juncus foliosus and Limonium avei) that, despite being repeatedly observed in Sicily and reported in the literature, are inexplicably omitted by the most recent authoritative checklists regarding the flora of Italy. Finally, fifteen alien species new to Sicily (including one new to Europe, i.e., Pyrus betulifolia) are reported and seven poorly documented allochthonous taxa are confirmed for the island, and for two of them, a status change is proposed. These new or confirmed records allow us to better define the European and national distribution of the targeted taxa and offer new insights on the native and alien flora of Sicily.
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Affiliation(s)
- Salvatore Cambria
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Catania, Via A. Longo 19, 95125 Catania, Italy
| | - Dario Azzaro
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Catania, Via A. Longo 19, 95125 Catania, Italy
| | - Orazio Caldarella
- Independent Researcher, Via Maria SS. Mediatrice 38, 90129 Palermo, Italy
| | - Michele Aleo
- Independent Researcher, Via S. Safina, 91100 Trapani, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Bazan
- Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, 90123 Palermo, Italy
| | - Riccardo Guarino
- Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, 90123 Palermo, Italy
| | - Giancarlo Torre
- Stiftung Pro Artenvielfalt®, Meisenstraße 65, 33607 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Antonia Egidia Cristaudo
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Catania, Via A. Longo 19, 95125 Catania, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Ilardi
- Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, 90123 Palermo, Italy
| | - Alfonso La Rosa
- Cooperativa Silene, Via V. D'Ondes Reggio 8/a, 90127 Palermo, Italy
| | | | - Fabio Luchino
- Independent Researcher, Via Torrente Allume, 6/A, 98027 Roccalumera (ME), Italy
| | - Francesco Mascia
- Independent Researcher, Via Vittorio Emanuele III 41, 09020 Villanovaforru (SU), Italy
| | - Pietro Minissale
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Catania, Via A. Longo 19, 95125 Catania, Italy
| | - Saverio Sciandrello
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Catania, Via A. Longo 19, 95125 Catania, Italy
| | - Luca Tosetto
- Independent Researcher, Via Pegorina 548, 35040 Casale di Scodosia (PD), Italy
| | - Gianmarco Tavilla
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Catania, Via A. Longo 19, 95125 Catania, Italy
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De Castro O, Bacchetta G, Brullo S, Del Guacchio E, Di Iorio E, Piazza C, Caputo P. Variability and Nativeness in the Mediterranean Taxa: Divergence and Phylogeography of Genista etnensis (Fabaceae) Inferred from Nuclear and Plastid Data. Plants (Basel) 2022; 11:3171. [PMID: 36432900 PMCID: PMC9698455 DOI: 10.3390/plants11223171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2022] [Revised: 11/11/2022] [Accepted: 11/15/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Genista etnensis is a remarkable and well-known tree endemic to Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica (Mediterranean Basin). Nevertheless, its morphological variability and its native status throughout its range need to be further investigated. In this study, we aim to clarify some aspects of this infraspecific variability by molecular means. Sequences of one nuclear and five plastid markers were analyzed under maximum parsimony by using TCS software. Plastid data were also time-calibrated under a Bayesian Inference framework. Plastid data revealed strong isolation between the populations from the Cyrno-Sardinian biogeographical province, which are also the most diverse and presumably the most archaic, and those from Sicily and Southern Italy (in this latter area, the species is naturalized). The calibration analysis indicates that the last common ancestor between G. etnensis and its sister group G. fasselata dates back to the middle Pliocene or slightly later, when sclerophyllous Mediterranean vegetation spread, whereas G. etnensis itself might have originated in the middle Pleistocene. The current, rather unusual distribution of G. etnensis could be explained by long-range seed dispersal from the western part of the range or by anthropogenic introduction into Sicily, with extinctions of transported haplotypes in the region of origin. Interestingly, the Vesuvius population, introduced from Sicily in recent times and locally naturalized, shows private genotypes, and was richer in both genotypes and haplotypes than the Sicilian ones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olga De Castro
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Botanical Garden, Via Foria 223, 80139 Naples, Italy
| | - Gianluigi Bacchetta
- Department of Life and Environmental Science, Conservation and Biodiversity Center (CCB), University of Cagliari, V.le Sant’ Ignazio da Laconi, 11-13, 09123 Cagliari, Italy
| | - Salvatore Brullo
- Department Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Catania, Via Antonino Longo 19, 95125 Catania, Italy
| | - Emanuele Del Guacchio
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Botanical Garden, Via Foria 223, 80139 Naples, Italy
| | - Emanuela Di Iorio
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Botanical Garden, Via Foria 223, 80139 Naples, Italy
| | - Carole Piazza
- National Botanical Conservatory of Corsica, Office of the Environment of Corsica, Avenue Jean Nicoli, 14, 20250 Corte, France
| | - Paolo Caputo
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Botanical Garden, Via Foria 223, 80139 Naples, Italy
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Abstract
Lysimachia minoricensis is one of the few Mediterranean endemic plants (Minorca, Balearic islands) that has gone extinct in the wild but which persists as extant germplasm or cultivated plants in several botanical gardens. Reproductive features (seed set, number of seeds per capsule, seed weight) and germination responses to constant temperatures, sea water and dry-heat pre-treatments were investigated to determine the extent to which they may have influenced the extinction of the species. Seed set in Lysimachia is not dependent on pollinators, suggesting a functional selfer breeding system. Most plants produced a large mean number of fruits (23.2) and seeds (466), and the mean production of seeds per individual was estimated to be almost 1,100. Overall, no highly specific requirements were observed for seed germination. Seed germination was not inhibited in the dark, and a high germinability (over 87% in all cases) was recorded in most experiments, with the exception of those performed at low temperatures (5 and 10 degrees C). These data suggest that fertility and seed viability were not the major causes of extinction. The high reproductive performance of L. minoricensis is in striking contrast to its status as a wild-extinct plant, suggesting that extrinsic factors were responsible for its extinction.
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Rosselló JA, Carmencebrián M, Mayol M. Testing taxonomic and biogeographical relationships in a narrow Mediterranean endemic complex (Hippocrepis balearica) using RAPD markers. Ann Bot 2002; 89:321-7. [PMID: 12096744 PMCID: PMC4233823 DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcf044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Analyses of RAPD profiles from 17 populations of the Hippocrepis balearica complex revealed a highly structured geographic pattern, not only among continental-insular areas but also within the eastern Balearic islands. In marked contrast to previous morphometric results, a clear separation between continental and insular samples was found, and intermediates between H. balearica and H. valentina samples were not detected. Molecular data indicated that western and eastern Balearic populations of the complex (H. grosii and H. balearica) were more closely related to each other than to continental populations (H. valentina). Multivariate analyses of the RAPD data clearly indicated that the similarities between continental and eastern Balearic samples of the H. balearica complex recovered by morphometric methods are due either to parallel evolution or to retention of plesiomorphic features.
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