The fourth in a series, this paper continues the statistical analysis of the data published in "Flora Alpina", treating that which concerns the ecology: preferred substrate and indicator values of the soil (humidity and trophic level). Expressed as percentages, the results concerning the flora are envisaged globally, by vegetation belt, by administrative division, by floristic contingent, by family, by genus and by biological form. Among the 4485 taxa studied in the Alps, a xerophilous, calcicole and oligotrophic tendency is prominent. Within the endemics, this trend is clearly more pronounced and, moreover, they are mostly stenoecious for the substrate, because they are often in extreme habitats where edaphic determinism is considerable. On the other hand, the profile of the xenophytes is more balanced: mesophilous, euryoecious for the substrate and meso-eutrophic (even eurytrophic). These ecological tolerances confer an important potential for colonization on the xenophytes. The correlations between factors are also studied and it is shown, for example, that the xerophilous taxa tend to be oligotrophic, whereas hygrophilous ones tend to be eutrophic.
A rapid assessment (RAP) of the biodiversity of the Mt. Panié massif in north-eastern New Caledonia led to the discovery of two new taxa described here: Meryta rivularis Lowry (Araliaceae) and Pandanus taluucensis Callm. (Pandanaceae). Each description is accompanied by a drawing, photos taken in the field, and a discussion of its morphological affinities, along with a preliminary assessment of its conservation status based on the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria.
Last in a series, this paper concludes the statistical analysis of the data published in «Flora alpina», treating that which concerns habitats and phytosociology. Expressed as percentages, the results concerning the flora are envisaged globally, by vegetation belt, by administrative division, by floristic contingent, by family, by genus and by biological form. More than 81% of endemics are found in rocky habitats, a proportion that increases with altitude, from 39% to 97% between the colline and the nival belts. Very stenoecious, 27% of the endemic taxa are exclusive of one of the major habitats, while this percentage drops to 16% among non-endemic indigenous taxa. Xenophytes are very nitrophilous: 95% of them are present in these, often anthropogenic, habitats and more than 38% are exclusive of them. Phytosociology confirms the stenoecity of endemics, as well as most of the other trends that are strongly correlated but not parallel. Cartographic patterns of four sub-alliances endemic to the Alps are provided: Physoplexido-Potentillenion, Saxifragenion lingulatae, Saxifragenion pedemontanae and Caricenion austroalpinae. The presence of many endemic taxa in these syntaxa, some narrowly stenoecious, justifies their phytosociological individualization.
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