Coastal salt-marshes plant communities of the Salicornietea fruticosae class in Apulia (Italy)

Abstract

An overview of the salt-marsh herbland and scrub vegetation belonging to the class Salicornietea fruticosae Br.-Bl. et Tx. ex A. Bolòs y Vayreda 1950 in Apulia is presented. Data available from literature have been supplemented with original relevés performed in different locations of the Apulia region. On the basis of a total of 297 relevés, fifteen communities have been defined, according to the traditional phytosociological system based on dominant and/or diagnostic taxa. For comparison purposes, the salt-marsh vegetation has been classified using numerical methods. The results obtained show that most of the clusters correspond to specific associations, and confirm the division into vegetation alliances and orders. Numerical analysis also allowed us to assign the proper allocation of some associations and plant communities drawn from literature. Five alliances, with plant communities characterized by specific ecological features, have been discriminated: Sarcocornion alpini and Arthrocnemion glauci (lower marshes), Salicornion fruticosae (middle marshes), Inulion crithmoidis and Suaedion brevofoliae (upper marshes). In addition, during the field work, a population of Halocnemum strobilaceum (Arthrocnemo-Halocnemetum strobilacei), new record for the Apulia region, has been found.

Definition and application of expert knowledge on vegetation pattern, phenology, and seasonality for habitat mapping, as exemplified in a Mediterranean coastal site

“…Adjacency rules are based on vegetation pattern and appear particularly effective in the case of coastal environments, due to the close correlation between ecological gradients and vegetation pattern. In the case of the study site Le Cesine, the observed spatial patterns are in accordance with the existing literature for central-southern Italian peninsula and Puglia region (Frondoni & Iberite 2002;Biondi & Casavecchia 2010;Cutini et al 2010;Sciandrello & Tomaselli 2014). Nevertheless, the complete expected zonation pattern is observed only where disturbance is not significant.…”

New insight on Mediterranean and sub-Mediterranean syntaxa included in the Vegetation Prodrome of Italy

“…2013). Recently, a new locality of H. strobilaceum, situated in the southern part of the Italian Adriatic basin, at the mouth of River Carapelle in northern Apulia (Sciandrello & Tomaselli 2014), has been described. However, by observing the photos appearing in the publication it seems that it could be attributed to H. cruciatum.…”

Plant communities preferences of terrestrial crustaceans (Isopoda: Oniscidea) in a protected coastal area of southeastern Sicily (Italy)

“…which is very sensitive to dryness and is very rarely captured by pitfall trap because of its low mobility and scarce superficial activity. High species richness was found in Arthrocnemo-Juncetum subulati (AJs), Phragmitetum communis (Pc), and Agropyro scirpei-Inuletum crithmoidis (AsIc), which grows on salt clay soils humid for long time (Tomaselli et al 2011;Sciandrello & Tomaselli 2014). Arthrocnemo-Juncetum subulati (AJs) was the richest with 13 species, two of which, H. hirsuta and P. lamellatus, are purely halophilous species (see also Montesanto et al 2007) and one, C. elongata, is strongly hydrophilous and also has the highest aAD value (18.67).…”