Vegetation units of wetland and terrestrial habitats: the case study of Spercheios River and Maliakos Gulf (Sterea Ellas, Greece), a Natura 2000 Site

Abstract

The vegetation of the European Natura 2000 protected area of Spercheios river and Maliakos gulf, that includes Mediterranean sclerophyllous shrublands, as well as riverine and coastal habitats, was studied during 2000 and 2014–2015. The vegetation was analysed following the Braun-Blanquet method. Twenty six plant communities were recorded, one of which (Pistacio terebinthi-Quercetum cocciferae) described for the first time. The communities belong to fifteen alliances, fourteen orders and eleven phytosociological classes. The distinguished vegetation units are described, presented in phytosociological tables and compared with similar communities from other Mediterranean countries. Eleven different habitat types were identified. Two of them (“Quercus coccifera woods” and “Reed beds”) are Greek habitat types, while the rest are included in Annex I of the Directive 92/43/EEC. Three of the latter (1420, 2110, 3170) have a scattered presence in the Natura 2000 network in Greece, while one (3170) is a priority habitat type.

Plant communities and habitat types in the protected area of Lake Pamvotis (Epirus, Northwestern Greece)

“…To classify the dataset and to identify differences among vegetation types, we used the two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN) (Hill, 1979). TWINSPAN pseudospecies cut levels for species abundances were set to 0 and 25% cover, while only three division levels were applied, to avoid resulting in groups with a small number of relevés (Sarika et al, 2018). Subsequently, different division levels were accepted, resulting in nine groups characterized by the presence or absence of 12 indicator species (Hill & Šmilauer, 2005).…”

“…1-4). There are few records of this vegetation type in Greece up to present Karagianni et al, 2008;Sarika et al, 2018). Platanus orientalis-dominated stands occur throughout the ravines and streams of Ioannina basin.…”

Vegetation of the coastal dunes and wetland of Schinias National Park (NE Attica, Sterea Ellas, Greece)

“…The limited number of species (with very low coverabundance indices) is a common feature of this patchy and fragmented vegetation type throughout the Mediterranean region. This is because few plants can tolerate stormy wind, sand mobility and salt spray (Molina et al, 2003;Sýkora et al, 2003;Alegro et al, 2004;Šilc et al, 2016;Sarika et al, 2018;Stešević et al, 2019). Cluster A refers to the alliances Euphorbion peplidis (Ep, 1), Ammophilion (Am, 2), Maresion nanae (Mn, 3), Helichryso barrelieri-Centaureion spinosae 4) Rhizomatous geophytes and hemicryptophytes such as Elytrigia juncea, Sporobolus pungens and Medicago marina dominate this vegetation type as they are adapted to the harsh physical factors of the coastline and favor the dynamics of sand dune formation, evolution and stabilization (Sýkora et al, 2003).…”

“…It seems to prefer slightly saline coastal habitats that periodically dry out, although it can develop equally well in freshwater habitats. The presence of this thermophilous vicariant of Typhetum angustifoliae is rather overlooked in the Mediterranean region probably due to morphologic similarities between Typha domingensis and T. angustifolia (Landucci et al, 2013;Sarika et al, 2018).…”

Forest habitats on the territory of the National Park “Central Balkan” Bulgaria

“…The additional indicator species for the habitats are also indicated. The identification of habitats in Greece is based on Braun-Blanquet's approach by phytocenological relevés and identification of syntaxa and diagnostic species (Sarika et al, 2015(Sarika et al, , 2018Xystrakis et al, 2022). Xystrakis et al (2022) note that numerous crosswalks aiming in matching habitat types to one (or more) vegetation types and vice versa exist.…”