Zelkova abelicea (Ulmaceae) in Crete: floristics, ecology, propagation and threats

Søndergaard, Poul; Egli, Bernhard

doi:10.3372/wi.36.36126

Cited by 20 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…Rather, tree habit seems to be the result of escape from grazing and independent of succession. This concept is further supported by the fact Z. abelicea trees do not seem to form continuous and exclusive forests at the studied sites, but that they occur in mixed forests with A. sempervirens and Q. coccifera (Egli 1997;Søndergaard and Egli 2006). Additionally, paleobotanical evidence showed the co-occurrence of Zelkova species with evergreen oaks and other species (Follieri et al 1986(Follieri et al , 1989Boyd 2009).…”

Section: Disturbance and Population Structuresupporting

confidence: 49%

Fine-scale spatial patterns of the Tertiary relict Zelkova abelicea (Ulmaceae) indicate possible processes contributing to its persistence to climate changes

Bosque¹,

Adamogianni²,

Bariotakis³

et al. 2013

Reg Environ Change

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In this paper, the fine-scale spatial patterns of the Tertiary relict Zelkova abelicea (Lam.) Boiss. were studied (1) to reveal processes that contributed to its persistence to climate changes and (2) to assist future conservation planning, with the purpose of shifting the attention of conservation practitioners from patterns to processes. Results of the fine-scale spatial patterns of Z. abelicea indicate that the species tolerates disturbance and/or tracks changes resulting from disturbance in the range of its distribution through morphological and reproductive plasticity. In addition, our study indicates that Z. abelicea populations are conserved in the absence of metapopulation structure and that the species participates in plant-plant interactions through facilitation processes. Hence, the persistence of the species to climate changes seems to be more complicated and multifactorial than a linear and plain view of species survival in climate refugial areas, and therefore calls for a consideration of the processes revealed in this paper in future conservation planning.

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Section: Disturbance and Population Structuresupporting

confidence: 49%

Fine-scale spatial patterns of the Tertiary relict Zelkova abelicea (Ulmaceae) indicate possible processes contributing to its persistence to climate changes

Bosque¹,

Adamogianni²,

Bariotakis³

et al. 2013

Reg Environ Change

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“…The species can also be found on scree slopes, along thalwegs, in or around ephemeral riverbeds, on south-facing slopes preferentially at high altitudes (N1500 m a.s.l.) as well as on slopes with rock outcrops and limited soil (Egli, 1997;Fazan et al, 2012;Søndergaard and Egli, 2006).…”

Section: Study Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additional threats also come from wood cutting, road construction, land-use changes, and potential anthropogenic modifications of local groundwater regimes (Egli, 1997;Fazan et al, 2012;Fournaraki and Thanos, 2006;Kozlowski et al, 2012Sarlis, 1987;Søndergaard and Egli, 2006). The species is protected under Greek law, forbidding the collection and export of any plant material (Fournaraki and Thanos, 2006), and the pressure on and the use of forest resources in general have greatly diminished on Crete since the 1960s (Arvanitis, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Imprisoned in the Cretan mountains: How relict Zelkova abelicea (Ulmaceae) trees cope with Mediterranean climate

Fazan

Guillet

Corona

et al. 2017

Science of The Total Environment

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• We established the first ever centennial chronology for a broadleaved tree on Crete.• Zelkova abelicea is most sensitive to precipitation and drought in May-June.• No growth change can be related to the increase in dry conditions of the past decades.• Z. abelicea has a high capacity to withstand changing environmental conditions.We investigate the sensitivity of the relict, endemic Cretan tree species Zelkova abelicea (Lam.) Boiss. (Ulmaceae) to several climate variables (temperature, precipitation and drought). For this purpose, we establish the first centennial tree-ring chronology for the species, and the first ever tree-ring chronology for a broadleaved species on Crete. We demonstrate the strong sensitivity of Z. abelicea towards precipitation and drought in late spring to early summer and the absence of a significant response to abundant precipitation occurring during winter or early spring. Whereas the late spring sensitivity is strong and consistent through time, the species seems to be experiencing a loss of signal towards early summer conditions since the 1970s, interpreted as an earlier cessation of cambial activity due to the increase in summer drought conditions on Crete. However, despite a reduced vegetative period, no significant decrease in radial growth of Z. abelicea was observed in the tree-ring series for the last decades, thus highlighting the capacity of Z. abelicea to withstand changing environmental conditions.

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“…The present conservation situation of the other Mediterranean species, Z. abelicea, is more secure since it is known from over 50 natural populations (Sondergaard and Egli 2006). Due to expanding road constructions, intensive grazing and other anthropogenic activities, however, the species remains very vulnerable and needs new conservation status assessments and detailed population surveys (Phitos et al 1995).…”

Section: Recommendations For Zelkova Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many relict trees might be, additionally, important resources of genes for resistance to plant pathogens. Zelkova abelicea, for example, proved to be resistant to the Dutch Elm Disease and could become, therefore, an important taxon in breeding programmes to enhance resistance to pests in the Ulmaceae family (Sondergaard and Egli 2006). Relict trees are ancient organisms which were able to cope with changing environmental conditions for million of years.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conservation of threatened relict trees through living ex situ collections: lessons from the global survey of the genus Zelkova (Ulmaceae)

et al. 2011

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Maintaining living ex situ collections is one of the key conservation methods in botanic gardens worldwide. Despite of the existence of many other conservation approaches used nowadays, it offers for many endangered plants an important insurance policy for the future, especially for rare and threatened relict trees. The aim of this research was to investigate the global extent of living ex situ collections, to assess and discuss their viability and inform the development of conservation approaches that respond to latest global conservation challenges. We used as a model taxon the tree genus Zelkova (Ulmaceae). The genus includes six prominent Tertiary relict trees which survived the last glaciation in disjunct and isolated refugial regions. Our comprehensive worldwide survey shows that the majority of botanic institutions with Zelkova collections are in countries with a strong horticultural tradition and not in locations of their origin. More importantly, the acutely threatened Zelkova species are not the most represented in collections, and thus safeguarded through ex situ conservation. Less than 20% of the ex situ collections surveyed Published in which should be cited to refer to this work.http://doc.rero.ch contain plant material of known wild provenance while the majority (90%) of collections are generally very small (1-10 trees). Botanic gardens and arboreta particularly in regions where iconic relict trees naturally occur should play a vital role in the conservation of these species. The coordination of conservation efforts between gardens has to be enhanced to prioritise action for the most threatened relict trees. Large scale genetic studies should be undertaken, ideally at genus level, in order to verify or clarify the provenance of ex situ collections of relict trees in cultivation. For the most threatened relict tree genera, wellcoordinated specialist groups should be created.

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Zelkova abelicea (Ulmaceae) in Crete: floristics, ecology, propagation and threats

Cited by 20 publications

References 1 publication

Fine-scale spatial patterns of the Tertiary relict Zelkova abelicea (Ulmaceae) indicate possible processes contributing to its persistence to climate changes

Fine-scale spatial patterns of the Tertiary relict Zelkova abelicea (Ulmaceae) indicate possible processes contributing to its persistence to climate changes

Imprisoned in the Cretan mountains: How relict Zelkova abelicea (Ulmaceae) trees cope with Mediterranean climate

Conservation of threatened relict trees through living ex situ collections: lessons from the global survey of the genus Zelkova (Ulmaceae)

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