Vegetation diversity of Pinus pinaster forests in the Italian Peninsula
Vegetation diversity of Pinus pinaster forests in the Italian Peninsula
Blog Article
Aim: To revise Pinus pinaster-dominated communities of the Italian peninsula with special regard to central-southern Tuscany, and assess their floristic and ecological differences.Study area: Tuscany and Liguria regions, Italy.Methods: We classified 251 vegetation plots using the Two-way indicator species analysis method and we explored vegetation patterns through Principal Coordinate Analysis.We then investigated the ecology using Ecological Indicator Values.
Results: We identified four major groups, primarily distinguished by the substrate of their stands and along a latitudinal gradient.We classified the forests in central-southern Tuscany in the association Erico scopariae-Pinetum pinastri.This community includes thermophilous and mesophilous species primarily distributed in the Atlantic and Western Mediterranean regions.Comparison of community means of Hockey Skates - Senior - Elite Ecological Indicator Values revealed significant differences in soil reaction, nitrogen, moisture, and light conditions, but not in temperature, between the central-southern Tuscany forests and the other clusters.
We classified the other studied forest communities on acidic substrates within the association Erico arboreae-Pinetum pinastri, whereas those found on ultramafic substrates were placed in the Euphorbio ligusticae-Pinetum pinastri typus cons.propos., and in an informal group of secondary vegetation stands.Conclusions: Our analyses showed that the Pinus pinaster-dominated forests of central-southern Tuscany belong to the association Erico scopariae-Pinetum pinastri of the alliance Genisto pilosae-Pinion pinastri (class Pinetea halepensis).
The presence of species of phytogeographical importance in the forest understory, underscores Portable Lamp the high biogeographic and conservation value of these pine forests.Taxonomic reference: Euro+Med (2024-).Syntaxonomic reference: Mucina et al.(2016), except for the changes proposed by Bonari et al.
(2021).Abbreviations: EVC = EuroVegChecklist; ICPN = International Code of Phytosociological Nomenclature; PCoA = Principal Coordinate Analysis; TWINSPAN = Two-way indicator species analysis.