Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/145054
Title: A formal classification of the Lygeum spartum vegetation of the Mediterranean Region
Author: Marcenò, Corrado
Guarino, Riccardo
Mucina, Ladislav
Biurrun, Idoia
Deil, Ulrich
Shaltout, Kamal
Finckh, Manfred
Font i Castell, Xavier
Loidi, Javier
Keywords: Gramínies
Mediterrània (Regió)
Grasses
Mediterranean Region
Issue Date: Oct-2019
Publisher: Wiley
Abstract: Aims We examined local and regional contribution on the grasslands dominated by Lygeum spartum from Southern Europe and North Africa to produce a formalised classification of this vegetation and to identify main factors driving its plant species composition. Location Mediterranean Basin and Iberian Peninsula. Methods We used a dataset of 728 relevés, which were resampled to reduce unbalanced sampling effort, resulting in a dataset of 568 relevés and 846 taxa. We classified the plots by TWINSPAN, interpreted the resulting pools, and used them to develop formal definitions of phytosociological alliances characterised by L. spartum vegetation. The definitions were included in an expert system to assist automatic vegetation classification. We related the alliances to climatic factors and described their biogeographical features and ecological preferences. The floristic relationships between these alliances were analysed and visualised using distance‐based redundancy analysis. Results We defined eleven alliances of L. spartum vegetation, including the newly described Launaeo laniferae‐Lygeion sparti from SW Morocco and the Noaeo mucronatae‐Lygeion sparti from the Algerian highlands and NE Morocco. Biogeographical, climatic, and edaphic factors were revealed as putatively driving the differentiation between the alliances. The vegetation of clayey slopes and inland salt basins displayed higher variability in comparison with those of coastal salt marshes. Main conclusions The most comprehensive formal classification, accompanied by an expert system, of the L. spartum vegetation was formulated. The expert system, containing the formal definitions of the phytosociological alliances, will assist in identification of syntaxonomic position of new datasets.
Note: Versió postprint del document publicat a: https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12456
It is part of: Applied Vegetation Science, 2019, vol. 22, num. 4, p. 593-608
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/145054
Related resource: https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12456
ISSN: 1402-2001
Appears in Collections:Articles publicats en revistes (Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals)

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