Contribution to the Knowledge of Rocky Plant Communities of the Southwest Iberian Peninsula
Ricardo Quinto Canas,
Ana Cano-Ortiz,
Giovanni Spampinato,
Sara del Río,
Mauro Raposo,
José Carlos Piñar Fuentes,
Carlos Pinto Gomes
Affiliations
Ricardo Quinto Canas
Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal
Ana Cano-Ortiz
Department of Animal and Plant Biology and Ecology, Section of Botany, University of Jaén, Las Lagunillas s/n, 23071 Jaén, Spain
Giovanni Spampinato
Department of AGRARIA, “Mediterranea” University of Reggio Calabria, Località Feo di Vito, 89122 Reggio Calabria, Italy
Sara del Río
Department of Biodiversity and Environmental Management (Area of Botany), Mountain Livestock Farming Institute (Joint Center CSIC-ULE), Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Campus of Vegazana, University of León, s/n, 24071 León, Spain
Mauro Raposo
Department of Landscape, Environment and Planning, Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development (MED), School of Science and Technology, University of Évora, Rua Romão Ramalho, n° 59, 7000-671 Évora, Portugal
José Carlos Piñar Fuentes
Department of Animal and Plant Biology and Ecology, Section of Botany, University of Jaén, Las Lagunillas s/n, 23071 Jaén, Spain
Carlos Pinto Gomes
Department of Landscape, Environment and Planning, Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development (MED), School of Science and Technology, University of Évora, Rua Romão Ramalho, n° 59, 7000-671 Évora, Portugal
The rocky habitats of southern Portugal are ecosystems with extreme xericity conditions, associated with special abiotic strains. In these unstable ecological conditions, a considerable diversity of plant communities occurs. The objective of this study, carried out in the Algarve and Monchique, and the Mariánica Range biogeographical sectors, is to compare chasmo-chomophytic communities of the southwestern Iberian Peninsula, using a phytosociological approach (Braun–Blanquet methodology) and numerical analysis (hierarchical cluster analysis). From these results, two new communities were identified, Sanguisorbo rupicolae-Dianthetum crassipedis and Antirrhinetum onubensis, as a result of floristic and biogeographical differences from other associations already described within the alliances Rumici indurati-Dianthion lusitani and Calendulo lusitanicae-Antirrhinion linkiani, both included in the Phagnalo saxatilis-Rumicetea indurate class.
