engleski

Phytosociology and ecology of the vegetation with Brassica mollis, South Croatia

Brassicaceae represents a monophyletic group with 338 genera and 3700 globally distributed taxa. Alongside the indigenous taxa, the genus Brassica L. includes the vegetables, and oilseeds and their products of great importance in our global economy. The genus includes about 40 taxa, distributed mainly in the Mediterranean, southwestern Europe and north-western Africa. The easternmost boundary of its range is in Central Asia. In Croatia, there are 24 Brassica taxa. Among them, three were considered as endemics: Brassica botteri Vis. (distributed in the Palagruža Archipelago), B. cazzae Ginzb. et Teyber (the Middle Adriatic islands of Vis, Kamik, Svetac – St Andrija and Sušac), and B. mollis Vis. (the southern Adriatic islands and islets within ubrovnik Region). Regarding their taxonomic status, some authors more recently consider them as a varietes of Brassica oleracea L. ssp. incana (Ten.) Gl. et Hm. (= B. incana). Phytosociology of B. mollis was studied on the islet of Kosor within Korčula Archipelago, and on the island of Koločep near the city of Dubrovnik. The relevés were recently collected in the field using Braun- Blanquet method. The European syntaxonomic framework of the EuroVegChecklist (EVC) was applied. The main aim of the study was to provide a phytosociological description of the plant communities with B. mollis. Our data showed that B. mollis does not occur within the Seslerio robustae- Putorietum calabricae Horvatić ex Birač 1973 (Centaureo cuspidatae-Portenschlagiellion ramosissimae Trinajstić ex Terzi et Di Pietro 2016) as has been previously reported from the literature (Horvatić 1971). On the contrary, B. mollis was found within the communities of the Limonion anfracti- cancellati (Horvatić 1934) Mucina in Mucina et al. 2106, Anthyllidion barbae- jovis S. Brullo et De Marco 1989, Oleo-Ceratonion siliquae Br.-Bl. ex Guinochet et Drouineau 1944, and Pistacio lentisci- Pinion halepensis Biondi, Blasi, Galdenzi, Pesaresi et Vagge in Biondi et al. 2014. Commmunities distribution along the altitudinal gradient and the degree of the sea influences was clearly shown from the rupicolous herb-rich vegetation of saltsprayed rocky cliff to thermomediterranean calcicolous macchia or Aleppo pine forests. Comparable phytosociology and ecology of all Croatian endemics Brassica will require further research.

biodiversity ; distribution ; eastern Adriatic islands ; coastal plant communities ; vegetation

nije evidentirano