An inventory of the vascular plants and bryophytes of Gavdopoula island (S Aegean, Greece) and its phytogeographical significance

Christina Fournaraki,Nicholas Turland,Thomas Blockeel,Richard Lansdown,Erwin Bergmeier,Niels Böhling,Panagiota Gotsiou,Ralf Jahn

doi:10.3372/wi.41.41121

Abstract

Abstract Bergmeier E., Blockeel T., Bohling N., Fournaraki C., Gotsiou P., Jahn R., Lansdown R. & Turland N.: An inventory of the vascular plants and bryophytes of Gavdopoula island (S Aegean, Greece) and its phytogeographical significance. — Willdenowia 41: 179–190. — Online ISSN 1868-6397; © 2011 BGBM Berlin-Dahlem. doi:10.3372/wi.41.41121 (available via http://dx.doi.org/) Gavdopoula is an island of 177.5 ha in the S Aegean, near the southeasternmost point of Europe. Based on field excursions in 1998/99 and 2009/10, we provide an annotated floristic catalogue of 186 vascular plant and 13 bryophyte taxa, with a full record of herbarium specimens and field observations, being the first botanical inventory of the island. Species richness in relation to island area is, as shown in a diagram, according to expectations. Among the vascular plants there are six regional (‘Cretan area’) endemics. The Saharo-Arabian-S Mediterranean phytogeographical element is well represented, with several species confined in G...

Highlights

The islands of the Aegean are diverse in history and habitats as well as in plant and animal species
The flora of the S Aegean islands is remarkable for its affinities to N Africa, and this is nowhere more pronounced in southeastern Mediterranean Europe than on the small offshore islands south of Crete
Records per species are given in chro nological order citing the year (1998, 1999, 2009, 2010) and the type of record, field observation and/or herbarium specimen numbers, together with the collectors’ acronyms: EB Erwin Bergmeier F&G Christina Fournaraki & Panagiota Gotsiou NB Niels Böhling NT Nicholas Turland RJ Ralf Jahn RL Richard Lansdown

Summary

Introduction

The islands of the Aegean are diverse in history and habitats as well as in plant and animal species. Bergmeier & al.: Vascular plants and bryophytes of Gavdopoula island 400 mm, which renders Gavdopoula and the other islands off the southern coast of Crete among the driest regions in Mediterranean Europe.

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