Comparison of European Archaeophyte lists in the light of distribution data

Péter Honfi,Károly Ecseri

doi:10.15835/nbha48111812

Abstract

Currently is not available a complex archaeophyte definition based on the same criteria in Europe, and it cause significant anomalies between neighbouring countries. The main aim of our work was to provide the criteria which based on the available lists and chorological information. For this purpose, the archaeophyte flora of 15 European countries was compared in our research. The list of available resources has been revised and completed, taking into account the distribution data of the species. The lists were merged to contain 560 species. The majority of the plants in the merged list belong to the Asteraceae and Poaceae families with 74 and 55 species, respectively. The Chenopodium genus is characterized by the most frequent occurrence (14 species). More than half of the plants are annual and 151 species belong to Eurasian geoelements. The greatest numbers of species were observed in Crete (461 species) and Greece (460 species) and the smallest numbers were observed in Ireland (240 species) and England (241 species). In case of individual countries, plants with composite flowers, annual life form and Eurasian elements represent the highest volume, but the number of southern geoelements is also significant. All lists included anaecophytes archaeophytes. Comparison of revised lists showed 83-99% similarity. Using with this method can be formed an international archaeophyte database, which based on phytogeographical distribution and helps future researchers.

Highlights

Archaeophytes are species that were originally non-native to the area and were introduced and established in the specific area before the year 1500 (Terpó et al, 1999; Pysek et al, 2012; Maslo and Abadžic, 2015)
Is not available a complex archaeophytes list based on the same criteria in Europe, so the main aim of our work was to provide the criteria which based on the available lists
Analysis of the merged European list The following considerations have been taken into account in the establishment of the united European archaeophyte list: - the taxon should meet the specific criteria for the definition of archaeophytes according to Hajnalová, 1993; Preston et al, 2004; Celesti-Grapow et al, 2010;

Summary

Introduction

Archaeophytes are species that were originally non-native to the area and were introduced and established in the specific area before the year 1500 (or 1492) (Terpó et al, 1999; Pysek et al, 2012; Maslo and Abadžic, 2015). In European flora research, they are called “oldcomer plants” (Balogh, 2003), old anthropophytes, distinguished from neophytes (Zając et al, 2009) which came into the European flora after the discovery of the American continent. They are interpreted as ‘almost native’ species, or in recent publications (together with neophytes) as allophytes, aliens, or non-native species. In many cases, they are regarded as cultural relics indicating a nomadic, migrant lifestyle of people (Comin and Poldini, 2009).

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