Abstract
The Euganean Hills are a well-known refugee site for thermophilous woody flora in northern Italy. Among the species recorded here, there is Quercus dalechampii. The Euganean Hills are the only northern Italy site where the occurrence of this oak species is considered. The aim of this paper was to verify the presence of Q. dalechampii in the study area and to select possible diagnostic morphological traits that are usable to distinguish it from Q. petraea and Q. pubescens. Forest stands dominated by Q. petraea, Q. pubescens, and the presumed Q. dalechampii were sampled using the phytosociological approach to highlight their ecological features. Leaf and fruit material from 104 oak individuals was analysed from a macro-morphological and micro-morphological point of view. Leaf shape was also analysed using the geometric morphometric approach. All multivariate analysis procedures applied on the matrices of leaf and fruit traits highlighted two main clusters of morphological diversity. One was restricted to Q. pubescens individuals, and the other one was a mix of Q. petraea and presumed Q. dalechampii individuals. According to the twig and leaf trichome traits, all presumed Q. dalechampii individuals were classified as belonging to the Q. petraea collective group. Morphological differences between Q. petraea and presumed Q. dalechampii were considered not significant. In conclusion, the occurrence of a third oak species, in addition to Q. petraea and Q. pubescens, was not confirmed for the study area by the results of this paper.Graphic abstract
Highlights
Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl. and Q. pubescens Willd. are two deciduous species of the genus Quercus L. subgenus Quercus Oerst, which play a primary role in the thermophilous forest ecosystems of Europe (Caudullo et al 2016; Mucina et al 2016; Pasta et al 2016)
According to Buffa and Lasen (2010), most of the woods dominated by Q. petraea occurring in the Euganean Hills should be included in the association MelampyroQuercetum petraeae (Online Resource 4 columns 1–5)
The Euganean Hills Quercus petraea woods exhibits a more mesophilous character when compared with the woods of Q. dalechampii and Q. pubescens, which is testified by the occurrence of microthermic species, such as Fagus sylvatica, Acer pseudoplatanus, Epimedium alpinum, and Polygonatum multiflorum
Summary
Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl. and Q. pubescens Willd. are two deciduous species of the genus Quercus L. subgenus Quercus Oerst, which play a primary role in the thermophilous forest ecosystems of Europe (Caudullo et al 2016; Mucina et al 2016; Pasta et al 2016). It is not a case that floristic and vegetational gaps of knowledge and scarce availability of spatial and quantitative data are considered the main reasons affecting the application of the criteria adopted for the identification and assessment of European Habitats (Gigante et al 2018; Carli et al 2020) Due to their particular geographical location, the Euganean Hills proved to be an important refuge site for both thermophilous and microthermic woody species. According to Costantini et al (2005), the distribution of the deciduous oak forests in the Euganean Hills provide for Q. petraea woods in the upper part of the hills on volcanic substrates and Q. pubescens woods at lower altitudes on limestone outcrops Both forest types were reported as including Q. dalechampii, which, in turn, would act as guide species of a third oak forest type occurring in an intermediate altitudinal position between the two aforementioned forest types, especially on acidic volcanic soils (ARPAV 2013). The aim of this study is to understand: (1) whether these three types of oak forests are effectively referable to three different oak species; and (2) whether these three oak species prove to be distinguishable from each other on the basis of an unequivocal combinations of morphological traits
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