Abstract
The Mediterranean basin is a global hotspot of biodiversity. Woody plants are key components of ecosystems. This article explores the environmental impacts on woody plant species richness and diversity in maquis and abandoned olive groves in an important ecological area of central Greece. The results showed that woody plant species richness and diversity had increasing values in maquis compared to abandoned olive groves. According to Principal Component Analysis, woody plant species richness and diversity (Shannon diversity index) were positively correlated with soil organic matter, plant litter, N, P, K, slope and precipitation in maquis. Also, positive correlations among woody plant species richness and diversity, and soil organic matter, and slope were detected in abandoned olive groves. Conclusively, the present study is the first in the area and the results it will be utilized as a decision support tool for sustainability assessment of ecosystems with the help of the information systems.
Highlights
The Mediterranean basin region is a global hotspot of biodiversity and presents a wide diversity of habitats and ecosystems
The results showed that woody plant species richness and diversity had increasing values in maquis compared to abandoned olive groves
Woody Species Composition and Diversity Thirty species of plants belonging to 24 genera and 17 families were recorded from the study area
Summary
The Mediterranean basin region is a global hotspot of biodiversity and presents a wide diversity of habitats and ecosystems. Biodiversity is a widely used term in ecology and natural resource management, and it is a key item in nature conservation (Do et al, 2015; Feroz et al, 2016). The country is geographically located in SE Europe and occupies the southern tip of the Balkan Peninsula (the farthest east of the three peninsulas of Europe), which, unlike the other two, doesn’t have the very high mountains separating it from the rest of Europe. It is an inland country with a large number of islands and is close to Asia and Africa. It contains a variety of climatic conditions (29 climatic classes according to the Thornwaite classification scheme), a fact attributable to its geographic location, terrain ruggedness and the presence
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
