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Due to highly heterogeneous edaphoclimatic features, Iberian Southwest Mountains are a major laboratory for essays on biogeography, concerning Atlantic remnant vegetation. Following a decade of PhD fieldwork in Serrano-Monchiquense District, namely facing West Iberian and Portuguese Divisorian Sub-Provinces, this work intends to clarify and propose new typologies for the Potential Natural Vegetation of these territories and consequently accurately update its biogeographic boundaries. Additionally, we address all serial and catenal features regarding climatophile and edaphophile vegetation series, with major updates for taxonomic and syntaxonomic issues, which gives a solid phytocoenotic uniqueness to this territory. Using phytosociological methodology, we studied climatophilous and edaphophile serial dynamics, featuring perennial vegetation. We discuss 12 sintaxa at association and subassociation levels, adding a discriminatory analysis of all biogeographic features from Serrano Monchiquense District, describing its different County’s in a comparative framework with neighbor Districts. We propose a synthetic map, resuming the analyzed information, where we stablish new and more accurate borders to the biogeographic map of Southern Portugal. This work, its a final and exhaustive description where is related all major biogeographic inferences that matter to be highlighted in the scope of Southwest Iberian Peninsula, concerning the border between two major biogeographic Provinces, revisiting all phytocoenotic conservation issues., Disclaimer: This is the original version, which not includes the co-authors new inputs to the generated maps, is being updated and will be published in future versions.

Following PhD thesis work surveys on Monchiquense District, the presence of Quercus estremadurensis O. Schwarz was noticed in the catenal dynamics of Avenello strictae-Quercetum marianicae woodlands, ecologically related to freatic and temporihygrophilous positions. Thenceforth, it has been re-discovered, trough fieldwork and Herbaria research, in several biogeographic territories, namely in the Southwestern and Western part of Iberian Peninsula, following the border between Eurosiberian and Mediterranean macrobioclima-tes, as well as in relictual groves of semi-deciduous woodlands, in humid and hyperoceanic areas. Here, we combine the phytosociological methodology with species distribution modelling (SDMs) to clarify the sintaxonomic affiliation of these rare formations, and to present a spatially-explicit model for its potential distribution. BIOMOD2 ensemble modelling framework was implemented to build Q. estremadurensis potential distribution in the Iberian Peninsula, considering climate, slope, land use and soil, as ecologically relevant determinants, for the species distribution. In the lack of absence data, pseudo-absences have been randomly selected from the studied area excluding available presence points. The predictive performance per variable was assessed using a randomization procedure as implemented in BIOMOD2. Being present in several biogeographic territories, from Portuguese-Divisorian and Algarvian-Monchiquense Sub-Provinces, passing through Luso-Extremadurean and Carpetanan-Leonese ones, we analyze four possible syntaxons occurring in the frame of Quercion broteroi and Aceri granatensis-Quercion fagineae, deeply related to the biogeographic territories where they occur . Ecologically prone to streams and deep valleys, normally in the midst of Pruno-Rubion dense thorn-bushes, mature and pure woodlands are totally absent in all studied territories, due the heavy landscape transformation, which made this study and interpretation of these formations hard and tricky. Also, in the absence of phylogeographic and molecular essays, relating the independence or infra-specific range of Quercus estremadurensis O. Schwarz, inside the broad sense of Quercus robur L., this taxon faces great menace, mainly by introgression features with broad sense Quercus faginea Lam., Q. marianica C. Vicioso / Q. canariensis Willd. and also Q. pyrenaica Willd., Disclaimer: The presented PDF, has updated nomenclatural issues, linked with oak (Quercus L.) taxonomy and forest syntaxonomy in Southern Portugal, namely related with Campanulo alatae-Quercetum estremadurensis ass. nova, which autorship belongs to the present authors, but has been unethically plagiated by colleagues.

This work deals with the phytosociological survey of marcescent groves in Centre and Southern Portugal, and presents the results of an analysis of 186 relevés facing 481 taxa, trough Hierarchical Clustering (Ward’s method – Bray-Curtis distance). Beside enlightening the situation of 3 taxons and 5 nothotaxons from Quercus genus belonging to the Portuguese flora, it also allowed the identification and characterization of 7 potential marcescent vegetation series in the studied territory, which biogeographical and bioclimatic analysis, endorsed new limits definition and update. At last, we conclude that the occupied area belonging to marcescent potential vegetation is currently underestimated in the study area and these primary woodlands are deeply degraded, founding themselves generally substituted by neighbouring evergreen series with secondary or edaphoxerophilous character. As so, geobotanical sciences emerge as indispensable tool for territorial planning and managing, regarding biodiversity conservation. &nbsp