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ThePinus halepensisMill. forest vegetation of the central-eastern European Mediterranean basin (France, Italy, Croatia, Albania, Greece) is described here. This study was carried out considering published and unpublished phytosociological data, with the organisation of a systematic classification (syntaxonomic scheme) of the orderPinetalia halepensisaccording to the principal floristic variations, at multiple spatial scales and according to the physiognomic–structural, floristic, ecological and biogeographical characteristics. Five alliances and 25 associations are recognised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Vegetation Prodrome of Italy was promoted in 2012 by the Italian “Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea Protection”, in collaboration with the “Italian Society of Botany”, to provide a comprehensive and systematic catalogue and description of Italian plant communities. The Prodrome that is presented in this paper is the first full organic synthesis of the vegetation of Italy at the alliance syntaxonomic level. It fulfils several needs, the main one being a unified and comprehensive national framework that may make an important contribution to the definition of the European Vegetation Prodrome. Syntaxonomy, as well as taxonomy, is sometimes based on considerations that may in part diverge: several authors tend to favour models that are divisive or aggregative to a greater or lesser extent in terms of flora, biogeography and ecology. These different points of view stimulate the scientific debate and allow the adoption of a framework that is more widely supported. The Prodrome includes 75 classes, 2 subclasses, 175 orders, 6 suborders and 393 alliances. The classes were grouped into nine broad categories according to structural, physiognomic and synecological elements rather than to syntaxonomic criteria. The rank, full valid name, any synonymies and incorrect names are provided for eachsyntaxon. The short declaration highlights the physiognomy, synecology, syndynamics and distribution of the plant communities that belong to thesyntaxon. The Prodrome of the Italian Vegetation is linked to the European Strategy for Biodiversity, the European Habitats Directive and the European Working Groups related to the ecosystems and their services. In addition to basic applications, the Prodrome can be used as a framework for scientific research related to the investigation of the relationships between plant communities and the environmental factors that influence their composition and distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We drew up a checklist of the Italian vegetation (http://www.prodromo-vegetazione-italia.org/), up to the syntaxonomical rank of alliance. During the compilation of this checklist, we observed that some syntaxa were invalidly published. For this reason, in this article we validated some syntaxa names and, at the same time, described new syntaxa of different hierarchical levels. Therefore, 10 new orders, 1 new suborder, 18 new alliances, 3 new suballiances and 5 new associations are described here. These new syntaxa belong to the following classes:Adiantetea capilli-veneris,Parietarietea judaicae,Thlaspietea rotundifolii,Artemisietea vulgaris,Stellarietea mediae,Galio aparines–Urticetea dioicae,Mulgedio alpini–Aconitetea variegati,Trifolio medii–Geranietea sanguinei,Festuco-Seslerietea,Salicetea herbaceae,Festuco valesiacae–Brometea erecti,Molinio-Arrhenatheretea,Cisto cretici–Micromerietea julianae,Rhamno catharticae–Prunetea spinosae,Salici purpureae–Populetea nigrae,Salicetea purpureae,Quercetea ilicisandQuerco roboris–Fagetea sylvaticae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the article is the syntaxonomic interpretation of hyperhalophilous woody or semi-woody vegetation withHalocnemumM. Bieb. along the coasts of the Mediterranean Basin. For this area, the two species ofHalocnemum, H. strobilaceum(Pall.) M. Bieb. andH. cruciatum(Forssk.) Tod. are identified; their morphological characteristics, synonymy and distribution are here described. The study carried out of particular aspects of the plant morphology and the micromorphological characteristics of the seeds collected from different places in the Mediterranean allows to better differentiate the two species. Vegetation studies already done in many communities of the Mediterranean by several authors threw into great confusion because onlyH. strobilacemhas been recognized as a dominant species. As regards the syntaxonomic analyses of the vegetation, the authors refer to the proposals already made by various scientists for the vegetation of inland salt basins of Eurasia and the Irano-Anatolian area, who suggested the classesKalidietea foliateandHalocnemetea strobilaceiirano-anatolica, respectively. Conversely, in the Mediterranean Basin, the vegetation study is present only in coastal areas where it is considerably impoverished in the number of species. Therefore, the authors propose to include hyperhalophilous, woody and fruticose vegetation in the classSarcocornietea fruticosae.However, the phytosociological and ecological diversity is highlighted proposing the orderHalocnemetalia cruciatiin which both the allianceHalocnemion strobilacei, for middle Eastern Europe, and the allianceHalocnemion cruciati, for North Africa with penetrations in the Western and Eastern Europe up to the Middle East coast, are included. This new interpretation has required the correction of the names of two associations (Frankenio corymbosae–Halocnemetum cruciatiandZygophylloalbi–Halocnemetumcruciati) and the proposal of two new associationsArthrocnemo machrostachyi–Halocnemetum cruciatiandHalocnemo cruciati–Sarcocornietum fruticosae.A further proposal concerns the addition of the allianceLimoniastrion monopetali, previously included in the orderLimonietalia, in the orderHalocnemetalia cruciati. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study was to establish the main types of oak-hornbeam (Carpinus betulus and Quercus sp. div) forests on the Apennines, Balkan peninsula and southern Alps and their correlations with the main ecological and phytogeographical gradients in the region. Furthermore, the comparison with the major types recognized in the traditional expert-based classification was done. 1676 relevés of oak-hornbeam forests (alliances Erythronio-Carpinion, Carpinion moesiacum, Physospermo verticillati-Quercion cerris) from the area of the Apennines, Balkan peninsula and southern Alps were collected and entered in a Turboveg database. 508 relevés remained after stratification and were classified with a Modified Two Way Indicator Species Analysis, which resulted in four main clusters that are phytogeographically interpretable, such as (1) southern Apennines, (2) northern-central and central Apennines, (3) central-southern Balkan and (4) north-western Balkan and southern Alps, further divided into subclusters. Pignatti indicator values calculated for relevés of each subcluster were subjected to PCA in order to show the ecological relationships among subclusters, and the spectra of geo-elements were calculated to show the phytogeographical relationship between them. The diagnostic species combination was calculated by a fidelity measure (phi-coefficient) and presented in a synoptic table. Synsystematic classification of the elaborated groups is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we validated some syntaxa, the published names of which were regarded as invalid on the basis of the International Code of Phytosociological Nomenclature. The validations concern syntaxa of different hierarchical levels, belonging to different phytosociological classes. Most validations regard syntaxa that are invalid with respect to art. 5 of the Code. Indeed, the nomenclatural types were not indicated in the correct form (typus, holotypus, lectotypus, and neotypus). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]