Biogeographic analysis of Serrano-Monchiquense District and Southern Portugal

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.