A relic wood of Juniperus turbinata Guss. (Cupressaceae) in Sicily: Structural and ecological features, conservation perspectives

Abstract

Juniperus turbinata Guss. (Cupressaceae) is a threatened tree species occurring in the Mediterranean area. It is listed as a vulnerable species in the Red Book of Italian plants and its various communities are included in Annex I of the Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC as a priority habitat for conservation. During field investigations carried out to analyse the plant biodiversity of coastal habitats in southern Sicily, a new interesting population was found. This study aims to characterize this relevant new finding with a marked focus on demography and synecology of the plant community in question in order to define its habitat, assess its conservation status and propose conservation measures. Our data highlight that the juniper is characterized by low turnover population dynamics. In order to understand the role of J. turbinata in sandy soil communities of south-eastern Sicily, comparisons of 21 plots (relevés) with 25 established plots in south-eastern Sicily were carried out using cluster analysis and canonical component analysis. This has allowed three different plant communities with different ecological features to be identified.

Keywords:

• Juniper stand
• population dynamics
• vegetation series
• conservation
• Sicily

Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to the naturalist Iolanda Galletti from Ragusa, who discovered the juniper stand of Piano Pirrera and took us to the site thereby allowing us to carry out this study. We would like to thank our university students, Iolanda Cataldo and Luca La Spina, who collaborated on this research. A special thanks goes to the Regional Forestry Agency (Azienda Regionale Foreste Demaniali) of Ragusa for their logistic support. This research was supported by grants from ENI (National Hydrocarbons Authority).