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A test on Ellenberg indicator values in the Mediterranean evergreen woods (Quercetea ilicis)

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Abstract

The consistency and reliability of Ellenberg’s indicator values (Eiv) as ecological descriptors of the Mediterranean evergreen vegetation ascribed to the phytosociological class Quercetea ilicis have been checked on a set of 859 phytosociological relevés × 699 species. Diagnostic species were identified through a Twinspan analysis and their Eiv analyzed and related to the following independent variables: (1) annual mean temperatures, (2) annual rainfall. The results provided interesting insights to disentangle the current syntaxonomical framework at the alliance level demonstrating the usefulness of ecological indicator values to test the efficiency and predictivity of the phytosociological classification.

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Acknowledgments

Forum Plinianum is gratefully acknowledged for the financial and scientific support; Ida Lindholm for linguistic revision. Thanks are due, as well, to the anonymous referees for their valuable observations and constructive criticism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biosciences and BioResources (IBBR), CNR, Corso Calatafimi 414, 90129, Palermo, Italy

    Corrado Marcenò

  2. Department of Botany and Zoology, Masaryk University, Kotlarska, 2-61137, Brno, Czech Republic

    Corrado Marcenò

  3. Botanical Unit, Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 38, 90123, Palermo, Italy

    Riccardo Guarino

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  1. Corrado Marcenò
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Marcenò, C., Guarino, R. A test on Ellenberg indicator values in the Mediterranean evergreen woods (Quercetea ilicis). Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei 26, 345–356 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-015-0448-8

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