ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Can Ellenberg's indicator values for Mediterranean plants be used outside their region of definition?

Aim The aims of this study are: (1) to explore the relationships between the Ellenberg indicator values (light, temperature and moisture) recently developed for two Mediterranean regions (Italy and Greece); and (2) to evaluate the possibility of using these values in other Mediterranean areas. Location Southern Greece and the Mediterranean part of Italy. Methods A global matrix containing 966 items of information (161 species × 3 indicator variables × 2 values assigned in each study, one in Italy and one in Greece) was constructed. A test of the accuracy of the values in predicting actual environmental conditions was provided using a detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) on published vegetation relevés from the Mediterranean region. The gamma statistic was used to express relationships of ecological indicator values between the two regions, and pairs of indicator values calculated for each species were compared using Wilcoxon matched pairs tests. Results The results showed that indices developed for Greece and Italy were not similarly correlated to sample scores along DCA axis 1. Species’ indicator values for Italy and for Greece were highly significantly correlated for light and moisture and significantly correlated for temperature, but the correlations were weak (0.20 ≤ gamma ≤ 0.31). Pairwise testing gave significantly different indicator values for the two regions. Discrepancies below or equal to 2 units on 9‐point scales (12 points for moisture) were found for 88%, 70% and 54% of the species respectively for light, temperature and moisture indices. A substantial number of species showed higher discrepancies, from 3 up to 6 units. Main conclusions In the light of the present work, it seems clear that the indicator values developed for Italy and for Greece should not be used outside the region for which they were defined. This constitutes additional evidence that indicator values can be influenced by the identity of potential competitors. It also underlines the need to use standardized methods for calibrating indicator values against measured variables in such a way that indicator systems can serve as general reference systems.     

Genetic variation of Marchalina hellenica (Hemiptera: Margarodidae) sampled from different hosts and localities in Greece

Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis was applied to 120 individuals of Marchalina hellenica (Gennadius) representing six populations collected in northern, central and southern mainland Greece. One population was sampled on one species of fir tree and the others on two species of pine trees. Four random decamer primers were used to evaluate genetic variation among the populations examined. The results revealed intra- and interpopulation polymorphism both related to host type and region of origin. Phylogenetic analysis based on genetic distances estimated by the RAPD frequencies revealed an important genetic differentiation in samples collected on fir trees in southern Greece and to a lesser extent in samples from pine trees in central and northern Greece. Furthermore, considerable subdivision and restricted gene flow among the populations examined were observed. The results are discussed in relation to the biology and geographical distribution of M. hellenica in Greece.     

Exposure of Eurasian magpies and turtle doves to West Nile virus during a major human outbreak, Greece, 2011

A major number of West Nile virus (WNV) infections in humans occurred in 2010 in northern Greece, with 262 laboratory confirmed cases. In 2011, fewer cases were reported, but the pattern was more dispersed throughout the Greek mainland. Isolated strains were similar to lineage 2 strains detected in previous years in Austria and Hungary from birds of prey. We conducted a serological surveillance study on hunter-harvested wild birds, to determine possible exposure of avian species during the current outbreak. Serum samples from a total of 113 Eurasian magpies and 85 turtle doves (abundant resident and migratory avian species, respectively, with potential roles in WNV epidemiology) were tested. These birds were hunter-harvested during 2011 from various prefectures both affected and not affected by the WNV outbreak in Greece. Sera were tested for the presence of WNV IgG antibodies by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA). Verification of positive results by a micro-virus neutralization test (VNT) was also performed. A total of 23 out of 113 (20.4%) Eurasian magpies and 6/85 (7.1%) turtle doves were found positive. Results showed association of human cases with wild birds’ exposure to the virus; no avian sera were found positive in prefectures not affected by the WNV outbreak. In contrast, positive avian sera were found in every prefecture that human WNV cases occurred in 2011. High seroprevalence in Eurasian magpies suggests high activity of WNV in the areas. Findings of past exposure of migratory birds like turtle doves to WNV upon their arrival in resting areas in Greece suggest various avian species with similar migration traits as target species for viral isolation studies, as they can be considered candidates for the introduction of WNV lineage 2 in Greece from Central Europe.     

Medicinal plants of Mt. Pelion,Greece

This study focuses on plants used for medicinal purposes in the Mt. Pelion area of Greece; however other plant uses were noted when discovered. A total of 225 taxa representing 77 families are presented along with habitat data and ethnobotanical information when relevant. Some notes on related species are also included. In addition to ethnobotanical field research which included collection of voucher specimens, ancient literature pertaining to plant usage was also consulted. Local markets that sold wild plants or their products were investigated as well. Some plants not known to be ethnobotanically significant were also collected in order to learn more about species distribution on Mt. Pelion. It is possible that ancient plant usage information that was lost due to the destruction of classical literary works has survived in the oral tradition in the Mt. Pelion area and elsewhere in Greece. A number of little known psychoactive and narcotic plant uses (including ivy as an additive to wine) are reported in this publication.     

Occurrence of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cumini in the Island of Chios, Greece

A severe disease of cumin causing pre-mature plant death was observed in the island of Chios, Greece. Disease symptoms included sudden red-brown shrivelling of the foliage, growth retardation and pre-harvest plant death. From plants showing early disease symptoms Fusarium oxysporum (F.o.) was consistently isolated. In artificial inoculations, representative isolates from this fungus species were found to be pathogenic on cumin, confirming the belonging to the f. sp. cumini. This is the first report of F.o. f.sp. cumini in Greece.     

A check-list of Greek liverworts

Abstract

A list of hepatics recorded from Greece, based entirely on published records, is given. All works containing original records are listed and the regions of Greece in which the 138 species have been recorded are indicated.     

A new species of hydrobiid snails (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Hydrobiidae) from central Greece

Anew minute valvatiform species belonging to the genus Daphniola Radoman, 1973, Daphniola eptalophossp. n., from mountain Parnassos, Greece is described. The new species has a transparent valvatiform-planispiral shell, wide and open umbilicus, grey-black pigmented soft body and head and a black penis with a small colorless outgrowth on the left side near its base. A comparative table of shell dimensions and a key to the species known for this endemic genus for Greece are provided.     

The rediscovery of Biebersteinia orphanidis Boiss. (Geraniaceae) in Greece

Biebersteinia orphanidis was considered extinct from Greece and Europe as it had not been collected since Orphanides' type collection of 1851. Its rediscovery is reported here from a mountain close to the classical locality. The species serves as a distinct phytogeographical link between the floras of Greece and Anatolia. In Greece, at least, it grows in a critically low number of individuals. Data on the species habitat and population status are given, and potential threats to its survival are discussed.     

The spider fauna of the Aladjagiola wetland complex (Nestos Delta,north‐east Greece): a reflection of a unique zoogeographical transition zone in Europe

In order to increase our arachnological knowledge of Greece, and in particular north‐east Greece, an investigation of the arachnofauna of the Aladjagiola wetland complex was conducted from April to July 2008. The study area is part of the Nestos Delta in north‐east Greece, and comprises an area of approximately 20 km². Spiders were collected from 28 sites using pitfall traps. In all, 6694 specimens were sampled, including 206 species from 31 families. Altogether, 30 and 74 species were new to the districts of Greece and Macedonia, respectively. A number of faunistically interesting species were recorded during the study: Brachythele denieri (Simon, 1916), Camillina metellus (Roewer, 1928), Zelotes cingarus (O.P.‐Cambridge, 1874), Zodarion blagoevi Bosmans, 2009, Zodarion epirense Brignoli, 1984, Zodarion hauseri Brignoli, 1985, and Zodarion pirini Drensky, 1921, are Balkan endemics; Tegenaria angustipalpis Levy, 1996 and Titanoeca turkmenia Wunderlich, 1995 were newly discovered in Europe. Widespread elements represented the largest share of the species inventory, although chorological analysis indicated that the study area, as well as the whole north‐eastern part of Greece, is a reflection of a transition zone from the European fauna towards the Mediterranean and eastern (or Ponto–Anatolian) elements. Taken in combination, these affect the local fauna. The Balkan endemics, although small in number of species, further underline the unique identity of the area. Based on comparisons with data sets from the country's southernmost island, i.e. Crete, Greece can be regarded as a zoogeographical gradient. Hereby, Aladjagiola represents the northern edge, with European and Anatolian elements dominating the species inventory, and Crete represents the southern edge, with widespread but also endemic Mediterranean and eastern elements creating a more local and insular zoogeographical character. In conclusion, Greece cannot be viewed as a uniform zoogeographical unit, but rather as a mosaic of various regional zoogeographical patterns. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 102 , 217–233.     

A new species of Achillea (Asteraceae: Anthemideae) from south-east Peloponnisos, Greece

A new species of Achillea L., Achillea occulta Constantin. & Kalpoutz., from the summit area of Mount Koulochera in south-east Peloponnisos, Greece, is described and illustrated. It belongs to A . sect. Ptarmica and further, to a small group of taxa known under the illegitimate sectional name 'Anthemoideae'. In Greece, A. occulta has no close allies. The taxonomically related taxa, i.e. A. barrelieri (Ten.) Sch. Bip., A. mucronulata Bertol., A. oxyloba (DC.) Sch. Bip. and A. schurii Sch. Bip. are found in the Italian Peninsula, the Alps and the Carpathians. Phytogeographically, the finding of a species with such taxonomic connections in south-east Greece was unexpected. The new species grows in semi-shade, often hidden in suitable limestone rock hollows and the foot of rocks, together with several other Greek endemics. Its chromosome number of 2 n  = 18, counted in root tips, is also reported and illustrated.  © 2005 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2005, 147 , 249–256.     

Species diversity,endemism and conservation of the family Caryophyllaceae in Greece

The family Caryophyllaceae includes world-wide 86 genera and approximately 2100 species. Greece is one of its most important centres of diversity and endemism. A total of 428 Caryophyllaceae taxa are distributed in Greece, 161 of them being endemic to the Greek political territory. The endemic element represents approximately 5% of the global diversity of the family at the species level. The aim of this paper is to discuss the distribution patterns of the Greek endemic Caryophyllaceae, as well as those with a limited distribution range to the neighbouring areas of the Balkans and Anatolia, on the basis of the phytogeographical regions of Greece in order to identify the important regions for their conservation. The majority of the Greek endemic Caryophyllaceae (64.6%) are distributed in only one single phytogeographical region, or even a smaller area indicating the extremely restricted distribution ranges of the endemic plants in Greece. Actually 83 Greek endemic Caryophyllaceae can be grouped on cytotaxonomic criteria. Most of them belong to the category of schizoendemics (91.6%), indicating that the endemism of Caryophyllaceae in Greece has mainly originated in an active way. Cluster analysis has been used to classify the phytogeographical regions according to their floristic similarities. Two iterative complementarity methods were used to evaluate the importance of each phytogeographical region in the conservation of the endemic Caryophyllaceae in Greece. Peloponnisos, Kriti-Karpathos and Sterea Ellas are the most important phytogeographical regions in this respect, followed by North Central and North East. When adding the Balkan-Aegean-Anatolian endemics to the analysis, Peloponnisos, North Central, Kriti-Karpathos, North East and Eastern Aegean result as the most important areas. In every case, an elevated number of sites are required for the conservation of Caryophyllaceae in Greece, reflecting the great dissimilarities in the floristic composition of the various phytogeographical regions. The results provided by the different methods are compared. A catalogue of the Greek endemic Caryophyllaceae is appended.     

Comparing naturalized alien plants and recipient habitats across an east–west gradient in the Mediterranean Basin

Aim To investigate alien plant species invasion levels in different habitats and alien species traits by comparing the naturalized flora in different areas of the same biogeographical region. Location Spain, Italy, Greece and Cyprus. Methods Comparison of floristic composition, species traits and recipient habitats of naturalized alien neophytes across an east–west gradient comprising four countries in the European Mediterranean basin. Results A total of 782 naturalized neophytes were recorded; only 30 species were present in all four countries. Although floristic similarity is low, the four alien floras share the same patterns of growth form (mostly herbs), life cycle (mostly perennials) and life form (mostly therophytes, hemicryptophytes and phanerophytes). The majority of the recipient habitats were artificial. Wetlands were the natural habitats, with the highest numbers of naturalized species. Floristic similarity analyses revealed: (1) the highest floristic similarity between Italy and Spain, both of which were more similar to Greece than to Cyprus; (2) two groups of floristic similarity between habitat categories in each country (Greece–Cyprus and Italy–Spain); (3) a higher degree of homogenization in the plant assemblages in different habitats in Greece and Cyprus and a lower degree of homogenization in those in Italy and Spain; and (4) a higher degree of homogenization in artificial and natural fresh‐water habitats than in the other natural habitats. Main conclusions The floristic similarity of naturalized neophytes between the four countries is low, although the overall analysis indicates that the western group (Italy–Spain) is separated from the eastern group (Greece–Cyprus). Similar patterns emerged regarding the life‐history traits and recipient habitats. The artificial habitats and the natural wet habitats are those that are invaded most and display the greatest homogenization in all four countries. Coastal habitats display a lower degree of homogenization but a high frequency of aliens. Dry shrubs and rocky habitats display a lower degree of homogenization and a low frequency of aliens.     

Population genetic structure and secondary endosymbionts of Q Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) from Greece

We investigated the molecular diversity of the major agricultural pest Bemisia tabaci and of its associated secondary endosymbionts in Greece. Analyzing mitochondrial DNA, we found that the Q1 (=Q west) is predominant. We used eight microsatellite polymorphic markers to study the genetic structure of 37 populations from mainland and insular Greece, collected on different host species from outdoor and protected crops as well as from non-cultivated plants. In some cases, gene flow was found to be low even between populations separated by just a few kilometres. Bayesian analysis identified two main genetic groups, the first encompassing populations from south Crete and the second composed of populations from north Crete, two other Aegean islands and mainland Greece. Genetic differentiation was not correlated with different host plant species or habitat, or greenhouse versus open environment populations. Gene flow significantly decreased with geographic distance, but no isolation by distance existed when only the samples from mainland Greece or only the samples from Crete were considered. The secondary symbionts Wolbachia and Hamiltonella were present at high frequencies while Arsenophonus, Cardinium and Rickettsia were absent from Greek populations. Multilocus sequence typing of Wolbachia identified two Wolbachia strains. These two strains were found together in most of the populations studied but never in the same host individual. Their role on the observed population structure is discussed.     

Changes in the status of tortoise populations in Greece 1984–2001

Three species of tortoise (Testudinidae) occur in Greece (Testudo hermanni, T. graeca and the endemic T. marginata), all of which have been listed as rare or vulnerable. This paper describes the current situation of 75 populations that were last observed in the 1970s and 1980s and described in 1989. Twenty-nine populations had declined in density and/or status (significantly more than had improved), 10 of which were functionally extinct. A particularly notable loss was a dense population of T. marginata at Gytheion in the Peloponnese due to a widespread fire. Declining populations were significantly associated with identified high threat in 1989 and with close proximity to human settlement. There were no significant effects of tortoise species, area of site, characteristics of surrounding areas or original density on these changes. Declines were less associated with agriculture than predicted in 1989, reflecting changing economic conditions in Greece in the 1990s. Continuing threats to tortoise habitats make their long-term future appear bleak outside of protected areas. The risk of extinction from stochastic variation in small populations was also assessed, using the VORTEX program. This risk was much lower than that from habitat loss; 60–96% of populations of 100 tortoises would survive for 1000 years, depending on adult body size, compared to only 0–0.02% of habitats. The high survival potential of small populations would facilitate conservation of the high intraspecific diversity of tortoises in Greece.     

Phenological responses and a comparative phylogenetic insight of Anarsia lineatella and Grapholita molesta between distinct geographical regions within the Mediterranean basin

A unique logistic model for predicting population dynamics of Anarsia lineatella and Grapholita molesta was evaluated on populations sampled from Italy and Greece. Intraspecific mtDNA divergence was additionally estimated in an effort to examine whether regional differences in moth phenologies are associated with genetic divergence. A. lineatella populations displayed closer similarities on phenological responses between the two observation regions. As a result, population fluctuations in both regions could be accurately predicted based on the constructed model. However, that was not the case for G. molesta as its populations exhibited a more regional behaviour, and thus, the model was less accurate. It is notable that degree‐day accumulations above the lower temperature thresholds were recorded in Italy on month earlier than in Greece (1st March in Calabria in contrast to 1st April in Veria). That kind of observed deviations in moth phenologies could be potentially attributed to regional environmental conditions or even genetic differentiation. Despite the low number of individuals analysed, this first attempt to study the levels of intraspecific divergence between Italian and Greek moth populations revealed that both species exhibit evidence of regional‐based separation. Our study provides the first comprehensive phenological comparison between populations of A. lineatella and G. molesta from Italy and Greece. At the same time, the population genetic structure data reveal differentiation between these two regions for both species, something that should be further investigated as it could provide a possible explanation for the observed phenological differences. Moreover, DNA barcoding confirmed that G. molesta pheromone blends attracted at least two morphologically close‐related tortricid moth species. This fact probably explains the phenological variations observed for this species as well as the difficulties in defining the number of non‐overlapping flights.     

Allium orestis sp. nov. (Amaryllidaceae) from Parnon and Taigetos mountains,south Peloponnisos,Greece

Allium orestis Kalpoutzakis, Trigas & Constantinidis sp. nov. (Amaryllidaceae) from Parnon and Taigetos mountains (south Peloponnisos, Greece) is described and illustrated. It belongs to A. sect. Codonoprasum, and its closest relatives are A. rausii, a local endemic species of Ossa and Pilion mountains (east–central Greece) and A. anzalonei, another localized species from west–central Italy. The new species grows in the understorey of Castanea sativa forests and is currently known from three areas on Mt Parnon and one locality on Mt Taigetos. The chromosome number of A. orestis, 2n =2x =16, is reported and a metaphase plate is illustrated.     

Mitochondrial phylogeny and biogeographic history of the Greek endemic land-snail genus Codringtonia Kobelt 1898 (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Helicidae)

The aim of this work was to infer the phylogeny of the Greek endemic land-snail genus Codringtonia Kobelt 1898, estimate the time frame of the radiation of the genus, and propose a biogeographic scenario that could explain the contemporary distribution of Codringtonia lineages. The study took place in the districts of Peloponnese, Central Greece and Epirus of mainland Greece. Sequence data originating from three mtDNA genes (COI, COII, and 16S rDNA) were used to infer the phylogeny of the eight nominal Codringtonia species. Furthermore, the radiation time-frame of extant Codringtonia species was estimated using a relaxed molecular clock analysis and mtDNA substitution rates of land snails. The phylogenetic analysis supported the existence of six Codringtonia lineages in Greece and indicated that one nominal species (Codringtonia neocrassa) might belong to a separate genus distantly related to Codringtonia. The time frame of differentiation of Codringtonia species was placed in the Late Miocene-Pleistocene epoch. The dispersal-vicariance analysis performed indicated that most probably Codringtonia exhibited a north-to-south spread with the ancestral area being that of central Greek mainland, accompanied with duplication (speciation) and vicariance events.