Updating and assessing plant endemism in Egypt

This study aimed to update and assess the list of endemic plants in the Egyptian flora, based on information obtained during field trips, literature reviews, and herbaria consultations. Life forms, habitat, national distribution, rarity forms, local threats, and conservation status according to IUCN categories, were estimated for these plants. Twenty field visits were conducted from summer 2015 to spring 2020 to many locations all over Egypt. The recent list includes 42 species (belonging to 37 genera and 20 families inhabiting 10 main habitats). Rocky surfaces and sandy formations have the highest number of endemic species, most of them are therophytes. Sinaitico-Arabian sector is the richest in endemics (19 taxa), followed by the Marioutico-Arishian (17 taxa). Small geographic range-small habitat-non-abundant plants are the most represented rarity form. All endemics are exposed to at least one type of local threat, the most prominent threats being over-collecting and over-cutting. According to the guidelines of IUCN, 31 of the endemic taxa are threatened, thus requiring in situ and ex situ conservation. Out of them, 11 taxa are believed to be Extinct, five are Critically Endangered, and 15 Endangered. In addition, 11 taxa are evaluated as Data Deficient. Further studies are still needed to verify and fill the information gaps about the Egyptian endemics.

Linking Taxonomic, Phylogenetic and Functional Plant Diversity with Ecosystem Services of Cliffs and Screes in Greece

Sparsely vegetated habitats of cliffs and screes act as refugia for many regional and local endemic specialized plant taxa most of which have evolved precisely for that type of habitat. The interplay between taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional plant diversity on rock and scree habitats of extreme environmental conditions, enlightens the relations of plant communities and ecosystems and facilitates management planning for the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services. The identification of biodiversity patterns and hotspots (taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional) contributes to the integration of the ecosystem services (ES) approach for the mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services (MAES) implementation in Greece and the creation of thematic maps based on the MAES reporting format. The overlap among the protected areas’ network revealed that almost all areas of cliffs and screes of medium, high, and very high taxonomic and phylogenetic plant endemism are included in the Natura 2000 area network. The results of this study provide the baseline information for ES assessments at sparsely vegetated land of cliffs and screes. Our results contribute to the implementation of certain indicators of the national set of MAES indicators in Greece such as (a) floristic diversity and (b) microrefugia of endemic diversity and support of decision-making.

Floristic analysis of semi-arid mountain ecosystems of the Griqualand West centre of plant endemism, Northern Cape, South Africa

Van Staden N, Siebert SJ, Cilliers DP, Wilsenach D, Frisby AW. 2020. Floristic analysis of semi-arid mountain ecosystems of the Griqualand West centre of plant endemism, Northern Cape, South Africa. Biodiversitas 21: 1989-2002. The Griqualand West Centre (GWC) is one of 13 centres of plant endemism in South Africa. Despite its unique flora, it remains poorly conserved and studied. A recent study identified an extensive geographical core area for the GWC, but endemic plant species were found to be absent from certain parts within these borders. To address this, we refined the current GWC borders based on an ecological niche model, which predicted that endemic species are restricted to four mountain ranges within GWC. Mountain floras within these refined borders were then floristically compared to assess whether they are hotspots of endemicity. Floristically, the Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Malvaceae, and Poaceae were the dominant plant families. Mountain ecosystems differed from one another at species level, with indicator species explaining the compositional differences. Distribution patterns of indicator species were determined by mean annual precipitation, Ca: Mg ratios, soil pH, cation exchange capacity, iron, and sand content. These environmental factors are possible drivers of niche partitioning, environmental filtering and habitat specialization in each mountain ecosystem. Limestone and banded ironstone habitats were identified as conservation priority areas, since they contained the highest numbers of rare and threatened GWC restricted-range species, of which six were narrow endemics.

The wild bees (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) of the island of Cyprus

Cyprus, the third largest island in the Mediterranean, constitutes a biodiversity hotspot with high rates of plant endemism. The wild bees of the island were studied extensively by the native George Mavromoustakis, a world-renowned bee taxonomist, who collected extensively on the island from 1916 to 1957 and summarised his results in a series of eight Cyprus-specific papers published from 1949 [“1948”] to 1957. The current work represents the first modern checklist of the wild bees of Cyprus, based on a compilation of previous publications, museum specimens and authors’ recent collections. Overall, 369 verified wild bee species have been recorded on the island, with eleven species reported from Cyprus for the first time. The island hosts all six of the globally widespread bee families, with Apidae represented by 110 species, Megachilidae with 91, Andrenidae with 76, Halictidae with 72, Colletidae with 19, and Melittidae with 1. Twenty-one of the recorded bee species are endemic (i.e., 5.7 % endemism rate) and Cyprus ranks third after Lesvos and Sicily in known bee species richness among the Mediterranean islands. Previously unpublished records from various locations on Cyprus for 156 previously reported bee species are also provided in the study. The current work provides a baseline for future studies of wild bee diversity on the island of Cyprus and neighbouring regions.

A new species of Combretum sect. Ciliatipetala (Combretaceae) from South Africa

Combretum eugeneanum, a new species from northeastern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and confined to the Maputaland Centre of Plant Endemism, is described, illustrated, mapped, and compared with southern African members of the genus with which it may be confused. In a narrowly defined genus Combretum, the new species belongs to Combretum sect. Ciliatipetala. In herbaria, it has usually been confused with close relatives C. apiculatum and C. edwardsii, as well as several other more distantly related members of the genus, in particular C. woodii. The new species is also closely related to the recently described C. stylesii. It is readily distinguished as an essentially glabrous woody climber or scrambling shrub needing other vegetation for support, leaf apices rarely apiculate, tertiary veins raised on the adaxial leaf surface, inflorescences few-flowered and subcapitate, upper hypanthium cupuliform, flowers with orange-red centres (discs) and peltate scales comprised of essentially eight radial cells, most of which are subdivided by at least one tangential wall, the resulting outer and inner cell(s) often with at least one additional radial wall. Combretum eugeneanum grows in Sand Forest and associated sandy bushveld, and its range and habitat does not overlap with that of C. edwardsii or C. stylesii, both of which are also very often lianas.