title: Distribution of endemic and alien plants along Mediterranean rivers: a useful tool to identify areas in need of protection?
abstract: The main aim was to obtain information about the more critical sectors of Mediterranean-type rivers, especially in the islands where the percentage of endemic species is high, even in riparian habitats. Our hypothesis was that endemic and alien species, considered important in defining conservation priorities along rivers, have different patterns of distribution and their coexistence indicates human impacts on fluvial systems, which can cause natural habitat loss. Generalized Additive Models were used to model the distribution patterns of endemic and alien species along the longitudinal gradient. They showed that endemic species were linked to the most natural areas in the middle and upper sections of the rivers, whereas the distribution of aliens in middle and lower sections can be regarded as a consequence of human impact. This finding underlined the presence in the middle sections of the rivers of areas with important floristic features that are also affected by alien species. What currently seems a situation of equilibrium turns out to call for careful control, first and foremost, by maintaining riparian vegetation. Our results highlighted the utility of our method for rapidly obtaining information about the criticalities of rivers in Mediterranean biodiversity hotspots.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Università di Siena, via P.A. Mattioli 4, 53100 Siena, Italy. Electronic address: claudia.angiolini@unisi.it.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Angiolini
authors.forename: Alessia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nucci
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Landi
authors.forename: Gianluigi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bacchetta
mesh_terms: D000531:Altitude; D044822:Biodiversity; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D058865:Introduced Species; D007558:Italy; D019684:Magnoliopsida; D019083:Mediterranean Region; D008903:Minerals; D063148:Plant Dispersal; D010944:Plants / Q000145:classification; D045483:Rivers; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D012987:Soil; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D008903:Minerals; D012987:Soil
keywords: Conservation priorities; Generalized additive models; Longitudinal gradient; Riparian vascular flora; Sardinia