Evidence from multivariate morphometric study of the quercus pubescens complex in southeast Italy

The name Quercus pubescens s.l. encompasses a complex of deciduous oak taxa with mainly southeastEuropean distribution and a large ecological niche. As the easternmost region of Italy, Apulia is rather isolated from a geographical and physiographical viewpoint and counts the highest number of oak species (10). In the taxonomic and phytosociological literature, the occurrence of several species belonging to the Quercus pubescens collective group is reported for this region. In order to verify if different sets of morphological characters are associated with different taxa, 24 populations of Quercus pubescens s.l. located in different ecological-geographical areas of Apulia were sampled. A total of 367 trees, 4254 leaves and 1120 fruits were collected and morphologically analysed. Overall, 25 morphological characters of oak leaves and fruits were statistically treated using both univariate and multivariate analysis. Nested ANOVA showed that leaves collected from a single tree exhibited a degree of morphological variability higher than that observed when comparing leaves coming from different trees of the same population and from different trees of different populations as well. Almost all the morphological characters analysed exhibited a continuous trend of variation so that none of them can be used as a character to discriminate between populations. Only leaf and fruit “size” and fruit petiole length emerged as slightly discriminating characters. Our results suggest that it is unlikely that more than one species belonging to the Quercus pubescens complex occurs in the Apulia region. Comparison between the Apulian populations and a genetically pure Q. pubescens population coming from a different area (the Molise region) strengthened the assumption as to the existence of a single species that can provisionally be classified under the name of Q. pubescens s.

Comparative chromosome studies in species of subtribe Orchidinae (Orchidaceae)

In our study, FISH mapping using 18S-5.8S-25S rDNA and 5S rDNA sequences was performed for the first time on Ophrys tenthredinifera Willdenow, 1805, Serapias vomeracea (Burman f., 1770) Briquet, 1910 and Himantoglossum hircinum (Linnaeus, 1753) Sprengel, 1826. A detailed study was also performed on O. tenthredinifera using Giemsa-staining, silver-staining, CMA fluorescence banding and fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) with rDNA probes. We analysed two subspecies, i.e. O. tenthredinifera subsp. neglecta (Parlatore, 1860) E.G. Camus, 1908 and O. tenthredinifera subsp. grandiflora (Tenore, 1819) Kreutz, 2004 by the traditional Feulgen method and constructed the karyotype. The cytotaxonomic implications for both taxa are also discussed. In Himantoglossum hircinum, FISH and silver staining highlighted differences in the number of two rDNA families (35S and 5S) with respect to Barlia robertiana (Loiseleur-Deslongchamps, 1807) Greuter, 1967. In addition, fluorescence in situ hybridisation was also applied to diploid (2n = 2x = 36) and triploid (2n = 3x = 54) Anacamptis morio (Linnaeus, 1753) R.M. Bateman, Pridgeon et M.W. Chase, 1997. As far as we are aware, this is the first case of autotriploidy observed in A. morio

De la lectura a la creación en la red: el tráiler de lectura

El artículo describe y reflexiona sobre las competencias lectoras que tiene que desarrollar un adolescente en un entorno digital. El foco se pone en cómo el entorno digital transforma al lector en un creador de contenidos y en las acciones que se pueden realizar para conseguirlo de manera diversificada, lingüística y culturalmente. La primera parte del estudio desarrolla el concepto de competencia lectora digital: las destrezas que debe desarrollar, los tipos de textos que Internet le propone y las dificultades con las que se encuentra. La segunda parte analiza los resultados de tres estudios de casos en los que la lectura se transforma en creación a través del tráiler de lectura (se trata de concursos realizados en catalán, desde un centro educativo, la biblioteca y la institución pública) y en las acciones de políticas públicas que se proponen llevar a cabo para mejorar los resultados

Global and Regional IUCN Red List Assessments: 6

In this contribution, the conservation status assessment of four vascular plants according to IUCN categories and criteria are presented. It includes the assessment of Epipactis maricae (Croce, Bongiorni, De Vivo & Fori) Presser & S.Hertel at global level, and the regional assessment of Cerinthe retorta Sm. (Italy), Platanthera kuenkelei H.Baumann subsp. kuenkelei (Europe) and Typha elephantina Roxb. (Egypt)

Global and Regional IUCN Red List Assessments: 5

In this contribution, the conservation status of four vascular plants according to IUCN categories and criteria are presented. It includes the assessment of Arceuthobium oxycedri (DC.) M.Bieb., Ionopsidium albiflorum Durieu, Trifolium latinum Sebast., and Vicia incisa M.Bieb. at a Regional level (Italy)

Red Listing plants under full national responsibility: Extinction risk and threats in the vascular flora endemic to Italy

Taxa endemic to a country are key elements for setting national conservation priorities and for driving conservation strategies, since their persistence is entirely dependent on national policy. We applied the IUCN Red List categories to all Italian endemic vascular plants (1340 taxa) to assess their current risk of extinction and to highlight their major threats. Our results revealed that six taxa are already extinct and that 22.4% (300 taxa) are threatened with extinction, while 18.4% (247; especially belonging to apomictic groups) have been categorized as Data Deficient. Italian endemic vascular plants are primarily threatened by natural habitat modification due to agriculture, residential and tourism development. Taxa occurring in coastal areas and lowlands, where anthropogenic impacts and habitat destruction are concentrated, display the greatest population decline and extinction. The national network of protected areas could be considered effective in protecting endemic-rich areas (ERAs) and endemic taxa, but ineffective in protecting narrow endemic-rich areas (NERAs), accordingly changes to the existing network may increase the effectiveness of protection. For the first time in the Mediterranean Basin biodiversity hotspot, we present a comprehensive extinction assessment for endemic plants under the full responsibility of a single country. This would provide an important step towards the prioritization and conservation of threatened endemic flora at Italian, European, and Mediterranean level. A successful conservation strategy of the Italian endemic vascular flora should implement the protected area system, solve some taxonomical criticism in poorly known genera, and should rely on monitoring threatened species, and on developing species-specific action plans

Notulae to the Italian native vascular flora: 8

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of native vascular flora in Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, exclusions, and status changes to the Italian administrative regions for taxa in the genera Ajuga, Chamaemelum, Clematis, Convolvulus, Cytisus, Deschampsia, Eleocharis, Epipactis, Euphorbia, Groenlandia, Hedera, Hieracium, Hydrocharis, Jacobaea, Juncus, Klasea, Lagurus, Leersia, Linum, Nerium, Onopordum, Persicaria, Phlomis, Polypogon, Potamogeton, Securigera, Sedum, Soleirolia, Stachys, Umbilicus, Valerianella, and Vinca. Nomenclatural and distribution updates, published elsewhere, and corrigenda are provided as Suppl. material 1

Notulae to the Italian alien vascular flora: 11

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of vascular flora alien to Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, exclusions, and status changes for Italy or for Italian administrative regions. Nomenclatural and distribution updates published elsewhere are provided as Suppl. material 1