Page 1 - 5(1)_39-54

Biodiversity Journal, 2014, 5 (1): 39–54

Analysis of the vascular flora of four satellite islets of the Egadi
Archipelago (W Sicily), with some notes on their vegetation
and fauna

Salvatore Pasta1*, Arnold Sciberras2, Jeffrey Sciberras3 & Leonardo Scuderi4

1National Research Council (CNR), Istitute of Biosciences and Bioresources (IBBR), Corso Calatafimi, 414 - 90129, Palermo,
Italy; e-mail: salvatore.pasta@ibbr.cnr.it
2133, Arnest, Arcade Str., Paola, Malta; e-mail: bioislets@gmail.com
324 Camilleri crt Flt 5,Triq il-Marlozz, Ghadira, Mellieha, Malta; e-mail: wildalienplanet@gmail.com
4via Andromaca, 60 - 91100 Trapani, Italy; e-mail: scuderileo@yahoo.it
*Corresponding author

ABSTRACT This paper represents the first contribution on the vascular flora of the stack named Faraglione
di Levanzo and of three satellite islets of Favignana, i.e. Prèveto, Galeotta and a stack located
at Cala Rotonda. A sketch of their vegetation pattern is also provided, as well as a list of all
the terrestrial fauna, with some more detailed information on the vertebrates. The finding of
some bones of Mustela nivalis Linnaeus, 1758 is the first record for the whole archipelago
and deserves further investigations. The floristic data have been used in order to analyze
life-form and chorological spectra and to assess species-area relationship, the peculiarity of
local plant assemblages, the occurrence of islet specialists, the risk of alien plants invasion
and the refugium role played by the islets. The significant differences among the check-lists
compiled by the two different couples of authors during their own visits to Prèveto and Galeotta
underline the need of planning regular and standardized field investigations in order to avoid
an overestimation of local species turnover rates.

KEY WORDS Ellenberg bioindicator values; Life-form spectra; Mediterranean Sea; Unbalanced biota.

Received 05.02.2014; accepted 12.02.2014; printed 30.03.2014

INTRODUCTION flora of four of these tiny islets, i.e. the “Faraglione”
(= stack) of Levanzo (hereinafter named “FLE”)
The aims of the paper and 3 satellite islets of Favignana, i.e. Prèveto
(“PRE”), Galeotta (“GAL”), and a little islet with-
Egadi Islands are located in the province of out any official name situated within Cala Rotonda
Trapani and form the westernmost archipelago of and therefore indicated as “ROT” (Figs. 1-5).
Sicily. The whole archipelago includes three main
islands, i.e. Favignana, Marettimo and Levanzo, The present study enters the strand of recent
and almost ten islets and stacks, mostly dispersed investigations on the botanical features of circum-
in the sea near the coast of Trapani or between Sicilian satellite islets (Siracusa, 1996; Pasta, 1997a,
Trapani and Levanzo. In this paper we present the 2001, 2002; Scuderi et al., 2007; Pasta & Scuderi,
results of a five-years-long investigation carried out 2008; Lo Cascio & Pasta, 2008b, 2012; Sciberras &
by two different teams, mainly focused on the vascular Sciberras, 2012) and updates the available informa-
tion on the vascular flora of Egadi Archipelago (Di