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Biodiversity Journal, 2015, 6 (4): 795–802

The lichens in a relic wood of Juniperus turbinata Guss.(Pinales
Cupressaceae) with a new record for Sicily

Daniela Cataldo* & Pietro Minissale

Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche Geologiche e Ambientali. Sez. Biologia vegetale, University of Catania, Italy
*Corresponding author, email: cataldodany@yahoo.it

ABSTRACT This paper regards a research conducted on terrestrial and epiphytic lichen flora growing in an
extensive juniper bush, Juniperus turbinata Guss. (Pinales Cupressaceae), in southeast Sicily.
The flora recorded, although small in number, 29 species in all, includes several species quite
rare in Italy or Sicily. One in particular, Heppia adglutinata (Kremp.) A. Massal. is new for
Sicily and it is however rather rare in the Mediterranean area. Some considerations about the
distribution and ecology of the found species are done.

KEY WORDS Epiphytic lichens; terrestrial lichens; Heppia adglutinata; juniper woodland; Mediterranean.

Received 27.10.2015; accepted 19.11.2015; printed 30.12.2015

INTRODUCTION bibliographic references are available. The first
studies were carried out by Sarrión & Burgaz
Juniperus turbinata Guss. (Pinales Cupres- (1995) Aragón & Martínez (1997) in Spain; later
saceae) is a threatened tree species occurring in the Aragón et al. (2004) made a study on the lichen
Mediterranean area; it grows mainly in the coastal flora growing on Juniperus oxycedrus L. The same
belt; only in north Africa it reaches high altitudes taxon was investigated by Zedda & Sipman (2001)
(Mazur et al., 2015). It is listed as a vulnerable for Sardinia.
species in the Red Book of Italian plants and its
various communities are included in Annex I of the Regarding the soil lichens of Mediterranean
Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC as a priority habitat juniper communities, literature data are rather
for conservation. The recent discovery of a very scarce. Gallego Fernández & Díaz Barradas
big population in south Sicily (Minissale & Scian- (1997) give some information on dunal lichens into
drello, 2013) has led us to conduct a research on the Juniperus turbinata woodlands of south western
lichen flora of this site (Fig. 1), taking into account Spain, while Cogoni et al. (2011) examine terri-
that the good conservation and big age of the popu- colous lichens and briophythes of well-preserved
lation could be a favorable condition for a high native Juniperus woodlands of Sardinia.
and peculiar lichen biodiversity regarding both epi-
phytic and terricolous taxa. The aim of this study is to increase the know-
ledge of the lichen flora of a Juniperus turbinata
The lichen flora growing on the Mediterranean woodland growing in a very arid site that is Piano
junipers is still poorly known and only some Pirrera near Acate (Ragusa) in south eastern Sicily
(Fig. 2).