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796 DANIELA CATALDO & PIETRO MINISSALE
MATERIAL AND METHODS oceanic bioclimate, with thermotypes ranging from
the lower thermomediterranean to upper thermo-
The examined material has been collected mediterranean, and ombrotypes from the lower
during a several field trips during January and semiarid to upper semiarid. The J. turbinata com-
February 2014. Many trees of Juniperus have been munity covers an area of about 14 hectares and the
analyzed in order to produce a complete epiphytic population was judged to exceed 12,000 indi-
lichen flora. Samples were collected both on the viduals, some of which are more than 6 meters high,
trunk and on the branches. Other samples on the really the largest known population for Quaternary
ground have been collected. For the identification sand deposits in Sicily (Minissale & Sciandrello,
a Zeiss Axiostar Plus binocular (10 x) microscope 2013). Juniperus turbinata is the dominant species
was used to observe the specimens with objectives associated with other shrubs such as Pistacia len-
having factors of magnification of 5X, 10X, 40X, tiscus, Ephedra fragilis, Euphorbia dendroides,
100X oil immersion. The following keys were used: Rosmarinus officinalis.
Clauzade & Roux (1985, 1987), Nimis et al. (1993),
Nimis & Martellos (2008). Spot tests, C, K and RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
I, have been used for testing some species. The
nomenclature follows Nimis (1993). Two annotated lists of the lichens collected in
the examined site are presented, one of epiphytic
Study area lichens and another regarding terrestrial ones. The
lichens are showed with information about their
The study area covers the sandy hill of Piano ecology in Italy and when significant in Sicily, as
Pirrera (Acate, province of Ragusa, Sicily, Italy) reported by Nimis & Poelt (1987) and by Nimis
situated approximately seven kilometers from the (1993) and their distribution in Europe based
coast of the Gulf of Gela. It is mainly composed of mainly on Nimis (1993) and Nimis & Martellos
Pleistocene substrates such as calcarenites and sand (2008).
deposits. Juniper community grows mainly on
south-facing slopes. Following the phytogeographic THE LIST OF EPIPHYTIC LICHENS
subdivision of Sicily by Brullo et al. (2011), this
area, characterized by sand deposits, belongs to the Familia ARTHONIACEAE
Camarino-Pachinense district included in the south-
ern Sicilian subsector, together with the Hyblaean Arthonia albopulverea Nyl
district. According to the bioclimatic classification
proposed by Rivas-Martinez (1993, 2004), the study On twigs. In Italy it has been recorded only in a
area falls within the Mediterranean pluviseasonal few regions (Nimis, 1993). In Sicily it has been
Figure 1. Study area localized by red square (Sicily map Figure 2. Juniperus turbinata community at Piano Pirrera,
from Sémhur/Wikimedia Commons, 2015, modified). Acate (Ragusa, Sicily).
