Page 6 - PastaLaMantia_2013

The vascular flora of the satellite islands of Sicily

INTRODUCTION
The so-called “Tyrrhenian area” is among the most important hot spots

of plant diversity in the world (Médail and Quézel, 1997; Myers et al., 2000).
According to the most recent checklist of the Sicilian vascular flora (Raimondo
et al., 2010), about 3,000 native plants live on the island, and 13% of them are
endemic (Table 1). Circum-Sicilian satellite islands and islets also have high
species richness. In fact, although they represent just 1% (ca. 250 Km2) of the
whole regional territory, they host some 44% of its total flora (Pasta, 1997). In
addition, the number of endemic plants hosted by them is high if compared
with the main island and its two floristically richest mountainous areas, i.e.,
Madonie Mts. and Mt. Etna (Table 1).

Table 1. Endemic species richness in Sicily: a rough comparison between mountain ranges
and satellite islands.

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