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Itineraries
38 km), then streams like Torrente Guidaloca (between Castellamare
and the Zingaro reserve) and Torrente Forgia (13 km, W of Mt. Co-
fano), while only little gullies cross the steep slopes of the Zingaro
reserve, Marettimo and the Peninsula of San Vito Lo Capo.
According to USDA soil taxonomy, the area hosts a combination
of rock outcrops, lithic xerorthents (shallow soils with pH ≥7 and
typic and/or lithic rhodoxeralphs (‘terra rossa’, pH <7). + typic e/o
calcixerollic xerochrepts (calcic cambisols) on M. S. Giuliano (Erice).
If we consider the available thermo-pluviometric data coming
from three stations encompassing the area and located at different
altitudes, i.e. Erice, Castellamare del Golfo and San Vito Lo Capo, ac-
cording to Rivas-Martínez bioclimatic classification the coastal sector
of the Mounts of Trapani is subject to lower Thermomediterranean
thermotype and upper dry and upper subhumid ombrotype. Yearly
temperatures are of 13.5-19 °C, and the highest mean monthly tem-
peratures reach 24-27.5 °C (July-August) and never go below 5-12 °C
(January). The annual amount of rainfall ranges probably between
500 and 850 mm, with 4-5 months of drought stress between April-
May and September.

2.2. Flora and vegetation
Part of the coastal sector of the Mts. of Trapani (San Vito Lo Capo,
Scopello, Guidaloca) was visited by G. Gussone, A. Todaro and M.
Lojacono-Pojero during the XX century, but most of the available in-
formation on this area issues from field investigations started in the
Eighties of last century. As for Egadi islands, although some plants
from Favignana were already reported by Boccone (1697) and Ucria
(1789), the main islands have been explored between 1825 and 1895
and, after 60 years, since 1955 until today. More recently, also the vas-
cular flora of tiny satellite islets has been studied.
According to Brullo et al. (1995), the Mts. of Trapani belong to the
Drepano-Panormitan district. Among the species-richest of Sicily, this
area is listed among the Sicilian IPAs with the code SIC8 ‘Capo S. Vito
e Monti di Castellamare’, and hosts at least 900 taxa of vascular plants
and more than 200 taxa of biogeographic or conservation interest.
Among them, there are extremely localised endemics, like Hieracium
cophanense, Limonium cophanense, Erica sicula subsp. sicula, which only
occur on Mt. Cofano, Limonium todaroanum and Brassica villosa subsp.

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