Scientific article
OA Policy
English

Status and trends in the alien flora of Corsica

Published inBulletin OEPP, vol. 41, p. 85-99
Publication date2010
Abstract

This article summarizes and analyses some of the data published in Flora Corsica (Jeanmonod & Gamisans, 2007) in order to characterize the alien vascular plant flora of the island. The data analysed focus on different aspects of the alien flora such as diversity (species richness), abundance, lifeforms, vegetation belts, habitats and biogeographical origins. The results show that the alien species richness is currently high, representing 16.5% of the total flora, amongst which 37.5% are naturalized. The penetration of this flora occurs mainly at lower altitudes, and is still weak or absent in the higher altitude vegetation belts whereas it has increased over time within natural closed habitats. Over the last 11 years, the species richness of xenophytes has increased by 18.1%, which corresponds to an increase of 23.0% of the naturalized plants. Moreover, 24.8% of the alien taxa have increased in abundance. A scenario highlighting the trends of the introduced flora, and that includes issues of native biodiversity conservation, is proposed based on the results. The special case of invasive species is also considered, and their exponential increase on Corsica is highlighted. Other aspects of the alien flora, such as its taxonomic spectrum and biogeographical origins, are also analysed and are, whenever possible, compared with those of other geographical regions, particularly from the Mediterranean (Sardinia, Balearic Islands) and Continental Europe.

Keywords
  • Corsica
  • Alien
  • Flora
  • Diversity
  • Evolution
Citation (ISO format)
JEANMONOD, Daniel, SCHLÜSSEL, André, GAMISANS, Jacques. Status and trends in the alien flora of Corsica. In: Bulletin OEPP, 2010, vol. 41, p. 85–99. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2338.2011.02440.x
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accessLevelPublic
Identifiers
Journal ISSN0250-8052
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