Plant communities supported by the geological setting: the case history of the Isole dei Ciclopi (east Sicily)

This paper provides an updateD inventory of the vascular flora and a framework of the plant communities of the Isole dei Ciclopi (Acicastello, Catania) taking into account their geological setting. A total of 111 phytosociological relevés were performed in the period 2015-2016. The plant communities has been analyzed using WPGMA and Euclidean distance classification. The study area preserves interesting plant-communities, mainlyrepresented by shrubs vegetation (Oleo-Ceratonion siliquae and Pruno-Rubion ulmifolii), rocky coast communities (Crithmo-Staticion), cliff vegetation (Anthyllidion barbae-jovis), halo-nitrophilous vegetation (Pegano-Salsoletea),spring-flowering meadows (Frankenion pulverulentae) and nitrophilous communities (Allion triquetri and Echio-Galactition tomentosae). The vegetation analysis allow the identification of twelve vegetation types and also the reconstruction of three vegetation series. The collected data have been organized in a GIS and the following thematicmaps have been produced: vegetation map, habitats map (according to the 92/43/EEC Directive). According todirective 92/43/EU, only three habitat types were delimited through the phytosociological assessment of the plant communities. The flora of the investigated area consists of 102 taxa. A detailed geologicalinvestigation was carried out and a geological sketch map was performed. The comparison between the vegetation and geological maps shows a good correlation, mostly regarding the distribution of the plant communities onto the different types of substrata.