Plant Ecology and Evolution 151(2): 185-193, doi: 10.5091/plecevo.2018.1423
Assessment of plant species diversity associated with the carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua, Fabaceae) at the Mediterranean scale
expand article infoAlex Baumel‡, Pascal Mirleau§, Juan Viruel|, Magda Bou Dagher Kharrat, Stefano La Malfa#, Lahcen Ouahmane¤, Katia Diadema«, Marwa Moakhar§, Hervé Sanguin», Frédéric Médail§
‡ Aix Marseille University, Aix-en-Provence, France§ Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d’Ecologie marine et continentale (IMBE) [IMBE is sponsored by Aix Marseille University, Avignon University, CNRS and IRD], Station marine d’Endoume, Chemin de la Batterie des Lions, FR-13007 Marseille, France| Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3DS, United Kingdom¶ Université Saint-Joseph, Faculté des sciences, Laboratoire Caractérisation Génomique des Plantes, B.P. 11-514 Riad El Solh, Beyrouth 1107 2050, Lebanon# Università degli Studi di Catania, Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione e Ambiente (Di3A) Via Valdisavoia 5 – IT-95123 Catania, Italy¤ Université Cadi Ayyad Marrakech, Faculté des Sciences Semlalia, Laboratoire d’Ecologie et Environnement, Morocco« Conservatoire Botanique National Méditerranéen de Porquerolles (CBNMed), 34 avenue Gambetta, FR-83400 Hyères, France» Laboratoire des Symbioses Tropicales et Méditerranéennes (LSTM) [LSTM is sponsored by Univ Montpellier, CIRAD, IRD, INRA, Montpellier SupAgro], TA A-82/J Campus International de Baillarguet FR-34398 Montpellier cedex 5, France

Corresponding author: Alex Baumel ( alex.baumel@imbe.fr )

© Meise Botanic Garden and Royal Botanical Society of Belgium.
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Citation: Baumel A, Mirleau P, Viruel J, Bou Dagher Kharrat M, La Malfa S, Ouahmane L, Diadema K, Moakhar M, Sanguin H, Médail F (2018) Assessment of plant species diversity associated with the carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua, Fabaceae) at the Mediterranean scale. Plant Ecology and Evolution 151(2): 185-193. https://doi.org/10.5091/plecevo.2018.1423
Open Access
Abstract

Background and aims – The thermophilous woodlands of the Mediterranean region constitute reservoirs of genetic resources for several fruit trees. Among them, the carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua) is a key component of traditional Mediterranean agroecosystems but its ecology was never assessed at the scale of its whole distribution area. Fortunately, phytosociological literature shelters invaluable resources for several issues in conservation, among them the possibility to analyse plant biodiversity at regional or continental scale. Here, we present the results of a comprehensive survey of the phytosociological literature associated to carob tree.

Methods – We collected 1542 floristic relevés performed in 18 geographical areas distributed around the Mediterranean in which the presence of C. siliqua was recorded. Species composition of the plant communities was analysed by multivariate ordination and hierarchical classification, and species diversity was evaluated by rarefaction and prediction analyses of Hill numbers.

Key results – Multivariate analyses revealed that plant communities associated with the carob tree are well differentiated between the Western and Eastern basins. A wider range of floristic differentiation is revealed in the Western basin where the vegetation reaches its maximal heterogeneity. By comparison, in the Eastern basin the plant assemblages associated with the carob tree are more homogeneous and with a lower species richness but a higher Simpson diversity.

Conclusions – The large ecological range of the Mediterranean carob trees is potentially an important evolutionary legacy for the conservation of genetic resources and seed sourcing for new uses such as restoration ecology.

Keywords
biodiversity, biogeography, Mediterranean, species diversity, conservation, natural resources, carob tree, Ceratonia siliqua, crop wild relative

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