engleski

Halophilous vegetation of the east Adriatic coast in Croatia

For the first time it was completely analysed halophilous herbaceous vegetation of the eastern Adriatic coast in Croatia. For this purpose it was used data set of 458 relevés and 352 plant taxa. By the classification (Ward's method) it was obtained 16 minor and three major groups. Minor groups correspond very well to the traditionally accepted associations. Among the major groups, first corresponds to vegetation on muddy shores of the class Sarcocornietea fruticosae Br.- Bl. & R. Tx. 1952 (groups 1-3), the second major group corresponds to several vegetation classes (Ammophiletea Br.-Bl. & T. Tx. 1943, Cakiletea maritimae R. Tx. 1950, Juncetea maritimi R. Tx. 1951, Thero-Salicornietea Pignatti 1953 em. R. Tx. in R. Tx. & Oberd. 1958) (groups 4-13), and the third major group corresponds to vegetation on maritime rocks of the class Crithmo-Limonietea Br.-Bl. 1947 (groups 14-16). Based on numerical analyses, every community was characterised by floristic composition, ecological conditions (Ellenberg indicator values), life forms, plant horological types and they were presented by distribution maps. By the PCA analysis it was revealed that variation in species composition is mostly influenced by substrate type. The coastal region of the eastern Adriatic in Croatia consists predominantly of maritime rocks, and in lesser part of saltmarshes, maritime shingle and sandy shores. From the standpoint of nature conservation almost all types of the halophilous coastal vegetation belongs to the threatened type of habitats in Croatia due to increase in tourism, building by the shore and other anthropogenic activities.

vegetation; phytosociology; halophilous habitats; Croatian coast

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