First Survey of the Vascular and Cryptogam Flora on Bulgaria’s Ancient Mounds
This work represents the first study of the floristic diversity on Bulgaria’s ancient mounds. The objective of this research was to assess the importance of the mounds for the preservation of the native vascular and cryptogam flora. Our sampling design included 111 ancient mounds distributed through...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-03-01
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| Series: | Plants |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/11/5/705 |
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| author | Iva Apostolova Desislava Sopotlieva Magdalena Valcheva Anna Ganeva Veselin Shivarov Nikolay Velev Kiril Vassilev Tsvetelina Terziyska Georgi Nekhrizov |
| author_facet | Iva Apostolova Desislava Sopotlieva Magdalena Valcheva Anna Ganeva Veselin Shivarov Nikolay Velev Kiril Vassilev Tsvetelina Terziyska Georgi Nekhrizov |
| author_sort | Iva Apostolova |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This work represents the first study of the floristic diversity on Bulgaria’s ancient mounds. The objective of this research was to assess the importance of the mounds for the preservation of the native vascular and cryptogam flora. Our sampling design included 111 ancient mounds distributed throughout the country. We recorded a total of 1059 vascular plants, 58 bryophytes and 61 lichen taxa. Despite their small area, the mounds were shown to preserve nearly a quarter of the Bulgarian flora. The vegetation cover on the mounds included 61% perennials indicating a long-term persistence and stability. The majority (98%) of the established vascular plants were native species. Although the conservation significance of the vascular plant species were not common, we recorded 2 critically endangered, 9 endangered and 14 Balkan endemics during the present study. The lichen <i>Arthopyrenia salicis</i> was recorded for the first time in Bulgaria and a new locality of the rare bryophyte <i>Ceratodon conicus</i> was discovered. The established compositional difference between plots from the northern and southern slopes of the mounds (88.95%) is a testament to the high local habitat diversity. The prevalence of species characteristic for <i>Festuco-Brometea</i> suggests that the mounds preserve fragments of native grasslands and steppes. The variation in cover of agricultural and other human modified areas in the mounds’ immediate surroundings did not substantially affect their species richness. We argue that the ancient mounds should be taken into consideration in future green space planning. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:25:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c675dd2f19f849b6bc20f45493b024e8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2223-7747 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:25:37Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Plants |
| spelling | doaj.art-c675dd2f19f849b6bc20f45493b024e82023-11-23T23:37:05ZengMDPI AGPlants2223-77472022-03-0111570510.3390/plants11050705First Survey of the Vascular and Cryptogam Flora on Bulgaria’s Ancient MoundsIva Apostolova0Desislava Sopotlieva1Magdalena Valcheva2Anna Ganeva3Veselin Shivarov4Nikolay Velev5Kiril Vassilev6Tsvetelina Terziyska7Georgi Nekhrizov8Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2 Gagarin Str., 1113 Sofia, BulgariaInstitute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2 Gagarin Str., 1113 Sofia, BulgariaInstitute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2 Gagarin Str., 1113 Sofia, BulgariaInstitute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2 Gagarin Str., 1113 Sofia, BulgariaInstitute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2 Gagarin Str., 1113 Sofia, BulgariaInstitute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2 Gagarin Str., 1113 Sofia, BulgariaInstitute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2 Gagarin Str., 1113 Sofia, BulgariaInstitute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2 Gagarin Str., 1113 Sofia, BulgariaNational Archaeological Institute with Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2 Saborna Str., 1000 Sofia, BulgariaThis work represents the first study of the floristic diversity on Bulgaria’s ancient mounds. The objective of this research was to assess the importance of the mounds for the preservation of the native vascular and cryptogam flora. Our sampling design included 111 ancient mounds distributed throughout the country. We recorded a total of 1059 vascular plants, 58 bryophytes and 61 lichen taxa. Despite their small area, the mounds were shown to preserve nearly a quarter of the Bulgarian flora. The vegetation cover on the mounds included 61% perennials indicating a long-term persistence and stability. The majority (98%) of the established vascular plants were native species. Although the conservation significance of the vascular plant species were not common, we recorded 2 critically endangered, 9 endangered and 14 Balkan endemics during the present study. The lichen <i>Arthopyrenia salicis</i> was recorded for the first time in Bulgaria and a new locality of the rare bryophyte <i>Ceratodon conicus</i> was discovered. The established compositional difference between plots from the northern and southern slopes of the mounds (88.95%) is a testament to the high local habitat diversity. The prevalence of species characteristic for <i>Festuco-Brometea</i> suggests that the mounds preserve fragments of native grasslands and steppes. The variation in cover of agricultural and other human modified areas in the mounds’ immediate surroundings did not substantially affect their species richness. We argue that the ancient mounds should be taken into consideration in future green space planning.https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/11/5/705bryophytesgeneralist plantsgrassland specialistshistorical monumentsinvasive alien plantskurgans |
| spellingShingle | Iva Apostolova Desislava Sopotlieva Magdalena Valcheva Anna Ganeva Veselin Shivarov Nikolay Velev Kiril Vassilev Tsvetelina Terziyska Georgi Nekhrizov First Survey of the Vascular and Cryptogam Flora on Bulgaria’s Ancient Mounds Plants bryophytes generalist plants grassland specialists historical monuments invasive alien plants kurgans |
| title | First Survey of the Vascular and Cryptogam Flora on Bulgaria’s Ancient Mounds |
| title_full | First Survey of the Vascular and Cryptogam Flora on Bulgaria’s Ancient Mounds |
| title_fullStr | First Survey of the Vascular and Cryptogam Flora on Bulgaria’s Ancient Mounds |
| title_full_unstemmed | First Survey of the Vascular and Cryptogam Flora on Bulgaria’s Ancient Mounds |
| title_short | First Survey of the Vascular and Cryptogam Flora on Bulgaria’s Ancient Mounds |
| title_sort | first survey of the vascular and cryptogam flora on bulgaria s ancient mounds |
| topic | bryophytes generalist plants grassland specialists historical monuments invasive alien plants kurgans |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/11/5/705 |
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