freshwater habitats ( 8.9 %) and coastal habitats ( 4.6 %) are represented by small percentages . However , given the small areas occupied by each of these habitat categories , we realize the importance of their flora .
Focusing on the endemic and range-restricted taxa , the assessment revealed that the endemics predominate in the terrestrial habitats with a high percentage of natural and semi-natural open habitats . In total , about 78 % of all endemic and range-restricted taxa are mostly related to steep cliffs and high-altitude dry Mediterranean and sub-Mediterranean meadows ( Table 2 ). The diversity of palaeo- and neo-endemic species , as expressed by the number and percentage of endemic and range-restricted taxa , tends to be greater in habitat categories with appropriate ( more or less ) isolated locations such as steep rocks , dry rocky habitats at high altitudes of the high mountains , but also on islands and peninsulas .
Coastal habitats are represented in terms of their endemic and range-restricted taxa by a rate similar to that of the total taxa , while woodland and forest habitats are characterized by slightly smaller percentages . On the contrary , disturbed habitats and freshwater habitats are much poorer in endemic and range-restricted taxa , compared to their percentage in the whole flora ; these two widespread habitat categories , with similar ecology throughout the Mediterranean and beyond ; include mostly widely distributed species , with a higher rate of non-native taxa compared to other habitat categories .
Prof . Panayotis Dimopoulos Department of Biology , Laboratory of Botany , University of Patras
2018 : 2nd edition of the Flora of Greece web site
Link ( link ): http :// portal . cybertaxonomy . org / flora-greece / content
July 2018 : The second edition ( version 2 , July 2018 ) of the “ Flora of Greece ” website ( EDIT platform ) was published , including all taxonomic and floristic information and all changes published between October 2013 and July 2018 .
Α year ago , in June 2017 the 1st version of the Flora of Greece site (“ Flora of Greece web ”) was released and comprises :
■■ the printed version of the book on the vascular plants of Greece ( Dimopoulos et al ., 2013 )
■■the supplement of the publication ( Dimopoulos et al ., 2016 ).
Currently , all the data included in the Vascular Plants of Greece ( 2013 ) became freely available to all those interested and working for the research and conservation of our country ’ s high species diversity .
One of the most important achievements in this first year of the online Flora platform in Greece ( based on the Vascular Plants Checklist of Greece- Dimopoulos et al ., 2013 , 2016 ), is the active support by a large group of people exploring , photographing plants and nature , a voluntary basis ( see below at link : http :// portal . cybertaxonomy . org / flora-greece / credits ).
This activity resulted in a total number of more than 2500 photos uploaded to our site , which correspond to ca . 1500 plant taxa of the Greek flora ( mid July 2018 ). More than 250 photos are expected to be uploaded to the Flora of Greece website by September 2018 .
On behalf of the Hellenic Botanical Society , I warmly thank the below mentioned colleagues , nature explorers for their courtesy contribution so far and contribute to the completeness of the online flora platform in Greece based on Vascular Plants Checklist of Greece :
Katerína Goúla , Eckhard Willing , Nick Turland , Arne Strid , Thomás Giannákis , Ioánnis Bazós , María Panítsa , Giánnis Kofinás , Thanásis Papanikoláou , Giórgos Zárkos , Mártha Charitonídou , Giórgos Korákis , Vasílis Ioannídis , Thierry Delahaye , Richard Lansdown , Elefthérios Kipópoulos , Georgía Fássou , Gkízela Nikolopoúlou , Tánia Zachariádou , Evángelos Kotríklas , Christíni Fournaráki , Johannes Flohe , Alain Poirel , Stélios Charalampídis , Grigóris Iatroú , Stephen Lenton , Jan Jordan , Knud Thomsen , Panagiótis Trígas , Spýros Tsiftsís , Ioánnis Kókkoris , Marc Vercaigne .
Prof . Panayotis Dimopoulos Department of Biology , Laboratory of Botany , University of Patras
The Herbarium of the Botanical Museum National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
The botanical collections belonging to the Herbarium of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens ( international certified acronym : ATHU ) are deposited at the Botanical Museum , an independent institution supervised by the Department of Biology and managed by its respective Director elected for 3 years . The Botanical Museum was settled as an independent institution in 1868 , when it went independent from the older Physiographic Museum . The Botanical Museum was responsible for the organization and preservation of botanical collections , some of which are clearly older than the Museum itself . Today , collections spanning a period of almost 2 centuries are preserved in the Museum , with the earliest verified one dating back to 1822 . Unconfirmed information refers to the existence of even older specimens of significant historical value collected in the 1770s and 1780s .
Botanical collections
The botanical collections of ATHU are divided into two major sections : historical collections covering the period from the early nineteenth century to about 1910-1920 and modern collections that begin shortly before World War II and continue to this day . The exact number of plant samples in ATHU is unknown . Previous estimates indicate 117,000 specimens but this number is indicative only and needs to be assessed with caution as no systematic inventory of the botanical material has ever been carried out .
Among the most valuable ATHU collections are the following : i ) the entire herbarium of Theodorus Orphanides ( 1817-1886 ), Professor of Botany and Rector of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens with at least 45,000 specimens . Orphanides ’ collection was created both from his personal sampling and from international exchanges , such as those arranged with Asa Gray ( 1810-1888 ), Professor of Botany at Harvard University for several decades . ( ii ) Part of Theodor von Heldreich ’ s ( 1822-1902 ) herbarium . Von Heldreich , a German botanist who settled and worked in Greece , travelled extensively and created an important plant collection with many species new to science . ( iii ) Part of the botanical material collected by Basil Tuntas , who was active mainly between 1895 and 1913 .
Although the historical ATHU collections have a life history equal to or greater than the founding of the modern Greek state , they have regretfully received little care in recent years . The fragile and brittle material has suffered from successive movements , inattentive handling , floods , inappropriate storage and poor management ( Figure 1 ). However , the use of mercury salts directly on specimens , as a preventive application against insects , has prevented the insults and destruction that they could cause .
The largest part of ATHU modern collections cover the period of the last five decades . Prior to 2010 , these collections were scattered and fragmented in many different places of Ecology and Systematics department , as individual researchers preferred ( and some still prefer ) to keep their samples under their personal supervision . From 2010 onwards , a significant effort is being made to bring the collections together in a single space ( Figure 2 ), carefully capture collection information in English-language labels , integrate their data into databases and make data available to any interested scientist upon request . Several thousands of samples have already been registered , making some statistical processing of botanical collections kept in ATHU possible . Moreover , care is taken to ensure that botanical specimens are processed and stored in such a way as to permit the proper preservation of their genetic material . In this way , each plant sample is a simultaneous valuable source of botanical data , ecological data and genetic information .
Importance of ATHU
The Herbarium of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens is perhaps the only Greek Herbarium that includes international collections from different regions of the world . Part of these collections is attributed to Theodorus Orphanides , who described in a special 1874 report the exchanges he achieved with scientists from abroad . Furthermore , ATHU is rich in nomenclatural types , i . e ., valuable specimens on which a plant name and description are based ( Figure 3 ). Some types are rare and scarce . All types require special handling , digital reproduction and maximum protection to ensure their long-term preservation .
The range of preserved collections , arranged in space and time , makes ATHU unique in Greece as it offers the opportunity to study botanical diversity within a period of almost two centuries . Through collections , it is possible to detect changes in populations and habitats of many rare , endangered and endemic plant species , contributing to their current state of conservation ( Figure 4 ). ATHU supports current research programs ( e . g ., The Flora of Greece Project ) and assists Greek and foreign researchers in a variety of scientific fields .
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