Flora and vegetation of the Maltese islands
The flora and vegetation of the Maltese islands are characterized by their typically Mediterranean character. It is particularly close to the flora and vegetation of Sicily , which is only around 100 kilometers away , but is also influenced by the North African flora .
With around 1100 higher plant species, the Maltese islands have a remarkable biodiversity due to their small size, the low habitat diversity and the enormous human influence on a Mediterranean flora . A large proportion of the species are considered non-indigenous.
No area of the archipelago has been left free from human influences; its transformation began as early as the Neolithic period with the use of wood . Today the islands are almost without forests, characteristic are mainly vegetation forms such as steppe, maquis or the particularly frequent garrigue .
Research into Maltese flora began in the 17th century, but it wasn't until the 20th century that continuous floristic work began to emerge . The extraordinarily high level of human influence, which has been increased by increasing tourism, is increasingly raising questions about possible solutions to the conflicts that arise between humans and nature.
Natural space
Geographical location
The Maltese islands are in the middle of the east-west axis of the Mediterranean, around 100 kilometers south of Sicily, 350 kilometers north of Tripoli and almost 300 kilometers east of Tunis . They extend over a length of 45 kilometers from northwest to southeast.
The archipelago comprises three inhabited islands, namely Malta (about 246 km²), Gozo (about 67 km²) and Comino (about 3 km²), as well as the uninhabited islets of Cominotto , Filfla with Filfoletta, Saint Paul's Islands and Fungus Rock with a total of less than 1 km² area. The highest points of the three main islands are cliffs with heights of 253 (Malta), 135 (Gozo) and 75 (Comino) meters. The profile of the terrain is relatively even, there are no mountains or deep valleys. There are some small springs, but there are no larger natural bodies of water such as lakes or rivers. Due to the small size of the islands, no point inland is more than 6.5 kilometers from the coast, which is why a certain salt tolerance is a necessary characteristic of all plant species on the islands.
geology
The islands form the so-called Malta Plateau , which lies on the African continental plate and, like neighboring Sicily, geologically belongs to Africa. From the end of the Tertiary to around 12,000 years ago there was a land bridge between southern Sicily and North Africa that divided the early Mediterranean into two basins and is still preserved today as an underwater ridge. During the Ice Ages, the water level of the Mediterranean rose and fell and repeatedly flooded this land bridge. In times of low water levels, this offered a way for North African plant species to migrate to Malta.
On the oldest rock layers, deposits from the Miocene followed by globigerine limestone and blue clay as well as coral limestone . So geologically the islands are quite young. In places, Pleistocene deposits (old soil formations, river gravel , conglomerates , breccias and dunes of the coasts as well as fillings of cavities and crevices) appear.
Due to the calcareous soils, almost all plants in the Maltese flora are lime-loving or at least lime-tolerant.
Geomorphology and Soils
As a result of the geological source material, most of the Maltese soils are slightly alkaline with a pH value usually above 8.0 . Three main types of soil can be distinguished: in addition to relatively young, carbonatic raw soils mostly in the southwest of Malta and the center of Gozo with a calcium carbonate content of up to 90% and a very low humus content of 1 to 1.5% can be found in the center of Malta and in the middle and western Gozo older Xerorendzina soils ( Rendzina characterized by semi-arid drought ) with a calcium carbonate content between 55 and 80 and an average humus content of 2 to 3%. The oldest soils, however, are the fossil terra rossa and terra fusca as well as their intermediate forms with humus contents around 4.5% and calcium carbonate contents of only 2 to 15%, which dominate the coasts of Gozo and the north, south and south-west of Malta.
Characteristic topographical elements of the islands are round and about . The former are almost vertical, continuously eroding rock faces, at the foot of which the rubble from erosion collects. Due to their inaccessibility and the areas of retreat formed by rock walls and rubble, the surrounding areas are also important retreats for endemic species of flora and fauna. The Widien (plural of wied , also closely related to the Arabic term wadi ) are deeply cut watercourses that are covered by vegetation are mostly overgrown and evenly water in autumn and winter. They were cut into the surface of the islands by watercourses under more humid climatic conditions, such as during the Pleistocene , or they were created by tectonic events. A few Widien have their own springs and so have water all year round. Therefore, these Widien are among the most species-rich locations on the islands.
Another important feature of the island, which distinguishes it from many other, almost always extremely dry islands in the central Mediterranean, are the numerous freshwater sources that feed from rainwater-collecting aquifers in the limestone sealed by a layer of clay. Without them, dense human settlement on the islands would not have been possible to the present day.
climate
The Maltese islands have a typical Mediterranean climate: the summers are hot and dry, the winters cool and humid. Larger amounts of precipitation only occur in the period between October and March, from May to the beginning of September, however, the amounts of precipitation are so low that during this time plant growth practically comes to a standstill. The relative humidity is quite high at 65 to 80%. The mean annual precipitation is around 550 millimeters, but is very variable over the years. The temperatures are different, which - typical for an island - are quite constant throughout the year. The number of hours of sunshine is high even in winter. It is quite windy on the islands and calm is rare. Long-lasting rain is also rare. Frost and snow are only very sporadically documented, which are not only extremely rare phenomena, but if they do, then only occur very briefly.
The climatic conditions with long dry period in summer enforce that perennial, not succulent plants need to insert a rest period over the summer, so pull geophytes z. B. in their persistence organs.
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Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Malta International Airport
Source: temperature, precipitation, rainy days, hours of sunshine
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Flora story
Little is known about the flora of the Maltese archipelago in the Pleistocene , unspecified finds exist of real laurel and Aleppo pines . Evidenced from the flora of the early Holocene are common Judas tree , hawthorn species, ash species as well as representatives of the genera Phillyrea and possibly the olive trees . Interglacial pollen finds are characterized by a flora that the montane regions of Sicily was similar, dominated by grasses , hazel , pine , alder , hornbeam , ferns and sedge plants . At the same time, the vegetation of larger wetlands can be identified through pollen from milfoil , buttercup , bipeds and peat moss .
biodiversity
| island | Size (km²) | Height (m) | Number of species (native) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malta | 316 | 253 | ≈800 |
| Balearic Islands | 5014 | 1445 | ≈1500 |
| Crete | 8259 | 2456 | 1635 |
| Corsica | 8680 | 2710 | 2465 |
| Sicily | 25707 | 3350 | 2707 |
The flora of the Maltese islands consists (according to the published volumes 1 to 4 of the Med-Checklist as well as the published entries in the Euro + Med Plantbase and the Flora of the Maltese Islands ) from around 1100 vascular plant species . Given the small surface area, the lack of diversity of habitats and the enormous population pressure, this is a remarkable wealth of plant species for a Mediterranean island (see comparison table). Of these 1100 about 950 (according to other surveys 800) are native or old-born ( archaeophytes ), while about 75 species are firmly established neophytes and about the same number occur more or less inconsistently. With 10 to 20% of the species, the Maltese flora has a relatively large proportion of non-native flora. Around 350 species are considered extinct, endangered or rare.
According to the current state of knowledge, around 13 species and 4 subspecies (the taxonomic status of which is not certain in all cases) are endemic to the Maltese archipelago. The epithet melitensis from the Latin word for Malta often refers to such endemics. Some of these species are so-called paleo-endemics, i.e. relics of pre-glacial Mediterranean flora that immigrated during the Messinian salinity crisis .
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This means that only a little over 1% of the Maltese flowering plant species are endemic . In comparison with the other larger Mediterranean islands such as Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily, Crete or the Balearic Islands, whose degree of endemism is four to ten times as high, this is an extremely low value. The reason for this is that Malta has a much smaller area, only very low relief differences and thus a lower diversity of locations. Further explanations are that the archipelago, 12,000 years old, has only been isolated from the mainland for a relatively short time and has been greatly changed by human influence.
Regardless of its name, the best-known Maltese plant is not endemic, the Maltese sponge ( Cynomorium coccineum ), which occurs in Malta only on the Fungus Rock (English for "mushroom rock") off Gozo, but also in the rest of the Mediterranean. in Macaronesia as well as in the salt deserts of Central Asia.
The cryptogam flora has so far been considered to have been insufficiently researched . Among the more than 120 known mosses of the islands is also the liverwort Riccia melitensis , which is only known from Malta . In addition, around 150 algae , as many large mushrooms and around 300 lichens have been identified. Despite the lack of forests, a little over 70 types of slime mold are indigenous.
Floral relationships
The Maltese flora is a typical Mediterranean flora, most of its plants can also be found in other regions of the Mediterranean area. Their composition is very similar to the flora and vegetation of Sicily due to close geobotanical relationships, and the relationship to Malta to the north opposite the Ragusa peninsula is particularly striking. The Maltese flora differs from the Sicilian flora by a higher proportion of North African plant species.
The Maltese islands are home to some semi-endemic species (i.e. species that are not only found in the Maltese archipelago, but only slightly beyond), which clearly illustrate the close family relationships. Such is the group of Siculo-Maltese endemics, which can be found in Sicily and occasionally in Calabria as well as in Malta (e.g. Desmazeria pignattii , Oncostema sicula and the dummy crocus Romulea melitensis , which until recently was considered endemic to Malta), but also the pelago-Maltese endemics that Malta shares with the neighboring Pelagic Islands (e.g. Linaria pseudolaxiflora , Elatine gussonei and Daucus lopadusanus ). The connections to North Africa, on the other hand, document the - highly endangered - populations of the sandarak tree ( Tetraclinis articulata ), which otherwise occurs almost exclusively in the Maghreb , and of Periploca angustifolia . The endemic species Darniella melitensis and Jasonia bocconei also have their closest relatives in North Africa. Also worth mentioning is the sea onion species Urginea pancration , which occurs mainly in southern Italy, on Sicily, Malta and in the Great Syrte area and the Balearic Islands .
Large parts of the Maltese flora are reflected in the flora of other Mediterranean regions. Around 95% of the flora can also be found in Sicily, 90% on the Spanish coast, between 80 and 90% on the coasts of southern France, western Italy and Sardinia, Corsica and the Balearic Islands, almost 80% in south-eastern Greece and 70% itself still in Crete. The pan-Mediterranean character of the Maltese flora was and is presumably reinforced by human influences such as trade.
vegetation
Main ecosystems
Forest areas
It is assumed that the island - typical for the central Mediterranean Sea - was largely overgrown with hard deciduous forests of stone oak ( Quercus ilex ) and Aleppo pine ( Pinus halepensis ) as well as undergrowth of smaller shrubs and trees before human settlement was. With the settlement of the island, a gradual deforestation began, as the forests were cleared for construction and arable land or the wood was used as timber. Today these forests have completely disappeared, their only remains are around 25 holm oaks with an estimated age between 600 and 900 years, which are spread over four locations on the island of Malta.
These fragments of the original forest no longer form a functioning ecosystem, and neither do any tree-lined areas (parks, plantations, etc.) that were planted by humans. Only the Buskett Gardens forest, which goes back to human plantings, can claim to represent a natural and self-sustaining forest ecosystem. Buskett Gardens is dominated by Aleppo pines, olive trees ( Olea europaea ), stone oaks and carob trees ( Ceratonia siliqua ) and an undergrowth of turpentine pistachios ( Pistacia terebinthus ), holly buckthorn ( Rhamnus alaternus ) and common hawthorns are of importance ( Crataegus monogyna ). As the only functioning forest area on the island, Buskett Gardens is an important retreat for plants and animals that are dependent on forests and whose populations on the island are therefore endangered, despite its "semi-naturalness". The same applies to some somewhat older reforestations (e.g. Bajda Ridge, Wardija Ridge), albeit to a lesser extent. Efforts by the government to encourage reforestation with non-native species such as wild animals have been heavily criticized by conservationists. B. to operate eucalyptus or acacia .
Macchie
A typical result of deforestation processes in the Mediterranean area with subsequent erosion is the 1 to 3 meter high maquis . Its Maltese expression is that of an evergreen and impoverished vegetation, which consists mainly of trees and shrubs such as carob tree, olive tree, mastic bush ( Pistacia lentiscus ), Rhamnus lycioides subsp. oleoides , Teucrium flavum , Winding Honeysuckle ( Lonicera implexa ), Rough Bindweed ( Smilax aspera ), True Hogweed ( Acanthus mollis ) and Great Cliff Ziest ( Prasium majus ). Two forms can be distinguished here, namely on the one hand a semi-natural maquis in inaccessible locations such as steep slopes and around and an artificial maquis around trees planted by humans, mostly olive and carob trees.
Garrigue
The garrigues , open Mediterranean shrub heaths, with their numerous sub-forms, are the most common natural ecosystem in Malta. Their shrubby, up to one meter high growth is scattered, the bushes usually have a strong smell and are xerophytes . They represent a typical ecosystem of rocky soils. Some of the stands were created by the degradation of forest and maquis, followed by severe erosion, which has exposed large parts of the bedrock. In addition to many geophytes and therophytes, characteristic species are the heady thyme ( Thymbra capitata ), multi-flowered heather ( Erica multiflora ), Teucrium fruticans and the endemic species Euphorbia melitensis and Anthyllis hermanniae subsp. melitensis . Garrigues are mainly found in western Malta and in the hill country of Gozo.
Steppes
The steppe dry grass, which is very rich in shape, is also the result of degradation, in this case of maquis and scrub. The main factors of degradation are grazing goats, which can eat plants, including thorny ones, down to the surface; another trigger is, for example, the erosion of the soil caused by brief, heavy rainfall. Steppe formations can also develop on fallow arable land.
Steppe vegetation is dominated by grasses, umbelliferae , thistles and geophytes . In the climax stage of the steppe vegetation, for example, Hyparrhenia hirta or Andropogon distachyos can be found , on loamy slopes (which represent a clearly different type of steppe vegetation) but also esparto grass ( Lygeum spartum ). Characteristic plants of other steppe vegetation types are grasses such as Brachypodium retusum or Phalaris coerulescens (= Ph. Truncata ). If the steppes are more degraded, the characteristic annual grasses are Stipa capensis and Aegilops geniculata as well as numerous thistles (e.g. Carlina involucrata , Notobasis syriaca , Galactites tomentosus ) and geophytes (e.g. branchy affodil ( Asphodelus ramosus ) (= A . aestivus auct.)) and the sea onion ( Urginea pancration ).
Special locations
Seagrass meadows
The marine flora of Malta in the so-called littoral is characterized by seagrass meadows that penetrate to a depth of 40 meters and form the basis of one of the most important ecosystems in the Mediterranean. Here the neptune grass ( Posidonia oceanica ) dominates, an endemic to the Mediterranean, which is known for the small felty sea balls that are made from dead material. Cymodocea nodosa is often found in shallow coastal stretches from 5 to 10 meters deep . The seaweed Halophila stipulacea , introduced from the Red Sea, is also found in two places .
Coastal societies
The wetlands of the coastal zone with their increased salt content are formed in the rainy season; as the dry season progresses, the water evaporates and becomes increasingly brackish until the wetlands finally dry out by the next rainy season. These extreme conditions lead to such a highly specialized community of species that almost every location has its own spectrum of species in view of its own conditions. At the same time, these habitats form a transition zone between the plant communities of the sea, fresh water and land. A few and so far only inadequately researched locations show flora that are composed equally of fresh and salt water species.
The most threatened local ecosystems include the dune communities on sandy beaches, almost all of which have been badly affected by tourism. Elytrigia juncea and Sporobolus pungens (= Sp. Arenarius ) are dominant here . The populations of the Mediterranean subspecies of the common beach oathe ( Ammophila arenaria subsp. Arundinacea ), which were also common until a few years ago, are now extinct.
Some salt plants colonize the salty soils on gently sloping rocky slopes that have accumulated in the depressions of the rocky subsoil. They are the only sites of two endemics, namely Limonium zeraphae and Anthemis urvilleana , and Allium lojaconoi can also be found here , which is also endemic, but can also be found in other sites in Malta. The semi-endemic Desmazeria pignattii and Senecio leucanthemifolius var. Pygmaeus (= S. pygmaeus ) as well as the Hymenolobus procumbens subsp. Which only occurs on Comino in the Maltese archipelago . revelierei (incl. subsp. sommieri ) are restricted to these locations.
Rock formations
The plant formations in rocky locations populate cliffs and high walls, and the surrounding areas can also be understood as inland cliffs. The cliff coasts in the south, west and southwest of Malta as well as in the south and southwest of Gozo are vertical, 70 to 130 meters high cliffs, in the area of the Dingli Cliffs, however, which rise to 253 meters , they occur as a slope, which is partly terraced and used as arable land becomes.
This plant formation can also be understood as a special form of the garrigue. The substantial inaccessibility of these dominated by shrubs locations makes them important refuges of many animal and plant species, including the majority of the Maltese endemic as Cheirolophus crassifolius , Atriplex lanfrancoi , Salsola melitensis , hyoseris frutescens , Limonium melitense , Jasonia bocconei , Helichrysum melitense and Semi- Endemics such as Antirrhinum siculum , Hypericum aegypticum subsp. webbii (= Triadenia aegyptica ), Crucianella maritima (= C. rupestris ) and Periploca angustifolia .
Freshwater formations
During the rainy season, the depressions and pits in the coral limestone of the Karstland represent reservoirs for short-lived ponds that usually dry out in late spring, but at the latest in summer . Due to the rarity and short-lived nature of these locations, the plants found there are also rare, including Ranunculus peltatus (= R . saniculifolius ), Callitriche truncata , Elatine gussonei , Damasonium bourgaei , Crassula vaillantii and the candelabrum Tolypella glomerata . Few of these bodies of water are permanent, either because of their size or because of additional water inflows (e.g. the man-made Chadwick Lakes ). They are the only still waters in the archipelago and are therefore of great importance for plant species that need water available all year round.
The largest share of the Maltese freshwater plants living in the water-filled Widien during the rainy season, dominant species include giant reed ( Arundo donax ), Cyperus longus , Scirpoides holoschoenus and Typha domingensis . Submerged species are candelabrum algae of the genus Chara, as well as hair-leaved water crowfoot ( Ranunculus trichophyllus ) and the endemic Zannichellia melitensis . The Widien are among the most species-rich habitats in the archipelago.
The few spring waters have their own flora based on flowing fresh water. Since the species there are mostly dependent on these rare habitats, they are extremely rare. In some watercourses there are still remnants of deciduous alluvial forests, including silver poplars ( Populus alba ), Salix pedicellata , Ulmus canescens and occasionally laurel ( Laurus nobilis ).
Formations of disturbed locations
Some plant communities that are now widespread due to the enormous population density and the considerable land consumption are those disturbed locations that are dominated by numerous, mostly non-native plants. Sub-types exist in deserted fields, along roadsides, and in disturbed coastal locations.
Influence of man
The human presence on the Maltese islands had serious consequences for the environment as a whole and for the flora in particular. The initial deforestation was followed by overgrazing, alternating phases of cultivation and fallow land favored massive erosion, and numerous new and sometimes invasive species were introduced. The enormous and increasing population pressure as well as land-intensive uses by the tourism industry will foreseeably drive this development further.
The first environmental laws were passed in the early 1990s. The first Maltese nature reserve, the Għadira Nature Reserve , was created in 2001 on a private initiative directly behind the bathing beach of Mellieħa and today serves as a protected area, especially for plants and birds. This is where the first signs of increased environmental awareness in Maltese society became apparent. Since Malta's accession to the European Union in 2004, areas for nature conservation were officially reported for the first time as part of the Natura 2000 program; in 2008, this affected forty terrestrial special protection areas, which made up around 13% of the island's area. However, it remains to be seen whether these developments will be sufficient to stop the current development or even to reverse it in the long term.
Land use
With around 350,000 inhabitants and a population density of 1298 inhabitants per km², Malta is the most densely populated state in the world after Monaco, Singapore and the Vatican City (for comparison: Ruhr area 1173 inhabitants per km²). In addition, there are 1 to 1.2 million tourists annually (stable from 1992). The pressure that humans exert on the environment through land consumption is correspondingly high. Around 16% of the total area of Malta and around 10% of that of Gozo are built on. The road network has a total length of 1500 kilometers with an area of 316 km².
Degradation
The first settlement was dated in the Neolithic between 5000 and 9000 BC. The population lived in the phase of the first settlement seemingly isolated, but developed a high-class culture. This first culture disappeared for unknown reasons and the island was repopulated after only a short interruption around 2500 BC. The deforestation that began at this time and continued until a few centuries ago was promoted by the introduction of livestock such as sheep and goats in ancient times. The current shape of the island as almost woodless is entirely due to human influence.
Above all, the occasionally large number of goats prevented the regeneration of ecosystems by grazing even prickly or difficult to digest plants, promoting the increasing degradation of plant communities and causing the flora to become impoverished. The drastic decline in livestock farming in recent decades is therefore considered to be beneficial, many previously overgrazed areas are now recovering and are changing from more degraded forms such as the steppe back to scrub or scrub.
Due to the already long-lasting and very use-intensive settlement, no place on the islands is a purely natural ecosystem anymore, "even the most remote areas show clear signs of human activities", at best one can speak of semi-natural landscapes.
Agriculture
Since the 1950s, the Maltese government has promoted a structural change in the islands, in the course of which there was an expansion of tourism as an economic sector. In return, agriculture in particular declined, which had been a cornerstone of the Maltese economy at least since ancient times. Their share of the gross domestic product was 5.6% in 1954, but by 1994 it had fallen to only around 3%. This also reduced land use for agricultural purposes from around 56% in 1957 to only 38% in 1993.
The now fallow land was often repopulated by wild plants, which - as far as they remained undisturbed - first developed steppe vegetation and, via succession, garrigues or maquis. Since, as on many islands in the Mediterranean, slopes are often terraced for arable land , but the terraces fall into disrepair after abandonment, the land is severely affected by soil erosion .
Introduction of species
Since the Maltese islands were at times of great strategic importance, they reached ships, goods and people from all over the world, including plants. In addition to agricultural crops, imported ornamental plants, seeds from birdseed, refugees from botanical gardens and species that immigrated from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean by Lessepsian migration or were introduced by humans in this way (e.g. Halophila) are important routes of introduction stipulacea ).
Some species are not only naturalized, but are also known as invasive species with a high potential for displacement. Three plants are classified as particularly problematic on the Maltese islands. One is the nodding wood sorrel ( Oxalis pes-caprae ), which originated in South Africa and was introduced in the 19th century and escaped from the Argotti Botanical Gardens in Floriana . From Malta he conquered the coasts of the entire Mediterranean and the Atlantic as far as Great Britain. Just like the latter escaped from the Argotti Botanical Gardens , the Chilean Aster squamatus , which has become one of the most common weeds on the island from the 1930s to the present. The miracle tree ( Ricinus communis ), which was introduced as an ornamental plant in the 19th century, is also of importance, as it displaces species native to the islands' few wetlands.
Research history
The earliest record of the flora of the Maltese islands - after individual mentions of cultivated plants by ancient authors such as Diodor , Cicero and Lucretius - comes from Francesco Abela , who noted the first wild plants in 1647. In 1670 a first list by Giovanni Francesco Bonamico followed , which already lists 243 species. According to further individual lists, it was not until 1827 that Stefano Zerafa , professor of natural history at the University of Malta , dealt more extensively with the flora of Malta in his Florae Melitensis thesaurus, which comprises 489 species .
After he had published a list of 400 native plants in 1849, Giovanni Carlo Grech Delicata had his main work, Flora Melitensis , followed in 1853 , in which he treated 716 flowering plants. His work was to be the benchmark until the beginning of the 20th century, when Stefano Sommier and Caruana Gatto , supported by the Italian government, published their exhaustive Flora Melitensis Nova in 1915 . Shortly afterwards, in 1927, after preparatory work since 1896 , John Borg published his Descriptive Flora of the Maltese Islands . The work remained authoritative through the 20th century and was reprinted almost 50 years after it was first published in 1976. Following on from this, updating it in many ways and in particular supplementing it with identification keys , but much more compact, the last monographic work on the topic, A Flora of the Maltese Islands by Sylvia Mary Haslam , Peter D. Sell and Patricia A. Wolseley , appeared in 1977 . The Flora of the Maltese Islands - A Field Guide published by Hans Christian Weber and Bernd Kendzior in 2006, on the other hand, is not a flora, but an identification book and thus ties in with Guido G. Lanfranco's Guide to the Flora of Malta from 1955.
To 1676 already in were Floriana resident Argotti Botanical Gardens by the Order of Malta as a medicinal garden ( Hortus Medicus established). In 1855 they were handed over to the university and since then have primarily been used for research and teaching in the natural sciences faculty. They have also housed a herbarium since the beginning of the 21st century .
proof
- ↑ a b c d e S.M. Haslam, PD Sell, PA Wolseley: A Flora of the Maltese Islands. Msida (Malta) 1977, "Topography", pp. X – xii.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Patrick J. Schembri: Physical Geography and Ecology of the Maltese Islands: A Brief Overview. In: Options Méditerranéennes, Sér. B. Volume 7, 1993, pp. 27-39, PDF file .
- ^ SM Haslam, PD Sell, PA Wolseley: A Flora of the Maltese Islands. Msida (Malta) 1977, "Geological and Ecological areas and their types of vegetation", pp. Xxi-xlvi.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Patrick J. Schembri: The Maltese Islands: climate, vegetation and landscape. In: GeoJournal. Volume 41, No. 2, 1997, pp. 115-125, ISSN 0343-2521 , doi : 10.1023 / A: 1006828706452 , PDF file .
- ^ SM Haslam, PD Sell, PA Wolseley: A Flora of the Maltese Islands. Msida (Malta) 1977, "Soils", pp. Xxi.
- ^ SM Haslam, PD Sell, PA Wolseley: A Flora of the Maltese Islands. Msida (Malta) 1977, "Climate", pp. Xiv-xx.
- ↑ World Meteorological Organization: Weather information for Malta ( Memento of the original from March 26, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Chris O. Hunt: Quaternary deposits in the Maltese Islands: a microcosm of environmental change in Mediterranean lands. In: GeoJournal. Volume 41, No. 2, 1997, pp. 101-109, doi : 10.1023 / A: 1006824605544 .
- ↑ a b c d e f Leo Junikka, Pertti Uotila, Tapani Lahti: A Phytogeographical Comparison of the Major Mediterranean Islands on the Basis of Atlas Florae Europaeae. In: Willdenowia. Volume 36, No. 1, Special Issue: Festschrift Werner Greuter, 2006, pp. 379–388, PDF file.
- ^ A b Werner Greuter, Hervé-Maurice Burdet, Guy Long, Eckhard von Raab-Straube (eds.): Med Checklist. A critical inventory of vascular plants of the circum-Mediterranean countries. , Vol. 1 - Vol. 4, 1984-2008, online.
- ↑ a b Euro + Med (2006-): Euro + Med Plantbase - the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. Online (accessed March 20, 2010).
- ↑ a b c d S.M. Haslam, PD Sell, PA Wolseley: A Flora of the Maltese Islands. Msida (Malta) 1977.
- ^ European Information Platform for Plants (EIP): Malta - Number of Nationally Threatened Species. October 2005, online ( Memento of the original from January 1, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , last accessed on March 31, 2010.
- ↑ a b c d Edwin Lanfranco: Vegetation of the Maltese Islands. Online .
- ^ A b Louis F. Cassar, Elisabeth Conrad, Patrick J. Schembri: The Maltese Archipelago. In: Ioannis N. Vogiatzakis, Gloria Pungetti, AM Mannion (eds.): Mediterranean Island Landscapes - Natural and Cultural Approaches , 2008, ISBN 978-1-4020-5063-3 , pp. 297-322, doi : 10.1007 / 978 -1-4020-5064-0_13 , limited preview in Google Book search.
- ^ A b Salvatore Brullo, Gianpietro Giusso del Galdo: Taxonomic Remarks on the Anthyllis hermanniae L. (Fabaceae, Faboideae) Species Complex of the Mediterranean Flora. In: Novon. Volume 16, No. 3, 2006, pp. 304-314, digitized .
- ^ A b Salvatore Brullo, Gianpietro Giusso del Galdo, Edwin Lanfranco: A new species of Zannichellia L. (Zannichelliaceae) from Malta. In: Flora Mediterranea. Volume 11, 2001, pp. 379-384, PDF file .
- ^ A b Jan-Peter Frahm , Michael Lüth: The Bryophyte Flora of the Maltese Islands. In: Archive for Bryology. Volume 29, 2008, pp. 1-10, PDF file .
- ^ A b M. Briffa, G. Moreno, C. Illana: Some Rare Myxomycetes from Malta. In: Wolfgang Nowotny (Ed.): Wolfsblut and Lohblüte. Life forms between animals and plants = Myxomycetes (= Stapfia . Band 73 ). Linz 2000, ISBN 3-85474-056-5 , p. 151–158 (German, English, French, Spanish). PDF on ZOBODAT
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Hans Christian Weber, Bernd Kendzior: Flora of the Maltese Islands - A Field Guide. ISBN 3-8236-1478-9 , "Introduction", pp. 1-9.
- ↑ Cristian Brullo, Salvatore Brullo, Gianpietro Giusso del Galdo: Sulla presenza in Sicilia di Romulea melitensis (Iridaceae) specie critica della flora mediterranea. In: Simonetta Peccenini, Gianniantonio Domina (Ed.): Gruppi critici della Flora d'Italia. Comunicazioni. Dipartimento di Biologia Vegetale, La Sapienza Università di Roma, 30–31 ottobre 2009. Società Botanica Italiana, Palermo 2009, ISBN 978-88-903108-2-9 ( PDF file .)
- ^ Josep Rosselló, Mercedes Castro, Pere Fraga: New records of diploid Urginea pancration (Hyacinthaceae) in Cabrera (Balearic Islands). In: Flora Montiberica. Volume 31, pp. 44-46, PDF file .
- ↑ Franz Speta: Karyosystematik Culture and using the squill (Urginea Steinh, Liliaceae sl.) In: Catalog of the Upper Austrian Provincial Museum. Volume 105, also Linz Biological Contributions. Volume 12, No. 1, May 9, 1980, pp. 193-238 PDF file .
- ↑ Zoila Diaz Lifante, Benito Valdés: Revisión del género Asphodelus L. (Asphodelaceae) en el Mediterráneo Occidental. In: Boissiera. Volume 52, 1996, 189 pp.
- ^ Malta Environment & Planning Authority: Marine Habitats. Website online ( memento of the original from October 27, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , last accessed on March 30, 2010.
- ^ Hans Christian Weber, Bernd Kendzior: Flora of the Maltese Islands - A Field Guide. ISBN 3-8236-1478-9 , p. 18.
- ↑ JCM Alexander: The Mediterranean Species of Senecio Sections Senecio and Delphinifolius. In: Notes of the Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh. Volume 37, 1979, pp. 387-428 (there are, however, further evidence from Crete and Lebanon for this taxon).
- ^ Norman KB Robson: Studies in the genus Hypericum L. (Guttiferae). 6. Sections 20. Myriandra to 28. Elodes. In: Bulletin of the Natural History Museum London, Botany. Volume 26, No. 2, 1996, pp. 75-217, online .
- ^ Hilke Maunder: Il-Ghadira - Malta's first nature reserve. In: Spiegel Online. February 6, 2001, online , accessed March 28, 2010.
- ↑ Malta Environment & Planning Authority: Sites submitted to the EC for inclusion in the Natura 2000 Network as required under the EC Habitats and Birds Directives. o. J., online ( Memento of the original dated May 12, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , last accessed March 31, 2010.
- ↑ Anonymous: Malta's tourism industry 1964-2005. MTA, Iceland Travel Trader Online - www.travelmalta.com, PDF file. ( Memento from April 14, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ A b P. J. Schembri, E. Lanfranco: Introduced species in the Maltese Islands. In: AE Baldacchino, A. Pizzuto, (Ed.): Introduction of alien species of flora and fauna. [Proceedings of a seminar held at Qawra, Malta, 5 March 1996], pp. 29-54, 1996, Floriana, Malta, Environment Protection Department PDF file .
- ↑ a b S.M. Haslam, PD Sell, PA Wolseley: A Flora of the Maltese Islands. Msida (Malta) 1977, "History of the Study of the Flora", pp. Ix-x.
- ^ DG Frodin: Guide to standard floras of the world. 2001, ISBN 0-521-79077-8 , p. 629.
- ^ SM Haslam, PD Sell, PA Wolseley: A Flora of the Maltese Islands. Msida (Malta) 1977, "Preface", pp. Vii-viii.
- ↑ University press release, 2005, online , last accessed on March 31, 2010.
further reading
- John Borg: Descriptive Flora of the Maltese Islands including the ferns and flowering plants , Government Printing Office Malta 1927; Reprint Koeltz, Königstein 1976, ISBN 3-87429-104-9 .
- SM Haslam, PD Sell, PA Wolseley: A Flora of the Maltese Islands , Malta University Press, Msida (Malta) 1977, no ISBN.
- Hans Christian Weber, Bernd Kendzior: Flora of the Maltese Islands - A Field Guide. Margraf, Weikersheim 2006, ISBN 3-8236-1478-9 .
- Giovanni Carlo Grech Delicata: Flora melitensis, sistens stirpes phanerogamas in Melita Insulisque adjacentibus hucusque detectas secundum systema Candolleanum digestas. W. Franz, Melitae 1853, DOI: 10.5962 / bhl.title.9965 .
Web links
- Stephen Mifsud: Wild Plants of Malta , website
