Mountain Matokit and Vrgorac city: a new localities of threatened and invasive plant taxa in Croatia

Abstract

This paper is first inventarisation of threatened and invasive vascular plants on the rocky grasslands situated on northern slopes of mountain Matokit and abandoned arable land in vicinity of town of Vrgorac. These sites represent a new site for the Croatian flora. This research was conducted in year 2010 and 2011. We found 11 species of threatened vascular plants that by the Red Book (Nikolić and Topić [14]) and Flora Croatica Database (Nikolić [13]) and 15 invasive species, according to preliminary list of invasive alien species (IAS) in Croatia (Boršić et al. [3]). In this paper the habitat of some species, their distribution in Croatia, life forms and floral elements are described. It was found that threatened species occur exclusively on the rocky grassland habitat, except two species: critically endangered (CR) Papaver argemone and endangered (EN) Hibiscus trionum which were recorded on arable land. All inventoried invasive species, were recorded at the abandoned arable land, except the species Robinia pseudoacacia. Tendency for uncontrolled spread showed species Ailanthus altissima and Ambrosia artemisiifolia. Habitats of rocky grassland are on the stage of secondary succession (healing with the forest), and on the arable land the spread of invasive species exist (due to socio-economic changes: abandonment of agriculture and animal husbandry, and depopulation of the population). The results of these studies are contribution to the distribution map of threatened and invasive species in Croatia, and to the conservation of grassland habitat study area, as well as to preventing of the spread of invasive species.