Plant Diversity on Islands—2nd Edition

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Diversity".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 July 2026 | Viewed by 454

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Biology, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece
Interests: diversity of plant species; plant communities and habitat types; Mediterranean ecosystems; conservation and monitoring of plant species and natural habitats; island biogeography; island ecosystems; habitat islands
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E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory of Botany, Department of Biology, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece
Interests: biogeography; biodiversity; extinction risk; island biodiversity; island biogeography; conservation biogeography; conservation biology; conservation ecology; plant diversity; species distribution modelling; plant systematics; biodiversity and climate change
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Islands are known as natural laboratories for research in biodiversity, biogeography, ecology, and evolution. They are characterized by different types (true islands and habitat islands, oceanic islands, continental islands, land bridges, and lake islands), varying and often complex paleogeography, high environmental and topographical heterogeneity, different shapes and sizes, high levels of diversity, and endemism. They harbor unique biota that are strongly affected by intensifying pressures and severe threats, mainly as a result of habitat loss, climate change, and biological invasions. It is noteworthy that about one-third of the global biodiversity hotspots and one-fourth of the global centers of plant diversity are found on islands or archipelagos.

Islands host a considerable proportion of all plant species worldwide, among which there are many endemic, rare, and range-restricted ones. Many islands remain fairly unexplored in terms of their plant species composition, and research in this topic is important since a substantial part of island plant diversity remains unknown to science. The plant diversity on islands is surprising, but without complete knowledge, successful conservation and protection cannot be realized. We welcome contributions to this Special Issue, which provides a platform for authors to highlight new research and significant advances concerning all aspects and different levels of plant diversity on islands and the factors affecting them.

Dr. Maria Panitsa
Dr. Kostas Kougioumoutzis
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • island plant
  • island flora
  • floristic diversity
  • species richness
  • endemism
  • spatial patterns
  • spatial turnover
  • temporal turnover
  • island specialist taxa
  • beta diversity
  • oceanic islands
  • land bridge
  • continental island
  • habitat island
 

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

21 pages, 1554 KB  
Article
The Plant Diversity of Cultural Habitat Islands: Aspects of the Flora of the Mystras UNESCO World Heritage Site (Greece)
by Maria Panitsa, Maria Tsakiri, Ioannis Constantinou and Ioannis Nikoloudis
Diversity 2025, 17(11), 749; https://doi.org/10.3390/d17110749 - 26 Oct 2025
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Abstract
The Mystras UNESCO World Heritage Site (MUWHS) is a medieval historical area located on a small hill facing Sparta in the Mediterranean hotspot of the Peloponnese and receives a high number of visitors annually. The main aim of this study is the inventory [...] Read more.
The Mystras UNESCO World Heritage Site (MUWHS) is a medieval historical area located on a small hill facing Sparta in the Mediterranean hotspot of the Peloponnese and receives a high number of visitors annually. The main aim of this study is the inventory and analysis of plant species composition and diversity of the Mystras archaeological area, with emphasis on different aspects of its flora, on the specialist endemic plants, and on the generalist ruderal and alien taxa. A high plant species richness was observed, and 321 vascular plant taxa were registered. Most of the taxa are Mediterranean or have a more widespread distribution, and half of them are ruderals. Concerning endemism, 14 Greek and 7 Balkan endemic taxa were registered. As anticipated, the most species-rich plant families recorded in the study area are Asteraceae, Fabaceae, and Poaceae. The total flora is predominantly composed of therophytes, reflecting the site’s Mediterranean climate and disturbance-adapted ecological conditions while the endemic flora is mostly composed of hemicryptophytes. Comparisons of MUWHS plant diversity with four other archaeological sites of the same floristic region of Greece, the Peloponnese, highlighted its high α-diversity on all aspects of its flora and its floristic dissimilarity from the other areas and, additionally, the high plant species richness that is comprised in all five of them. Comparisons of the flora of MUWHS with other Greek and Mediterranean archaeological areas showed significant similarities in the floristic elements considered as deteriogenic for the protected walls and monuments. The findings of our study underscore the urgent need to prioritise the sustainable conservation of archaeological sites such as Mystras. These landscapes are not only cultural monuments but also reservoirs of biodiversity and ecological value. Effective management must, therefore, adopt an integrated approach that balances the preservation of historical structures with the protection of native flora and ecological processes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Diversity on Islands—2nd Edition)
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