Distribution Patterns and Conservation Perspectives of the Endemic Flora of Peloponnese (Greece)

An inventory of the endemic vascular plants of the Peloponnese (395 species and subspecies) has been created based on literature, herbarium and field data. Endemics' distribution patterns, altitudinal distribution and habitat specificity were investigated. A rarity score for each endemic has been calculated based on its population size, geographic range and habitat specificity. The main mountainous areas of the Peloponnese are largely congruent to the hotspots of endemism. Altitudinal range and niche breadth of the endemics were positively correlated to their range size. The elevational gradient of the endemic species richness showed a hump-shaped pattern, in contrast to the monotonically decreasing pattern of total species richness. Endemic species were found to support boundary theory, while total species richness distribution followed the Rapoport's elevational rule. The elevational distribution of the average rarity score and the average weighted threat of the endemics resulted in low values for mid-elevation intervals and increased values for low and high altitude areas, indicating that conservation efforts should focus on the two extremes of the elevational gradient. Area prioritization methods were applied using a rarity/complementarity based algorithm with two species weighting schemes. Their results were largely congruent confirming the significance of the main mountainous areas for the conservation of the endemics. Spatial overlap among selected grid cells using the rarity/complementarity analysis and Natura 2000 network was found to be low. Our results revealed the conservation importance of at least one new area located on Kythera Island.