Not regionally extinct: Rediscovery of Ruppia drepanensis in Portugal, the westernmost range edge in Europe

IF 1.9 4区生物学 Q2 MARINE & FRESHWATER BIOLOGY

Aquatic Botany Pub Date : 2025-03-10 DOI:10.1016/j.aquabot.2025.103881

Duarte G. Frade , João Neiva , Jose Martínez-Garrido , Anne Davison , Luca Caminiti , Gonçalo G. Ramos , Gareth A. Pearson , Ester A. Serrão

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Ruppia drepanensis Tineo ex Guss. is an important habitat-forming aquatic plant in saline and brackish Mediterranean wetlands. The species is declining in several parts of its range due to hydrological changes and habitat degradation. R. drepanensis was considered Critically Endangered, possibly Regionally Extinct in Portugal, due to not being observed since 1986 despite extensive surveys of suitable habitat. We report on a new population, the westernmost known record for the species in Europe, identified with morphological and molecular data. Despite being inside a protected area, this population occupies a single small pond adjacent to a road, making it vulnerable to habitat changes. Ex situ conservation is recommended, including seed banking and/or the establishment of new populations.

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来源期刊

Aquatic Botany 生物-海洋与淡水生物学

CiteScore

3.80

自引率

5.60%

发文量

审稿时长

6 months

期刊介绍： Aquatic Botany offers a platform for papers relevant to a broad international readership on fundamental and applied aspects of marine and freshwater macroscopic plants in a context of ecology or environmental biology. This includes molecular, biochemical and physiological aspects of macroscopic aquatic plants as well as the classification, structure, function, dynamics and ecological interactions in plant-dominated aquatic communities and ecosystems. It is an outlet for papers dealing with research on the consequences of disturbance and stressors (e.g. environmental fluctuations and climate change, pollution, grazing and pathogens), use and management of aquatic plants (plant production and decomposition, commercial harvest, plant control) and the conservation of aquatic plant communities (breeding, transplantation and restoration). Specialized publications on certain rare taxa or papers on aquatic macroscopic plants from under-represented regions in the world can also find their place, subject to editor evaluation. Studies on fungi or microalgae will remain outside the scope of Aquatic Botany.