lable under the Open Database License (http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1.0). The Open Database License (ODbL) is a license agreement intended to allow users to freely share, modify, and use this Dataset while maintaining this same freedom for oth- ers, provided that the original source and author(s) are credited. Link: https://doi.org/10.3897/ved.182223.suppl1 Supplementary material 2 Supplementary figure S1 Authors: Gianmarco Tavilla, Pietro Minissale, Salvatore Cambria Data type: docx Explanation note: The supplementary file includes the DCA or- dination diagram of species scores. Copyright notice: This dataset is made available under the Open Database License (http://opendatacomm
Open resource ↗10.3897/ved.182223.suppl1 · pdf-raw-page:13 lines:1-46Unverified paper record
A new plant association of the alliance Saxifragion australis described by drone-based phytosociology in northeastern Sicily (Peloritani Mountains)
Vegetation Ecology and Diversity · 5 Mar 2026 · 10.3897/ved.182223
Abstract
Although the chasmophytic vegetation of Sicily has been examined previously, it remains insufficiently explored due to the formidable challenges associated with accessing vertical cliff habitats. This study employed drone-based surveys combined with Braun-Blanquet methodology to investigate cliff vegetation in the Peloritani and Madonie Mountains. High-resolution aerial imagery enabled species identification and cover estimation on inaccessible rock faces. Twenty-three new relevés were combined with 33 literature records for multivariate analysis. Cluster analysis and DCA revealed floristic differentiation between Peloritani and Madonie phytocoenoses, contrasting with communities from Apennines that we used as an outgroup. We describe Athamanto siculae-Saxifragetum australis for the calcareous cliffs of Rocca Salvatesta (Peloritani), characterized by Athamanta sicula , Hypochaeris laevigata , and Saxifraga callosa subsp. australis . Additionally, we propose to change the name Asperuletum gussonei to Cynanchicetum gussonei for the high-elevation vegetation of the Madonie dominated by Cynanchica gussonei . Drone methodology proved effective for documenting cliff vegetation, offering a safe and replicable approach for advancing phytosociological knowledge in extreme habitats. This research contributes to the syntaxonomic revision of Mediterranean chasmophytic vegetation within the alliance Saxifragion australis .
Plant phenotyping relevance
ドローン画像を用いてアクセス困難な崖面の植物種同定と被覆率推定を行う手法が、植生調査・分類の中心的手段として明示されているため。
abstractHigh-resolution aerial imagery enabled species identification and cover estimation on inaccessible rock faces.
abstractDrone methodology proved effective for documenting cliff vegetation, offering a safe and replicable approach for advancing phytosociological knowledge in extreme habitats.
Code and data availability
The paper's drone-based phytosociological relevé dataset (the plant cover/trait measurements underlying the classification and DCA analysis) is published as Supplementary table S1 under an open license. Supplementary figure S1 is only an ordination diagram, and no author analysis code or raw drone imagery is stated to
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