EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Each week a different image of our fascinating environment is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional ecologist.

12-18 July 2021

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Mountains and Valleys of the Peloponnese

Peloponnese Peninsula
Greece

Credit & Copyright: Dr. Bruce G. Marcot

Explanation:   This is the land of legends.  It is the world of Hercules, the cities of Sparta and Argos, home of the fighters of the Persian Wars, and so very much more.

We are over the Peloponnese Region of southern Greece.  

But as much as its deep historical and mythological values is its ecological value.  

The area hosts unique species and centers of biodiversity.  One study (Kokkornis et al. 2014), for example, has reported that at Mt. Panachaikon within the Peloponnese Region occur at least 95 endemic taxa of plants, that is, found no where else, among a staggering total flora of some 229 taxa.  This is a high biodiversity, and high endemism rate, for a region seemingly so arid and stark.  


Information: 
     Kokkoris, I., G. Dimitrellos, K. Kougioumutzis, I. Laliotis, T. Georgiadis, and A. Tiniakou.  2014.  The native flora of Mountain Panachaikon (Peloponnese, Greece): new records and diversity.  Journal of Biological Research - Thessaloniki 21:art. no. 9.
     Weiberg, E., and 14 others.  2016.  The socio-environmental history of the Peloponnese during the Holocene: Towards an integrated understanding of the past.  Quaternary Science Reviews 136:40-65.  

  
         

Next week's picture:  The Tundra Lakes of Kobuk

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