Biodiversity in vascular plants, lichens, bryophytes and macrofungi in the Collestrada forest

The forest of Collestrada (PG) is situated in the region of Umbria (central Italy) between 12° 27' 31" E and 43° 4' 58" N, covering an area of approximately 136 ha (250-306 m a.s.l.). Collestrada forest is located on the northern slope of a slight hill (Colle del Monte), part of a chain of hills, located East South East of Perugia, and delimitated on the West by the River Tiber (Valle Tiberina) and on the East by the River Chiascio (Valle Umbra). The forest ecosystem is an area of exceptional value for its wealth of flora (Biondi et al., 2001) and fauna and its diversity of species, and in 2008 it was declared a Site of Community Importance (S.C.I.) (Council Directive 1992/43/EEC, 1992). Studies on vascular plants, lichens, bryophytes and macrofungi were conducted in 2011 with the sample plot method, mainly throughout the most widespread local plant communities: 1) Carpinus betulus L. woodland (Erythronio-Carpinion betuli), 2) Quercus cerris L. woodland (Lonicero xilostei-Quercetum cerridis), 3) Quercus frainetto Ten. woodland (Malo florentinae-Quercetum frainetto), 4) Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl. woodland (Erythronio-Carpinion betuli), 5) Quercus ilex L. woodland (Rusco aculeati-Quercetum ilicis. A total of 295 taxa were recorded from the five vegetation types. The vascular flora includes about 90 species (35 families), mostly composed of European-Caucasian and Mediterranean elements. The checklist oflichens includes about 48 species (17 families). The most abundant are the foliose (23), followed by the crustose (13), the fruticose (5), the squamulose (4) and leprose (3) lichens. The bryological flora includes about 46 species of which 39 are mosses and 7 are liverworts, distributed in 13 and 7 families, respectively. The chorological analysis of the types shows a clear prevalence ofthe temperate elements (26 mosses and 6 liverworts) (Poponnesi et al., 2012). The mycoflora list includes about 120 species of macromycetes belonging to 36 families included in the divisions Basidiomycota and Ascomycota. Overall the majority of species were ectomycorrhizal, and belong to the genera Russula, Amanita and Tricholoma (Angelini et al., 2012). Similarity indices and taxon distributions show that the five vegetation types have distinctive vascular plants, lichens, bryophytes and macrofungal assemblages. Distributions of some taxa were limited to single vegetation types, while others had broader distributions particularly among the bryophytes and macrofungi.