The annotated checklist of plant species that occur in the wetland habitats of Georgia (the Caucasus)
Citation
Tedoradze G, Akobia I, Janiashvili Z, Meghvinetukhutsesi N, Metreveli V, Mikeladze G (2023). The annotated checklist of plant species that occur in the wetland habitats of Georgia (the Caucasus). Version 1.5. Institute of Zoology, Ilia State University. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.3897/caucasiana.2.e101677 accessed via GBIF.org on 2024-08-23.Description
The checklist includes 270 plant species recorded in Georgian wetland habitats, that belong to 80 families and 183 genera. In this checklist, Angiosperms are represented by 252 species (93.3%), Bryophytes – 10 species (3.7%), Pteridophytes – 8 (3%), Gymnosperms – 1 (0.4%). The largest families by the number of species are Cyperaceae – 39 (14.4%), Poaceae – 29 (10.7%), Rosaceae – 19 (7.1%), Asteraceae – 17 (6.3%), Fabaceae – 11 (4.1%) and Juncaceae – 11 (4.1%). The checklist is dominated by 55 Palaearctic species (20.4%), followed by 46 Holarctic (17.1%), 31 Euro-Mediterranean (11.5%), 31 Cosmopolitan (11.5%), and 27 Euro-Siberian (10.03%) species. The endemism rate among recorded plant taxa is 4.8%, and the proportion of invasive and naturalized plants is 8.5%. Obligate wetland plants, mainly belonging to the families Cyperaceae and Juncaceae, make up 34.2% of the floristic composition. This is the first comprehensive published checklist of the flora of Georgian wetlands.Sampling Description
Study Extent
Georgia, South CaucasusSampling
Vegetation was sampled as follows: once a wetland was recognized and inspected, the team chose visually the most representative area(s) for sampling. A central point of circular plots was placed at random in a selected area, and radii for plots were delineated: a 9 meter-radius circular plot around a sampling point was used to sample trees; a 6 meter-radius plot was used for sampling shrubs, and a 3 meter-radius circle was used for sampling herbaceous plants. Within these plots, we identified and recorded all detectable species and assessed their abundance by the modified scale of Braun-Blanquet (r, +, 1, 2m, 2a, 2b, 3, 4, 5). Plant species were identified using the Key to Plants of Georgia and the Excursion Flora of Germany (Exkursionsflora von Deutschland). The plant species that were not easily identifiable in the field were collected and later accurately identified by comparing them to the specimens in the National Herbarium (TBI) of the Institute of Botany, Ilia State University, Georgia.Method steps
- The sampling locations were selected prior to our fieldwork using topographic maps of the Soviet period (1950-60s), which depicted mires, swamps, and other wetlands in a rather detailed manner.
- Before sampling, we determined the location and morphology of wetland bodies with 5m accuracy using RapidEye satellite multispectral imagery.
- Sampling points on the pre-selected sites were located using navigation instruments − GPS and satellite images.
Additional info
Methodological References: 1) Braun-Blanquet J (1964) Pflanzensoziologie, Grundzüge Der Vegetationskunde. 3 Aufl./J. Braun-Blanquet. Springer-Verlag, Wien-New York, 865 pp. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-8110-2. 2) Davlianidze M, Gviniashvili T, Mukbaniani M, Jinjolia-Imnadze L, Jugeli T (2018) Nomenclatural checklist of flora of Georgia. Universal, Tbilisi, 296 pp. 3) Euro+Med (2006) Euro+Med PlantBase – the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. Published on the Internet. http://ww2.bgbm.org/EuroPlusMed/ [Accessed 1 December 2022]. 4) Gagnidze R (2005) Vascular Plants of Georgia – A Nomenclatural Checklist. Universal, Tbilisi, 247 pp. 5) GBIF (2022) Global Biodiversity Information Facility. https://www.gbif.org [Acessed 1 December 2022] 6) IPNI (2023) International Plant Names Index. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries and Australian National Herbarium. http://www.ipni.org [Accessed 1 December 2022]. 7) Jäger EJ, Müller F, Ritz CM, Welk E, Wesche K (2013) Rothmaler-Exkursionsflora von Deutschland, Gefäßpflanzen. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 822 pp. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-8274-2723-6. 8) Ketskhoveli N, Kharadze A, Kutateladze Sh (1964) The Key to Plants of Georgia. Vol. I. Metsniereba, Tbilisi, 458 pp. [In Georgian] 9) Kikodze D, Memiadze N, Kharazishvili D, Manvelidze Z, Mueller-Schaerer H (2010) The alien flora of Georgia. Tbilisi, 36 pp. 10) POWO (2022) Plants of the World Online. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/ [Acessed 1 December 2022]. 11) USACE (1987) Corps of Engineers Wetlands Delineation Manual (Technical Report No. Y-87-1). US Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg, 92 pp. 12) van der Maarel E (2007) Transformation of cover-abundance values for appropriate numerical treatment-Alternatives to the proposals by Podani. Journal of Vegetation Science 18: 767–770. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4499286. 13) WFO (2022) World Flora Online. http://www.worldfloraonline.org [Accessed 1 December 2022].Taxonomic Coverages
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Plantaecommon name: Plants rank: kingdom
Geographic Coverages
Sampling regions are located at different hypsometric heights and in different climatic zones. In total, we inventoried 218 wetland plots in seven regions across Georgia: Kolkheti Lowland (121 plots), Javakheti Plateau (53 plots), mountainous Adjara – the highlands of Adjara (8 plots), Kazbegi region (7 plots), Iori River Gorge – the northwestern part of Kakheti province (9 plots), Upper Imereti (6 plots), Shida Kartli Lowland (6 plots), and Alazani Valley (8 plots).
Bibliographic Citations
Contacts
Giorgi Tedoradzeoriginator
position: Researcher
Institute of Botany, Ilia State University
Botanikuri Str. 1
Tbilisi
0105
GE
email: giorgi.tedoradze.2@iliauni.edu.ge
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8884-9177
Ilia Akobia
originator
position: Researcher
Institute of Botany, Ilia State University
Botanikuri Str. 1
Tbilisi
0105
GE
Zurab Janiashvili
originator
position: Specialist
The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Tbilisi, Georgia
G. Gulua Str. 6
Tbilisi
0114
GE
Nutsa Meghvinetukhutsesi
originator
position: Researcher
Institute of Botany, Ilia State University
Botanikuri Str. 1
Tbilisi
0105
GE
Vaso Metreveli
originator
position: Researcher
Institute of Botany, Ilia State University
Botanikuri Str. 1
Tbilisi
0105
GE
Giorgi Mikeladze
originator
position: Researcher
Institute of Botany, Ilia State University
Botanikuri Str. 1
Tbilisi
0105
GE
Levan Mumladze
administrative point of contact
position: Director of the Institute of Zoology
Institute of Zoology, Ilia State University
cholokashvili 3/5
Tbilisi
0162
GE
Telephone: +995 577149076
email: levan.mumladze@iliauni.edu.ge
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2172-6973