GR4340013 - NISOI GAVDOS KAI GAVDOPOULA

Quality

The islands are quite important due to their position and history. Regarding their floristic synthesis the islands are one of the most important sites in Europe since a proportionally high number of African species are found here. Artemisia herba alba is a desert plant that is found in Africa; Known only from Spain just reaching SW France in Europe, widespread though from N Africa through Middle-East to Iran. It is an Iran-Turanian element but in Gavdos it is probably best considered an S. Mediterranean xerophytic element (Greuter et al., 1984). Filago aegaea ssp. aristata is a plant with distribution in S & E Aegean, Ionian Islands, Kriti and Cyprus. Also, Polygala venulosa is a species with distribution in S Greece, the Aegean, Anatolia and Cyprus.Periploca angustifolia is found only on Chrysi and Gavdos in Greece; in Europe is is found also in Spain, Sicily and Malta, otherwise in N. Africa. Ranunculus asiaticus is an East Mediterranean endemic, occurring in Crete and Aegean in Greece, otherwise in Egypt, Libya, Egypt, Sinai, SW Asia. Teucrium brevifolium is found in Anatolia, Egypt and Libya out of Greece. Tulipa saxatilis, which is protected by Greek law (Presidential Decree 67/81), is an Aegean endemic and it is also found on these islands. Hymenolobus procubens (which is included in the IUCN Red Data List (1993) in the category of threatened plants characterized as "indeterminate") is an S. Europe species, occurring only in Gavdos, Kasos, Karpathos in Greece. Silene succulenta ssp. suculenta is mainly distributed in north Africa and adjacent S.W. Asia but in Europe is found only on the islets south of Crete (Gavdos, Chrysi etc.). Tulipa saxatilis, which is protected by Greek law (Presidential Decree 67/81), is an Aegean endemic and it is also found on these islands. Hymenolobus procubens (which is included in the IUCN Red Data List (1993) in the category of threatened plants characterized as "indeterminate") is an S. Europe species, occurring only in Gavdos, Kasos, Karpathos in Greece. Callitriche pulchra which is normally found in Libya has its northern limit on these islands (it is found nowhere else in Greece or Europe). Gynandriitis monophylla is a species with distribution Libya, Egypt found only in Gavdos in Europe. Parietaria cretica is a species with distribution in Sicily, Greece and the Aegean region. Didesmus aegyptius, islet specialist, is an East Mediterranean element. Most of the plant species that are mentioned in section of "other important species of flora and fauna" can be found on other greek islands or even the mainland. The common characteristic of many of these african or asiatic species is that the Aegean and in a lesser extent the greek mainland are their only presence in Europe.Bupleurum gaudianum is a strict endemic of these islands. Ononis verae is a strict endemic found on these islands and on the opposite coast of Crete. It is protected by Greek law (Presidential Decree 67/81) and it is included in the IUCN Red Data List (1993) in the category of threatened plants characterized as "indeterminate". The following species are included in the IUCN Red Data List (1993) in the category of threatened plants: Chlamydophora tridentata (rare), Lamyropsis cynaroides (rare), Leontice leontopetalum (endangered), Trigonella spinosa (rare). Ophrys doerfleri is an endemic protected by Greek law (Presidential Decree 67/81). The mammal species Lepus europaeus is represented by endemic subspecies in the wider area (Crete and its satellite islands). This species as well as Hemidactylus turcicus are protected by the convention of Bern (appendix III). Cyrtodactylus kotschyi and Telescopus fallax, which on these islands are represented by endemic subspecies, are protected by the same convention (Bern Convention, appendix II) and by the Greek law (Presidential Decree. 67/1981) are protected the species Among the invertebrates there are a lot of endemic species. The following species of land molluscs are endemic of the two islands, Deroceras gavdosensis, Trochoidea sp., Oxychilus pieperi. All the other land snail species are endemic of the Cretan area. The other invertebrate species are endemic of Greece.