Corological cartography of detail and global warming: Genista longipes Pau in the Serra d’Aitana (Alicante, Spain)
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Abstract
Genista longipes Pau is part of orophile pulvinular baetic scrubs, one of the one of the plant communities most vulnerable to global warming. Its easternmost distribution in the Iberian Peninsula is located at the culmination of the Serra d’Aitana (Alicante), considered a refuge of extreme fragility in the face of any climatic alteration. In 2004, a detailed corological cartography was made with the distribution of the species in the eastern sector of the sierra, preferably from 1475 mamsl, registering a small isolated subpopulation at 1300 mamsl. To try to understand this disjunct location, the Thermicity Index has been calculated for squares of 200 m on each side in order to determine the extension and subdivision of the supra-Mediterranean level, modeling a scenario of increased temperatures that would cause its extinction. To verify this hypothesis, since 2014 a follow-up is carried out through an exhaustive fieldwork with centimeter accuracy GPS. The results show controversial data, since the population increased significantly between 2004 and 2014 and is in a sustained decline from 2014 to 2018. The value of temperature is discussed as the only variable to be treated and the need to analyze the role of wind and the historical management of vegetation to understand its dynamics.