Subproject E13

Dr. Norbert Kilian, ZE Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 6-8, 14191 Berlin; PD Dr. Harald Kürschner & Dipl. Biol. Peter Hein, Institut für Biologie, Systematische Botanik & Pflanzengeographie, Freie Universität Berlin, Altensteinstr. 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany

Phytodiversity and vegetation types of representative paleo-African refugia in the coastal mountains of southern Yemen and on Socotra (Republic of Yemen)

Subproject E13 has selected the refugia and is providing the basic data about the plant cover of the refugia. It will determine and analyse the floristic inventory (spermatophytes, pteridophytes, bryophytes and lichens) as well as the present vegetation complexes of the palaeo-African relict vegetation in the S Yemen-Socotran refugia and document it for the five selected areas, which are of special interest for future conservation.

Subproject 13 establishes standardized monitoring sites in all selected refugia, on which all four subprojects of the Yemen Project Group combine their research on the biodiversity. Each observatory has a standardised size of one square kilometre, which is subdivided into a spatial grid of sub-plots. In following the general BIOTA standards, the South Arabian observatories continue and supplement those established by the other BIOTA projects in South, West and East Africa and thus allow a comparision of the data gathered.

Subproject 13 will make it possible to achieve a comprehensive documentation of the dominating, unique xerotropical vegetation units of S Arabia and Socotra. By means of taxonomic-floristical and vegetational methods, the qualitative (phytodiversity) and quantitative (coverage) phytological potential will be determined and, in collaboration with E14, its distribution and correlation with determining ecological features shown.

Aims and scopes:

•	Phytodiversity, life form and dispersal spectra, phytogeographical and systematic aspects (morphological and molecular phylogeny of selected significant taxa, floris-tic similarity and relationships, especially with E Africa, chorology and indication centres of diversity and endemism), partly in close cooperation with E15
•	Structure and differentiation of natural and anthropogenic vegetation complexes, identification of different vegetation types, determining of character species, spatial-temporal developments, aspects of systemic functionality in cooperation with E14
•	Determining of indicator species, relict species and relict formations of the potential natural vegetation for prospective diversity mapping, conservation and measurements of attention in the region
•	Correlation of species autecology (together with E14), character differentiation and speciation.