Syntaxonomic conspectus of the vegetation of Catalonia and Andorra. II: Ruderal communities

Abstract

This paper deals with plant communities settling on ruderalized sites, such as crop fields, edges of roads or paths, forest clearings, river banks, and other disturbed areas. We report all the phytosociological associations and subassociations recorded from Catalonia and Andorra, as the second part of a general vegetation survey, started with Ninot et al. (2000). For each community, we provide the correct name and usual synonyms, its typification (where appropriate), all the references including relevés, and the most outstanding features of its structure, species composition, ecology, distribution and diversity. Moreover, associations and subassociations are ordered in a syntaxonomic scheme. Syntaxonomic ranks are considered in a fairly broad, conservative sense. This classification established 156 associations and 6 informal community types, which correspond to the classes Oryzetea sativae, Stellarietea mediae, Sisymbrietea officinalis, Artemisietea vulgaris, Cakiletea maritimae, Saginetea maritimae, Pegano-Salsoletea vermiculatae, Bidentetea tripartitae, Polygono-Poetea annuae, Rudero-Manihotetea utilissimae and Epilobietea angustifolii. Complementarily, we propose corrections of names when appropriate, and eventually formalize the description of a few syntaxa.