Editors' Choice paper for the third quarter of 2026

For the third quarter of 2026, the VCS Editors' Choice goes to Riccardo Guarino and colleagues for their study "Broom-dominated shrublands of Sicily: revisiting the syntaxonomy of the Cytisetea scopario-striati at the south-eastern margin of their range."

The research team surveyed acidophilous shrublands on siliceous, calcium-poor substrates in the Nebrodi and Peloritani mountain ranges of northern Sicily, using the Braun-Blanquet method. Based on these plots, the authors applied a modified TWINSPAN classification, characterised the resulting groups by their diagnostic, constant and dominant species, and used multivariate analyses to explore ecological relationships and compare the vegetation with related syntaxa from Sicily and Calabria.

The study describes several new associations, including Carlino globosae-Cytisetum scoparii, Origano viriduli-Cytisetum villosi, Carlino globosae-Telinetum monspessulanae, and Achilleo ligusticae-Spartietum juncei. Comparison with the Siculo-Calabrian supramediterranean broom heath of the Violo messanensis-Adenocarpion commutati led to the description of a new alliance, Achilleo ligusticae-Telinion monspessulanae, a more thermophilic and mesophilous vicariant of the former.

Through this work, the authors of the paper have contributed substantially to the knowledge of the class Cytisetea scopario-striati at the south-eastern limit of its range, and offers a solid reference for future syntaxonomic work in the central Mediterranean.

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