Vascular flora of the Žeževica area (central Dalmatia, southern Croatia)

The flora of the Žeževica area was studied and listed in 2020. In all, 436 taxa from 286 genera and 83 families were recorded. Most taxa belong to the families Poaceae (9.63%) and Fabaceae (9.40%). The most abundant life forms are hemicryptophytes (34.63%) and therophytes (30.96%). As for the chorological analysis, most of the plants belong to Mediterranean (36.24%) and Southern European (22.02%) floral elements. A total of 14 endemic, 34 strictly protected and 22 threatened taxa were recorded. Most of the endemic species belong to the Illyrian Adriatic endemic plants. Of the alien flora, 23 taxa were listed, 16 plants of which are invasive. The greatest plant diversity was found in sites with different habitats, such as dry grasslands in olive groves and vineyards. The reduction of habitat diversity and the introduction of invasive taxa have proved to be the main problems leading to the reduction of plant richness. For this reason, the maintenance of diverse habitats with appropriate human influence are important for the conservation of the biodiversity in such areas