A revision of the syntaxonomy of the Apennine-Balkan Quercus cerris and Q. frainetto forests and correct application of the name Melittio-Quercion frainetto

Melittio-Quercion frainetto and Melittio-Quercion confertae are two alliances, which were proposed about simultaneously 40 years ago through two different papers regarding southern Italy and southern Greece, respectively. The aims of this paper are to establish valid name, nomenclatural type and distribution range of these two alliances and to verify whether they display a sufficient degree of syntaxonomic autonomy when compared to the ecologically and geographically neighbouring alliances. A data matrix composed of 43 frequency columns summing 1242 phytosociological relevés x 625 taxa was prepared and statistically analysed. The results suggested that the thermophilous Quercus cerris and Q. frainetto oak woods of the southern Apennines and the southern Balkans deserve to be classified in two separated alliances. The application of the principle IV of the ICPN established that the correct name of the alliance is Melittio albidae-Quercion frainetto Barbéro, Bonin, Gamisans et Quézel in Bonin et Gamisans 1976 and that it was typified in southern Italy. Accordingly, the new name Geranio asphodeloidis-Quercion frainetto is here proposed for southern Greece in substitution of Melittio-Quercion confertae (nom. illeg.). The syntaxonomic proposal advanced in this paper brings significant modifications in the current version of the checklist of the European syntaxa (Eurovegchecklist).