OPTIMA Newsletter 38

O P T I M A N E W S L E T T E R O P T I M A N E W S L E T T E R O P T I M A N E W S L E T T E R
occasions, it was confirmed that the book “Plant
Landscapes of the Mediterranean” was to be published
commercially. Prof. Heywood, who undertook
contact publishers such as Oxford University
Press, received a detailed list of contents and
synopsis of the book from the Commission Secretary,
as well as a description of the rationale behind
the book, a list of contributors, expected target
groups and estimated numbers of buyers.
At the 2004 Meeting in Belgrade, highlights
or extracts of some chapters were presented in
the frame of the symposium “Landscape Ecology
of the Mediterranean”. By then most of the chapters
had been revised, but those on “cultivated
landscapes”, Sicily, the Balkan Peninsula and
Lebanon-Syria were still in preparation. A translator
was needed to translate into English three
chapters submitted in French (on North Africa,
France, and Corsica). Later on, authors would be
approached with a request to provide photographs
and maps.
By the 2007 meeting in Pisa, little progress,
if any, could be noted. Heywood’s contacts with
prospective publishers had been unsuccessful so
far. Publication by OPTIMA, perhaps through the
Herbarium Mediterraneum and with help from the
Publications Commission, is the best available
option. The Committee’s preference is for a book
in DIN-B5 overall size, with a print layout of 11.8 x
19 cm and a Times New Roman 11.5 points font
for the general text and 10 points for indices, footnotes
and literature cited.
Plans for future books (Red Book of Mediterranean
plants, Orchids of the Mediterranean) will
have to wait till after the present one is completed.
COMMISSION ON BRYOPHYTES
Secretary: R. M. Ros, Murcia
Members: M. Aleffi, Camerino
T. Blockeel, Sheffield
W. El-Sayed El-Saadawi, Cairo
Adnan Erdag, Aydin
A. Ganeva, Sofia
I. Herrnstadt, Jerusalem
H. Kürschner, Berlin
V. Mazimpaka, Madrid
M. Sabovljević, Beograd
C. Sérgio, Lisboa
2004. This Commission held a virtual meeting
in July 2004 via e-mail, as the majority of its
members were unable to attend the Meeting in
Belgrade.
2006-2007. During that period, the main activity
of the Bryophyte Commission has been the
preparation of a manuscript entitled “Hepatics and
Anthocerotes of the Mediterranean. An annotated
checklist”, edited by Rosa María Ros (the Commission’s
Secretary) and Vicente Mazimpaka. A
total of 26 authors from 18 research centers contributed,
representing 14 Mediterranean and non-
Mediterranean countries. The names of all hepatics
and anthocerotes published up to the end of
May 2007 and occurring in the Mediterranean
countries plus Bulgaria, were compiled in an annotated,
synonymic checklist of 403 accepted
species and 12 infraspecific taxa, with critical
notes on ambiguous and disputed names. By the
time when the Commission met in Pisa, that
checklist had been published in the journal “Cryptogamie,
Bryologie”.
The main difficulties encountered were the
establishment of the current taxonomic identity of
many old names in Mediterranean literature, the
accurate assessment of the authors of many such
old names, and the lack of literature on hepatic
names and of regional lists.
Also, upon request of the editor of the Bryological
Times, a report on the Bryophyte Commission
was prepared by the Secretary (published
in Bryological Times 122: 6. 2007), so as to inform
bryologists worldwide on the Commission’s aims,
composition, and activities.
The goals of the Commission for the six–
year period 2007-2013 will be: (a) to prepare a
check-list of Mediterranean mosses; (b) to meet in
three years’ time, either at a Symposium within
the XIII OPTIMA Meeting or at a workshop organised
by the Commission, to include both field work
18 OPTIMA Newsletter No. 38 May 2009