Fabrizio Bartolucci

Is legal protection sufficient to ensure plant conservation? The Italian Red List of policy species as a case study

The conservation of species listed in the Bern Convention and European Directive 1992/43/EEC (so-called policy species) is mandatory for European Union (EU) countries. We assessed the conservation status of Italian policy species, based on the IUCN categories and criteria, to evaluate the effectiveness of existing protection measures at the national level. Among the 203 vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens evaluated, 41.9% are categorized as threatened, and one is already extinct, indicating that the protection measures for policy species are inadequate. Our results for the Italian policy species are consistent with those of an assessment at the EU level. Conservation priorities should be established at both the national and regional scales. An effective conservation strategy is needed, and in situ and ex situ actions focused on threatened species should be promoted.

An updated checklist of the vascular flora native to Italy.

Abstract An updated inventory of the native vascular flora of Italy, providing details on the occurrence at regional level, is presented. The checklist includes 8195 taxa (6417 species and 1778 subspecies), distributed in 1092 genera and 152 families; 23 taxa are lycophytes, 108 ferns and fern allies, 30 gymnosperms and 8034 angiosperms. The taxa currently occurring in Italy are 7483, while 568 taxa have not been confirmed in recent times, 99 are doubtfully occurring in the country and 19 are data deficient. Out of the 568 not confirmed taxa, 26 are considered extinct or possibly extinct.

Are Red Lists really useful for plant conservation? The New Red List of the Italian Flora in the perspective of national conservation policies

“The New Red List of the Italian Flora” includes all the Italian policy species and other species of known conservation concerns for a total of 400 taxa, 65% of which are threatened with extinction. The Red List is based on a huge georeferenced data-set useful for conservation purposes.

Conserving plant diversity in Europe: outcomes, criticisms and perspectives of the Habitats Directive application in Italy

Habitat Directive is the core strategy of nature conservation in Europe aiming at halting biodiversity loss. In this study the results of the third Italian assessment regarding the conservation status (CS) of plants listed in the Habitat Directive (Flora of community interest—FCI) was presented. Data was collected from several sources related to plant distribution, population data, habitats and pressures. Following the official European procedure, all parameters were evaluated and combined to give the CS of each taxon in each biogeographical region of presence. A comparison between the recent Italian IUCN and Reporting assessments was performed in order to evaluate the consistency between these two assessments. The official EU checklist comprises 113 Italian plant taxa, 107 of which were examined in this study. Our results showed a critical situation with only 34% of favourable CS, while 50% were unfavourable (40% inadequate plus 10% bad) and 16% unknown, in particular in the Mediterranean bioregion, where the unfavourable assessments reach the 65%. The results of the Report were consistent with those of the IUCN assessment, in which 41.9% of plants were threatened with extinction. This report highlighted some benefits and criticisms at national level, but it may have a wider significance. Although a general advance of knowledge, a great effort is needed to reach the Habitats Directive goals. Despite the limited resources, monitoring activities needs to be improved in order to close information gaps for several plants. A positive outcome was the development of a specific national project funded by the Italian Ministry of Environment, with the ambitious target to set future monitoring activities for FCI and optimize monitoring efforts.

A biometric study of Fritillaria montana Hoppe ex W.D.J. Koch s.l. (Liliaceae) shows a single polymorphic species, with no infraspecific taxa

Abstract The large amount of morphological variability within Fritillaria montana Hoppe ex W.D.J. Koch, a southeastern European species described from northeastern Italy, led to the creation of several further taxa: Fritillaria caussolensis Goaty & Pons ex Adoino from southeastern France, Fritillaria orsiniana Parl. from central Italy, Fritillaria intermedia N. Terracc. and Fritillaria pollinensis N. Terracc. from southern Italy. Aiming to test the taxonomic value of these taxa, a biometric study of both herbarium and living specimens of F. montana s.l. is carried out. A total of 22 morphological features were analysed and measured in 417 plants from 46 different localities, including loci classici of all the involved taxa. In addition, typical populations of F. montana, F. caussolensis, F. intermedia, F. orsiniana and F. pollinensis and also several other Italian populations resulted with 2n = 18 chromosomes. We also counted 2n = 27 chromosomes in endotriploid cells of plants from Abruzzo. However, there is no clear‐cut correlation between morphology and karyology. The biometric analysis, together with many observations on fresh material in the field, revealed that F. montana is a single polymorphic species with no infraspecific taxa.

Gagea luberonensis J.-M. Tison (Liliaceae) new for the Italian flora

Abstract Gagea luberonensis J.-M. Tison is recorded for the first time for Italy (Abruzzo and Latium). Morphological, phy- togeographical and karyological (2n = 36) characteristics of this plant, as compared with those of G. granatellii (Parl.) Parl., G. bohemica (Zauschner) Schult. & Schult. f. and G. dubia A. Terracc. (here recorded also for C Italy), are presented and discussed. All these three latter species resulted with 2n = 48 chromosomes.

Thymus paronychioides (Lamiaceae), a Neglected Species from Sicily Belonging to Thymus sect. Hypodromi

The taxonomic position of Thymus paronychioides Čelak., a neglected species until recently treated as a synonym of Th. striatus or Th. spinulosus, is reviewed. Karyological and morphological characters were used for comparative analyses with closely related taxa belonging to Th. sect. Hypodromi, such as Th. striatus and Th. spinulosus, occurring in the Mediterranean area (Italy, Balkans and Turkey). Multivariate and univariate morphometric analyses showed that Th. paronychioides is clearly distinct from Th. striatus and Th. spinulosus in the unique features of leaves (elliptical-spathulate, fleshy, with ± curved and prominent lateral veins), in the inflorescence being always capitate with few flowers, and in the larger corolla with the tube usually exceeding the calyx. Furthermore, chromosome counts showed that Th. paronychioides is polyploid (2n = ca. 60), whereas Th. spinulosus and Th. striatus are diploid (2n = 2x = 26). Hence, Th. paronychioides is shown to be an independent taxon, endemic to NW Sicily, placed within Th. sect. Hypodromi subsect. Serpyllastrum. Finally, an identification key to the Italian species of Th. sect. Hypodromi is provided.

A morphometric study and taxonomic revision of Fritillaria tubaeformis complex (Liliaceae)

A morphometric multivariate and univariate study involving all the three taxa within the Fritillaria tubaeformis complex was carried out. A total of 86 individuals from 8 populations were studied in vivo and complemented by the analysis of 116 individuals from herbarium specimens. According to our results, some morphological characters clearly support the separation among F. burnatii, F. tubaeformis and F. moggridgei. Despite this, some morphological overlapping does exist among F. tubaeformis and F. moggridgei, which show contiguous, partially interdigitated, but not overlapping ranges, and we deem more opportune their separation at subspecies level. On the contrary, Fritillaria burnatii is a clearly distinct species, albeit it can occasionally co-occur in the same site with F. tubaeformis subsp. moggridgei. An identification key for both fresh and dry specimens is provided.

The genus Thymus (Lamiaceae) in Sicily

An update on the taxonomy and geographic distribution of the genus Thymus in Sicily is given. This study is based on literature, herbarium and field investigations. In total, five taxa belonging to Thymus sect. Serpyllum (Th.richardii subsp. nitidus, Th.longicaulis and Th.praecox subsp. parvulus) and Th. sect. Hyphodromi (Th.spinulosus and Th.paronychioides) occur in Sicily. For each one, information about taxonomy, habitat, phenology, chromosome number and distribution are provided. Furthermore, the name Thymus pedicillatus Lojac. is here typified. Finally, an analytical key for the identification of the studied taxa is proposed.

Typification and Taxonomic Characterization of Thymus longicaulis C. Presl (Lamiaceae)

Thymus longicaulis C. Presl, described from Sicily by Carl Bořivoj Presl, is a critical Mediterranean species, often confused with other taxa belonging to Thymus sect. Serpyllum. In order to preserve the current application of this name, a lectotype is designated. We provide a detailed morphological description and information about its habitat, phenology, distribution and taxonomy.