Francesco Geri

VegItaly: The Italian collaborative project for a national vegetation database

Abstract Two years after its official start, the national vegetation database VegItaly, a collaborative project supported by the Italian scientific community and developed by a large group of scientists, is presented. This article offers a concise overview of the content of the database, currently consisting of 31,100 vegetation plot, including published and unpublished data. Some basic statistics are analysed; for example, data distribution in space and time, represented vegetation types expressed as physiognomic categories. Although rather young and still in progress, VegItaly already contains data from all the Italian regions and stands as an optimal candidate for the development of an Italian national vegetation database. Its main goals,theoretical basis, technical features, functionalities and recent progresses are outlined, showing glimpses of future prospects.

Mapping patterns of ferns species richness through the use of herbarium data

This paper aims to analyse the spatial patterns of sampling effort and species richness of pteridophyte in a well-investigated region as Tuscany, Italy, by using data stored from a geodatabase storing information on the specimens preserved in the main herbaria of the region. A total of 6,905 records about pteridophyte specimens were extracted from the geodatabase, and 5,638 of such specimens were studied through the use of spatial statistical techniques. The data about the sampling effort and species richness were analysed in relation to topographical variables to assess any significant relationship. Specimen-based rarefaction techniques were used to compare areas with different number of detected species. The analysis of the sampling effort data showed a nonhomogeneous distribution of herbarium data, with some areas being intensively sampled and others being almost unsampled. Thus, the geographical distribution of specimens was extremely clustered. The comparison across geographical areas through specimen-based rarefaction curves showed great differences in species richness and sampling completeness. The analysis of the residuals of species–area relationships evidenced that the distance to water bodies was the only significant topographical variable in controlling species diversity.

Recent Landscape Changes on a Small Mediterranean Island

Abstract The Mediterranean region is a major hotspot of biodiversity. However, over the last 50 to 100 years, this area has suffered dramatic changes in human pressure that has led to significant landscape changes resulting in a recovery of the vegetation cover to one of higher biomass. A multi-temporal vegetation analysis of Giannutri Island, based on inspection of a 50-year series of vegetation maps (1958–2008), shows an increase in high maquis and Juniperus-thickets positively correlated with a decrease in open and low maquis. The increase of high maquis and Juniperus-thickets shows two distinct types of strategies in their advancement: the first increases its coverage with new patches arising some distance away from one another, while Juniperus-thickets expand from the margins. These two behaviour types may be correlated to a different pressure from thrushes (Turdus spp.) their disperser found on the island. The few patches of Quercus ilex woodland have remained constant due to the absence in Giannutri of its principal disperser: the jay (Garrulus glandarius). Based on this it would be impossible to take into consideration the Potential Natural Vegetation (PNV) concept in addressing conservation activities on an island like Giannutri.

Gap analysis comparing protected areas with potential natural vegetation in Tuscany (Italy) and a GIS procedure to bridge the gaps

The aim was to compare the protected area (PA) network in Tuscany, Italy, with the areas referenced to different types of potential natural vegetation (PNV), to determine whether they are adequately represented for plant and habitat conservation purposes. For PNV, an existing but slightly updated and modified Italian Vegetation Series (VS) map was used. Each VS type corresponds to vegetation complexes that live under homogeneous environmental conditions and can each be considered an ecological land unit at the working scale employed here. Using GIS techniques, the geographic layers of PAs and VS were processed with spatial intersection to extract and quantify the VS contained within the boundaries of PAs. As a minimum conservation goal, we used the widely accepted 10% target threshold. It was found that, even though Tuscan PAs covered almost 20% of the total land surface, 94% of VS types resulted to be included in PAs with a percentage of at least 10% of their total area. The survey shows that the VS with the higher degree of inclusion in PAs are distributed in the Mediterranean Tuscany (coast and Tuscan Archipelago) and in some inner areas such as Apuan region, northern Apennines, Amiata Mt. and Farma-Merse Valley. Two VS types must be considered under-protected (i.e. contained in an existing PA network with percentages < 10%). We propose a simple GIS procedure based on certain priority assumptions: (a) existing PAs should be enlarged rather than new ones created and (b) their naturalness taken into account. This procedure produces a suitability map useful for identifying the best areas in which a local administration might look for solutions to bridge the gaps.

Habitat Suitability and Landscape Structure: A Maximum Entropy Approach in a Mediterranean Area

Abstract Species distribution models have recently become important tools in ecological research. Prediction of suitable habitats for threatened and endangered species is essential for the conservation and management of their native habitats. A landscape scale approach is relevant for biodiversity conservation since landscape planning and management are generally conducted at wide spatial scales, focusing on areas with complex landscape configuration as a consequence of human activities. The aims of this study were to test a maximum entropy approach (Maxent) to the development of a niche-based model for species of conservation interest and to relate this model to landscape structure metrics. The results obtained here showed a good predictive power of Maxent for the three target species and highlighted the importance of landscape structure analysis for the detection of patterns of habitat suitability. Moreover, this work stressed that combining classical environmental information with landscape structure in analysing habitat suitability for species of conservation interest may be used to guide conservation efforts and landscape management practices.

Bio-Energy Connectivity And Ecosystem Services. An Assessment by Pandora 3.0 Model for Land Use Decision Making

Landscape connectivity is one of the major issues related to biodiversity conservation and to the delivery of Ecosystem Services (ES). Several models were developed to assess landscape connectivity but lack of data and mismatching scale of analysis often represent insurmountable constraints for the correct evaluation and integration of ecological connectivity into plans and assessment procedures. In this paper a procedure for ES assessment related with Habitat and Bio-Energy Landscape Connectivity (BELC) is proposed. The method is based on the connectivity measure furnished by the last version of PANDORA model and uses a modified formulation of current ES evaluation. The implementation of the model in a real case has highlighted its potential multi-scale workability. The spatial approach of the model aims at furnishing a further tool for the spread of ES and landscape ecology concepts into procedures of assessment (e.g. EIA, SEA) and land use planning at different administrative scales.

CORINE land cover and floristic variation in a Mediterranean wetland

The aims of the present study were to: (1) investigate whether CORINE land cover classes reflect significant differences in floristic composition, using a very detailed CORINE land cover map (scale 1:5000); (2) decompose the relationships between floristic assemblages and three groups of explanatory variables (CORINE land cover classes, environmental characteristics and spatial structure) into unique and interactive components. Stratified sampling was used to select a set of 100-m2 plots in each land cover class identified in the semi-natural wetland surrounding a lake in central Italy. The following six classes were considered: stable meadows, deciduous oak dominated woods, hygrophilous broadleaf dominated woods, heaths and shrublands, inland swamps, canals or watercourses. The relationship between land cover classes and floristic composition was tested using several statistical techniques in order to determine whether the results remained consistent with different procedures. The variation partitioning approach was applied to identify the relative importance of three groups of explanatory variables in relation to floristic variation. The most important predictor was land cover, which explained 20.7% of the variation in plant distribution, although the hypothesis that each land cover class could be associated with a particular floristic pattern was not verified. Multi Response Permutation Analysis did not indicate a strong floristic separability between land cover classes and only 9.5% of species showed a significant indicator value for a specific land cover class. We suggest that land cover classes linked with hygrophilous and herbaceous communities in a wetland may have floristic patterns that vary with fine scale and are not compatible with a land cover map.

Are CORINE land cover classes reliable proxies of plant species assemblages? A test in Mediterranean forest landscapes

Abstract In land cover mapping, the complexity of landscapes is fitted into classes that may limit the recognition of natural variability. In this study, we tested the power of land cover classes (defined on the CORINE land cover classification scheme, a standardized legend set by EU for land cover inventory) to separate different vascular plant assemblages in forest ecosystems. In order to separately identify the role of different sources of inconsistency between land cover classes and species composition, we compared three different inventory processes, based on (i) dominant tree species as observed in the field, (ii) visual interpretation of remotely sensed images and (iii) semi-automatic supervised classification of satellite images. Our results underline that classifying forest ecosystems on the basis of their canopy species produces an over-simplification of habitat variability. Consequently, land cover maps based on non-specialized classification schemes should not be regarded as good proxies for plant biodiversity. If land cover maps are intended to describe and manage landscapes and their associated biodiversity, it is necessary to improve their capacity to represent the complexity of ecosystems.

Role of a geodatabase to assess the distribution of plants of conservation interest in a large protected area: A case study for a major national park in Italy

Abstract We use a geodatabase to investigate the distribution patterns of an important subset of floristic reports recorded for the Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi, Monte Falterona, Campigna in the northern Apennines, Italy. This database was analysed using spatial statistical techniques and a digital elevation model. Significant relationships between species presence, sampling effort and species richness were then analysed in relation to topographical variables and to an existing vegetation map. Report-based rarefaction techniques were used to compare areas having different numbers of species recorded. Overall, the analysis shows that some areas of the park are richer in species of conservation interest than others, and that these have been more intensely investigated. Meanwhile, for other areas, botanical knowledge is scarce or even absent. This has led to clustering and redundancy of floristic data in some areas. The study confirms that the existence of a complete and up-to-date geodatabase creates a valuable resource which enables information gaps to be bridged. Such gaps often exist in biological databases for rare and narrowly distributed species. The wider application of these analyses should also give useful indications of how the incidences of these species of conservation interest are associated with particular environmental variables.

Urban-rural bioenergy planning as a strategy for the sustainable development of inner areas: A GIS-based method to chance the forest chain

We describe the application of the spatial-based r.green.biomassfor Decision Support System (DSS), which is able to calculate the energy available from forest biomass residues, in a case study in an inner area of Italy, the Union of Pistoia Apennines Municipalities. Inner areas need strategies to counteract demographic abandonment as well as to improve socioeconomic conditions. This work considers the suitability of urban buildings to be served by biomass-energy plants as well as the supply/demand balance at the basin level. The suitability of the implementation of district-heating plants (DHP) was computed by means of a multicriteria analysis (MCA) model able to combine the following parameters: (i) yearly energy needs at the building level, (ii) building density, (iii) distance from the gas network and (iv) accessibility of the buildings/urban context. The MCA involved various experts and stakeholders to choose the parameters and to assess the weight to be assigned. A participative approach based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was carried out. Once DHP suitability and potential energy demand had been calculated, the basin energy density was computed. The optimal localization of DHP was then determined at the geographic level to analyze the technical and economic availability of the bioenergy supply. The new DHP implementation was analyzed for basins with both a high supply/demand ratio and high building suitability. Using the r.green.biomassfor software, the bioenergy availability was estimated from both ecological and economic points of view, while taking into account several environmental, technical, normative and financial variables. A series of scenarios have been analyzed using sensitivity analysis. The absence/presence of bioenergy production, as well as the variability of woodchip prices, stressed the high importance of wood-residue valorization for the improvement of the forest chain. The approach we tested allows for better understanding and valuation of marginal areas in which planning is more difficult because resources are unevenly distributed. By highlighting suitable basins, energy planning is focused where it is advisable. The DSS is an effective tool for planning and communicating spatially explicit results to stakeholders. Although forest biomass covers a limited amount of energy demand and must be integrated with other renewable sources, forest-biomass valorization has huge positive side effects on the energy-supply production chain and can be a driving force to revive local economies. Our spatial results confirm the validity of a holistic strategy for local development.