Laura Facioni

Plant communities of Italy: The Vegetation Prodrome

The Vegetation Prodrome of Italy was promoted in 2012 by the Italian “Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea Protection”, in collaboration with the “Italian Society of Botany”, to provide a comprehensive and systematic catalogue and description of Italian plant communities. The Prodrome that is presented in this paper is the first full organic synthesis of the vegetation of Italy at the alliance syntaxonomic level. It fulfils several needs, the main one being a unified and comprehensive national framework that may make an important contribution to the definition of the European Vegetation Prodrome. Syntaxonomy, as well as taxonomy, is sometimes based on considerations that may in part diverge: several authors tend to favour models that are divisive or aggregative to a greater or lesser extent in terms of flora, biogeography and ecology. These different points of view stimulate the scientific debate and allow the adoption of a framework that is more widely supported. The Prodrome includes 75 classes, 2 subclasses, 175 orders, 6 suborders and 393 alliances. The classes were grouped into nine broad categories according to structural, physiognomic and synecological elements rather than to syntaxonomic criteria. The rank, full valid name, any synonymies and incorrect names are provided for each syntaxon. The short declaration highlights the physiognomy, synecology, syndynamics and distribution of the plant communities that belong to the syntaxon. The Prodrome of the Italian Vegetation is linked to the European Strategy for Biodiversity, the European Habitats Directive and the European Working Groups related to the ecosystems and their services. In addition to basic applications, the Prodrome can be used as a framework for scientific research related to the investigation of the relationships between plant communities and the environmental factors that influence their composition and distribution.

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overview of the content of the database, currently consisting of 31,100 vegetation plot, including published and unpublished data.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.

Submediterranean dry grasslands along the Tyrrhenian sector of central Italy: Synecology, syndynamics and syntaxonomy

Abstract Semi-natural dry grasslands are habitats of high conservation concern. These ecosystems have not been extensively explored in the Tyrrhenian sector of the Italian peninsula, particularly in the Submediterranean climatic region. In order to address this issue and to define the synecology, syndynamics and syntaxonomy of calcareous grasslands in this area, we considered 127 phytosociological relevés. Our sampling was performed in the Lazio region according to a stratified sampling scheme based on homogeneous land units, defined by means of an ecological land classification process. We analyzed the vegetation data using multivariate methods. Two new associations, whose typical aspects occur in the mesotemperate phytoclimatic belt, were identified:Erysimo pseudorhaetici-Dasypyretum villosi (Taenianthero-Aegilopion) and Scorpiuro muricati-Brometum erecti (Phleo-Bromion). Phytoclimatic belts within the Submediterranean region cause a significant degree of differentiation within Scorpiuro-Brometum, which was described at the subassociation and variant levels. The overall relevance of therophytes represents the most important feature distinguishing Scorpiuro-Brometum from the published Bromus erectus associations. At a finer scale, the presence of the two physiognomically different grassland communities is related to different soil types. All these communities are dynamically linked to Quercus virgiliana and Q. pubescens woods, and contribute to the coenological differentiation of the vegetation series related to such woodlands.

The Forest Vegetation of the Tolfa-Ceriti Mountains (Northern Latium - Central Italy)

The Forest Vegetation of the Tolfa-Ceriti Mountains (Northern Latium - Central Italy) The forests of the Tolfa-Ceriti mountains (Latium, central Italy) were investigated through a phytosociological approach. 249 relevés were performed and treated with multivariate analysis. 13 woodland communities were identified, of which 7 belong to Quercetalia pubescenti-petraeae, 1 to Fagetalia sylvaticae, 1 to Populetalia and 4 to Quercetalia ilicis. The thermophilous Turkey oak-forests occurring on the trachytic hills of the Ceriti Mountains and on the flysch substrates of the Tolfa Mountains were included in Rubio peregrinae-Quercetum cerridis ass. nova. Quercus cerris and Fraxinus angustifolia subsp. oxycarpa woodland communities of the footslopes have been ascribed to Fraxino oxycarpae-Quercetum cerridis, while the widespread mesophilus Turkey oak forests have been ascribed to Melico-Quercetum cerridis. Cephalantero longifoliae-Quercetum cerridis has been restricted to acid and oligotrophic soils. Quercus petraea woodlands, occurring on trachytic substrates have been described as a new association named Carici olbiensis-Quercetum petraeae ass. nova. All these mixed oak woods have been included in the alliance Crataego laevigatae-Quercion cerridis Arrigoni 1997. The nomenclatural problems concerning the prior name Teucrio siculi-Quercion cerridis Ubaldi 1988 are also discussed. The beech forests of the higher altitudes have been included in Fraxino orni-Fagetum sylvaticae, while the Alnus glutinosa ravine woodlands have been described as belonging to the new association Polysticho setiferi-Alnetum glutinosae. Secondary communities of Acer monspessulanum and Acer campestre developed on flysch substrates, and of Erica arborea and Arbutus unedo (Erico-Arbutetum unedonis) developed on trachytic substrates, have also been identified. Finally two types of Quercus ilex wood have been identified: Cyclamino repandi-Quercetum ilicis, on sandstones, and the new association Arbuto unedonis-Quercetum ilicis ass. nova on volcanic soils. This latter community can be considered as a coenological and geographical vicariant in central Italy of the sicilian Erico-Quercetum ilicis. Fitocenološko so bili raziskani gozdovih na pogorju Tolfa-Ceriti (Lacij, osrednja Italija). Izdelano je bilo 249 fitocenoloških popisov, ki so bili obdelani z multivariantimi metodami. Ugotovljenih je bilo 13 gozdnih združb, od katerih jih 7 uvrščamo v red Quercetalia pubescenti-petraeae, 1 v red Fagetalia sylvaticae, 1 v red Populetalia in 4 v red Quercetalia ilicis. Termofilni cerovi gozdovi, ki jih najdemo v gričevnatem svetu pogorja Ceriti in se razvijejo na flišu v pogorju Tolfa, so vključeni v asociacijo Rubio pereginae-Quercetum cerridis ass. nova. Gozdovi cera (Quercus cerris) in ozkolistnega jesena (Fraxinus angustifolia subsp. oxycarpa) na vznožjih so uvrščeni v združbo Fraxino oxycarpae-Quercetum cerridis, medtem ko so široko razširjeni mezofilni cerovi gozdovi uvrščeni v združbo Melico-Quercetum cerridis. Združba Cephalanthero longifoliae-Quercetum cerridis je razširjena le na grušču na kislih in oligotrofnih tleh. Gradnovi gozdovi, ki se pojavljajo na trahičnem substratu, so uvrščeni v novo asociacijo Carici olbiensis-Quercetum petraeae. Vsi obravnavani mešani hrastovi gozdovi so vključeni v zvezo Crataego laevigatae-Quercion cerridis Arrigoni 1997; poleg tega pa obravnavamo tudi starejše ime Teucrio siculi-Quercion cerridis Ubaldi 1988. Bukove gozdove, ki se pojavljajo na večjih nadmorskih višinah, uvrščamo v združbo Fraxino orni-Fagetum sylvaticae, medtem ko jelševe gozdove, ki jih najdemo po grapah, uvrščamo v novo asociacijo Polysticho setiferi-Alnetum glutinosae. Ugotovili smo tudi sekundarni združbi, in sicer na flišu združbo trokrpega javorja (Acer monspessulanum) in maklena (Acer campestre) ter na trahičnem substratu združbo drevesaste rese (Erica arborea) in jagodičnice (Arbutus unedo) - Erico-Arbutetum unedonis. Ugotovili smo tudi dva tipa gozdov črničevja (Quercus ilex): Cyclamino repandi-Quercetum ilicis na peščenjakih in novo asociacijo Arbuto unedeonis-Quercetum ilicis ass. nova na vulkanskih tleh, ki jo lahko obravnavamo kot cenološko in geografsko vikariantno združbo združbe Erico-Quercetum ilicis, ki jo najdemo na Siciliji.

Using vegetation dynamics to face the challenge of the conservation status assessment in semi-natural habitats

The conservation of semi-natural habitats represents a primary challenge for European nature conservation due to their great species diversity and their vulnerability to ongoing massive land-use changes. As these changes rapidly transform and phase out semi-natural habitats, conservation measures should be prompt and specifically focused on a sound assessment of the degree of conservation. Here we develop a methodological strategy for the assessment of the degree of conservation of semi-natural grasslands based on well-defined criteria rather than on expert opinion. Through mixed effect models, we tested ten potential indicators, encompassing proxies of species composition, habitat structure, and landscape patterns, against a measure of compositional change from habitat favourable condition, i.e., an inverse proxy of conservation status. This measure derives from the re-visitation of 132 sampling units historically sampled between 1966 and 1992 along the Apennines. The compositional change was quantified as the dissimilarity between historical habitat species pools and the composition of current communities. The compositional change was significantly related to the number of habitat diagnostic species and the relative cover of woody species with opposite sign (positive and negative, respectively). We classified and combined the classes of these two indicators in each sampling unit to assess the habitat degree of conservation at the plot and at the Natura 2000 site level. At the plot level, our assessment was in good agreement with the occurrence of species of conservation concern. On the other hand, at the site level, our assessment was not always harmonic with the habitat conservation assessment officially reported for the site investigated.