Pietro Medagli

Non‐native flora of Italy: Species distribution and threats

Abstract In this paper, we provide an overview of the distribution and invasive status of non‐native species in the Italian flora across its administrative regions, biogeographic regions and main land use types, and a synthesis of current knowledge on the threats they pose within the country. The information on non‐native plant species collected during the project “A survey of the non‐native Italian flora” was used to compile comprehensive regional and national databases. The number of non‐native species within a given administrative region increases in proportion to its size, resident population density and latitude, reaching the highest values in the intensively cultivated, heavily industrialized and urbanized Po Plain in northern Italy. The number of casual species is positively correlated with the number of yearly visitors in each region and negatively correlated with the proportion of mountainous terrain within the region. If compared with the Continental and Mediterranean biogeographic regions, the Alpine region yields the lowest number of non‐native species and lowest proportion of casual species. The number and density of introduced species is highest in artificial land use types, particularly in urban areas. A negative impact is reported to be exerted by 203 species, most of which are agricultural weeds.

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.

Aegilops (Poaceae) in Italy: taxonomy, geographical distribution, ecology, vulnerability and conservation

ABSTRACT Aegilops L. includes wild species from which, over millennia, man has cultivated forms of Triticum L. Ten species of Aegilops occur in Italy. Three species are allochthonous and eight out of ten species are recorded in the Apulia region. Five out of the ten species have been included in Red Lists. Each taxon is presented and discussed, citing old and new sites of occurrence, by examining specimens from many different herbaria, and describing their ecology and habitats, according to the Directive 92/43 EEC. A new taxonomic key, for the identification of all Aegilops species growing in Italy, is provided. The occurrence of Aegilops caudata L., A. peregrina (Hack. in J. Fraser) Maire & Weiller and A. speltoides Tausch in Italy is doubtful.

Project “Biodiversity MARE Tricase”: biodiversity research, monitoring and promotion at MARE Outpost (Apulia, Italy)

The project “Biodiversity MARE Tricase” aims to research and promote coastal and marine biodiversity at the MARE Outpost (Avamposto MARE), a marine station established in Tricase (Lecce, Italy) in 2015. From March 2016 to September 2017, the first biodiversity inventory of the Tricase coastal area (Ionian Sea) was realized with the aid of citizen scientists (e.g. local fishermen, divers, bathers, and tourists). Preliminary results include 556 taxa, of which the 95% were identified at the species level. Despite the broad knowledge on Mediterranean coastal biodiversity, 71 species represented new records for the Ionian Sea. In parallel with the research activities, people’s awareness of the value of biodiversity was raised with scientific dissemination initiatives, involving about 1700 people. The “Biodiversity MARE Tricase” project realized a first small-scale species inventory contributing to the distributional, taxonomic, and ecological knowledge of the present Mediterranean biota. The coastal area of Tricase will be soon included in a new Marine Protected Area and this project represents a step forward for the sustainable development of the community of this coast.

New cytological data in Ophrys sect. Pseudophrys Godfery and comparative karyomorphological studies in Ophrys L. (Orchidaceae)

Abstract Eight species of Ophrys sect. Pseudophrys (Orchidaceae) were cytogenetically studied. The analysed species possess the most symmetrical karyotypes of the genus (MCA ranged from 10.21 to 15.87 and CVCL from 19.61 to 23.93) with 2n = 2x = 36, being composed of mainly metacentric chromosomes. The karyotype formulae were: 36m for Ophrys archimedea, 32m + 4sm for O. flammeola, 32m + 4sm for O. funerea, 36m for O. laurensis, 36m for O. lojaconoi, 34m + 2sm for O. lucifera, 34m + 2sm for O. obaesa and 36m for O. pallida. Karyotype morphometric characters were evaluated by calculating MCA and CVCL for the assessment of karyotype asymmetry, and CVCI for the evaluation of heterogeneity in the position of the centromeres. The relationships between species were thus finally elucidated. The species characterised by wide distribution show greater karyomorphological distance than those with restricted distribution. The possible evolutionary role of chromosomal rearrangements as well as gene mutations in the speciation of Ophrys is discussed.

Serapias X Marchiorii Turco & Medagli (Serapias Bergonii E. G. Camus X Serapias Politisi Renz) Ibrido naturale nuovo del Salento

En Natural hybridization in the plant kingdom, that particularly occurs in disturbed habitats where is generally considered as a threat for rare and endangered species, is a potent evolutionary force. In fact in Mediterranean orchids, mainly pertaining to the Anacamptys, Ophrys and Serapias genres, the hybridization is a common phenomenon, as a natural consequence of their pollination system, that often it has carried to the defined phenomenon “sympatric speciation”. Here we describe the result of this process as a new Orchidaceae’s hybryd species, belong to Serapias genus, named Serapias x marchiorii Turco & Medagli, through analysis of the morphological aspects. The parental of the new hybrid species are: Serapias bergonii E.G. Camus and Serapias politisi Renz. Serapias bergonii = S. vomeracea (N.L. Burm.) Briq. subsp. laxiflora (Soo) Golz & Reinhard was originally described as an hybrid entity, result of a discovery made in Corfu at the “Saline of Potamos”. It is a species that is distributed in eastern areas, present in Italy only in the southern Apulia and southern Sicily. Serapias politisi, instead, was originally described as an hybrid between Serapias bergonii and Serapias parviflora at the island of Corfu, then was defined as a species and reported for the mainland Greece, the Aegean’s islands, the western Anatolia and in Apulia, the only Italian region of presence, where it is widespread mostly in Salento. Thus, the ranges of these two entities have little overlap that make rare and localized the interspecific hybrids. This is, probably, the reason that makes the hybrid in question not widely distributed. S. x marchiorii was found in a small area known as “Palude di Cassano” in the town of Melendugno (Le) along the adriatic coast, May 13, 2009. The area of small dimensions, is occupied mostly by a depression in karst nature which was partially drained in the middle of ‘900 with the creation of a drainage channel; the area surrounding the marsh is mainly occupied by grasslands and maquis. The station was found with few plants and was situated at an altitude between 12 and 15m above sea level, on a calcareous substrates known as “Calcareniti del Salento”.

Le orchidee spontanee e gli ambienti naturali nella "Terra D\'Otranto" (Puglia Centro-Meridionale)

It Gli autori esaminano la distribuzione e gli habitat di alcune orchidacee spontanee evidenziando le differenze esistenti al riguardo fra l’area delle Murge e il Salento. En The authors examine the distribution and the habitat of some spontaneous orchids putting in evidence the distinctions to this between the area of Murge and Salento.

Contributo alla distribuzione ed alla cariologia di Allium commutatum Guss. in Puglia

It Gli autori riferiscono del ritrovamento in Puglia di nuove stazioni di Allium commutatum Guss. Essi riportano lo studio cariologico di alcuni campioni raccolti. En Contribution to the distribution and to the karyology of Allium commutatum Guss. in Apulia. The authors report about the finding in Apulia of new stations of Allium commutatum Guss. They report a karyological study of some specimen picked.