R Gatti

Floristic composition and spatial distribution assessment of montane mesophilous grasslands in the central Apennines, Italy: A multi-scale and diachronic approach

Abstract Evaluation of past land use offers valuable information in seeking to understand the distribution patterns of plant communities, insofar as such activity may have altered soil features, causing anthropogenic soil patchiness and marked plant diversity both locally and regionally. This study sought to provide a general overview of the relationships between the different syntaxonomical units and the soil features in a sub-Mediterranean grassland landscape, starting from assessment of soil parameters. In addition, we wanted to verify whether soil features and hierarchical landscape assessments of grasslands under homogeneous grazing disturbance are sufficient to explain the floristic differentiation of the plant communities, and whether study of land use history helps explain the distribution patterns of these plant communities. A clear understanding of the relationships between environmental factors and the floristic composition of plant communities is a strong basis for future inquiries into how disturbance variations (grazing, mowing, manuring, etc.) and past land use variations have affected grassland structures. This study examined nine syntaxa that develop on semi-flat slopes or those with northern exposure.

Trait-related flowering patterns in submediterranean mountain meadows

The research aims were to identify the flowering pattern and the related functional strategies in submediterranean mountain meadows (central Italy) and understand their relationships with some environmental and community structure variables. The number of flowering shoots per species was counted and environmental data were collected in 40 plots during 2009. Analysis of the species and trait data sets highlighted a flowering pattern and an underlying functional pattern. Dominant species tend to bloom in the central phases of the growing season when no stress acts in the system and a long time is available for plant growth and seed maturation. This kind of species does not need functional strategies allowing the canopy fast pre-emption or the tolerance to drought stress. Non-dominant species have two groups of functional strategies that allow them to share the same flowering period of dominant ones by a different type of space occupation (spatial niche partitioning) or to flower before or after their flowering period (temporal niche partitioning). The functional strategies involved in the temporal niche partitioning have a dual ecological meaning, limiting competition with dominant species by fast growth and seed maturation (e.g., short stature, mobilisation of stored reserves, colonization of unexploited soil niches by clonal growth organs and light seeds) and enabling tolerance to drought stress (e.g., scleromorphic and succulent leaves, persistent green leaves, tap roots) and to the low light availability at the ground level owing to the change of grassland structure (e.g., tall size and upright growth form).

Relationship Between Phenology and Above - Ground Phytomass in a Grassland Community in Central Italy

We analysed the relationship between phenology, phytomass temporal pattern and productivity dynamics in two grassland plots in the Marche Region (Central Italy). The plots were placed in grasslands belonging to the same syntaxon, previously defined as Brizo mediae-Brometum erecti using the phytosociological approach. The two sites were chosen at the lowest and the highest altitude within the distribution area of this syntaxon. The analysis showed a clear relationship between the observed variables and other ecological variables, such as climate. This information should be useful to plan future management strategy in the study area.

Map of changes in landscape naturalness in the Fiastra and Salino catchment basins (central Italy)

This work assessed the spatio-temporal variation of land use in the catchment basins of Fiastra and Salino (central Italy) and its effect on landscape naturalness over a 30-year period (1978–2008). The study area (centroid coordinates 43°7′29.44′′ N; 13°20′34.56′′E) was divided into ecologically homogeneous units (land units) in terms of substrate, bioclimatic belt, and aspect using a GIS-based hierarchical approach for landscape classification and mapping. Land units were characterized from a phytosociological viewpoint, and their naturalness evaluated using the Index of Landscape Conservation status. Comparison of current and past vegetation naturalness of land units was used to prepare the map of changes in landscape naturalness in the Fiastra and Salino catchment basins (central Italy) at a scale of 1:50,000. It was found that, while the change of naturalness in the whole study area was around zero, the pattern of distribution of this change was heterogeneous: naturalness increased in land units of high hilly and mountain belts, mostly because of the spread of woods, to the detriment of shrublands, pre-wooded communities, and grasslands, while the opposite trend was recorded in the alluvial plain and low hills, because of increasing urbanization and landscape homogenization caused by the transformation of grasslands, shrublands, pre-wooded communities, and tree-planted arable lands into arable lands. The hierarchical approach to landscape classification and mapping provided information that could have not been detected by mere calculation of indices. This kind of analysis offers a method for improved interpretation of landscape evolution, affording valuable input for predicting transformation of land use, and thus for formulating sound environmental policies and planning optimum ecosystem management strategies.