Senecio grisebachii Baker (Compositae), new to the Italian flora.

Una nuova specie esotica, Senecio grisebachii Baker, originaria del Sudamerica \ue8 stata ritrovata nella Liguria occidentale fra Ventimiglia e Pietra Ligure. La sua introduzione risale probabilmente a 25 anni fa. La specie \ue8 presentesu un territorio piuttosto vasto, mostra notevoli capacit\ue0 riproduttive e di espansione e si pu\uf2 ritenere specie naturalizzata

Ecological characteristics and rarity of endemic plants of the Italian Maritime Alps.

This overview of endemic plants of the Italian Maritime Alps (107 taxa representing 3.44% of the flora) is the completion of an earlier study carried out on the French side of the same alpine sector. Similar ecological preferences and plant life strategies were detected in both countries, with a particular ability on the part of endemics to colonize habitats with low competition and disturbance characteristics. The comparison with other areas of the Mediterranean basin appears to show that: (1) the Maritime Alps as a whole actually constitute a hot spot owing to the high total number of vascular plants; (2) the number of endemic plants is quite high, even without considering rare plants. Although numerous endemics are protected by law and part of the territory and biotopes are nominally under habitat conservation measures, new practical measures should be enforced as quickly as possible. Because of the high ecological specialization and the lack of competitiveness of endemics, in situ conservation appears to be adequate. In depth, cooperative and joint conservation strategies should be planned and implemented by both Italy and France and particular stress should be placed on achieving broader, more effective results

Identification of burned areas in the Liguria region using Landsat and QuickBird images. The case study of Monte Fasce.

The aim of this study is to test and compare different remote sensing techniques to define burned areas in Liguria. The test area is the Monte Fasce site, affected by a huge fire in September 2009. The work is based on the Landsat TM and the QuickBird images acquired before and after the event. We considered bands, PCA, texture analysis and several spectral indices reported in literature. The indices were compared empirically and using two algorithms (ROI separability and the software SEATH) to find the most suited ones to detect the burned zones. Once the base data have been characterised, the burned area was extracted using different methods: thresholds, decision trees, the Maximum Likelihood classification, the ENVI and RHSEG segmentation and the Change Detection technique. The maps' accuracy of the areas covered by fire was estimated by comparing the satellite data with those taken on the ground by the Forest Service and the ones provided by a visual analysis of the post-event QuickBird image. The best results were obtained with the multitemporal technique computing the pre- and postimage difference: the Landsat data give an overall error of 22.75% applying a multithreshold technique with the indices NDVI, NBR and NBRT; the QuickBird data show an error of 22.8% using the NDVI index. Future improvements should envisage a methodology to reduce the error and a thorough analysis on a range of burned areas in the Liguria region

Notulae alla checklist della Flora vascolare italiana: 11.

none4Peccenini S.; Barberis G.; Peruzzi L.; Nepi C. (eds.)Peccenini, Simonetta; Barberis, GIUSEPPINA ALBINA; Peruzzi, L.; Nepi, C

Campanula sabatia De Not.

Schede per una Lista Rossa della Flora vascolare e crittogamica Italiana: Campanula sabati

Ecological studies on the serpentine endemic plant Cerastium utriense Barberis

Cerastium utriense Barberis (Caryophyllaceae) is an endemic plant growing on ultramafic outcrops in northwestern Italy. Despite its great phytogeographical importance, little is known about its ecological requirements and environmental range. Thus, the main objective of the present work was to examine and clarify these aspects. On the basis of a preliminary survey on its range, 28 plots were sampled, and Ellenberg ecological indices of the flora growing with C. utriense were defined. Furthermore, on the basis of the floristic diversity and physical, chemical, and biological properties of the soils, 10 of these plots were selected and more closely investigated. This preliminary study characterized C. utriense as a strictly Ni-excluding serpentinophyte with no apparent relationship with typical chemical characteristics of serpentine soils. On the contrary, the species showed a direct association with physical traits typical of serpentine substrates

An inventory of the names of vascular plants endemic to Italy, their loci classici and types

The census of the loci classici of 1,400 Italian endemic vascular plants (i.e. not thriving elsewhere with the exception of Corsica and Malta) is here presented and described. The effective place of publication of accepted names, basionyms and homotypic synonyms were identified and critically verified. This often resulted in some change in authorship attribution and, in seven The census of the loci classici of 1,400 Italian endemic vascular plants (i.e. not thriving elsewhere with the exception of Corsica and Malta) is here presented and described. The effective place of publication of accepted names, basionyms and homotypic synonyms were identified and critically verified. This often resulted in some change in authorship attribution and, in seven cases, in validation problems (Asperula cynanchica var. lactea var. nov., A. lactea comb. nov., Biscutella laevigata subsp. raffaelliana subsp. nov., Ferulago nodosa subsp. geniculata comb. & stat. nov., Limonium tineoi comb. nov., L. usticanum sp. nov., Noccaea torreana comb. nov.). The geographic information on the loci classici was excerpted from the protologues, as well as information on typification for the taxa described before 1 January 1958. The names without holotype are 796. For 347 names a lecto- or neo-typification is available in literature, while 449 currently accepted taxa still need of type designation