Shedding light on typical species: Implications for habitat monitoring

Habitat monitoring in Europe is regulated by Article 17 of the Habitats Directive, which suggests the use of typical species to assess habitat conservation status. Yet, the Directive uses the term “typical” species but does not provide a definition, either for its use in reporting or for its use in impact assessments. To address the issue, an online workshop was organized by the Italian Society for Vegetation Science (SISV) to shed light on the diversity of perspectives regarding the different concepts of typical species, and to discuss the possible im-plications for habitat monitoring. To this aim, we inquired 73 people with a very different degree of expertise in the field of vegetation science by means of a tailored survey composed of six questions. We analysed the data using Pearson's Chi-squared test to verify that the answers diverged from a random distribution and checked the effect of the degree of experience of the surveyees on the results. We found that most of the surveyees agreed on the use of the phytosociological method for habitat monitoring and of the diagnostic and characteristic species to evaluate the structural and functional conservation status of habitats. With this contribution, we shed light on the meaning of “typical” species in the context of habitat monitoring

Shedding light on typical species : implications for habitat monitoring

Habitat monitoring in Europe is regulated by Article 17 of the Habitats Directive, which suggests the use of typical species to assess habitat conservation status. Yet, the Directive uses the term “typical” species but does not provide a definition, either for its use in reporting or for its use in impact assessments. To address the issue, an online workshop was organized by the Italian Society for Vegetation Science (SISV) to shed light on the diversity of perspectives regarding the different concepts of typical species, and to discuss the possible implications for habitat monitoring. To this aim, we inquired 73 people with a very different degree of expertise in the field of vegetation science by means of a tailored survey composed of six questions. We analysed the data using Pearson's Chi-squared test to verify that the answers diverged from a random distribution and checked the effect of the degree of experience of the surveyees on the results. We found that most of the surveyees agreed on the use of the phytosociological method for habitat monitoring and of the diagnostic and characteristic species to evaluate the structural and functional conservation status of habitats. With this contribution, we shed light on the meaning of “typical” species in the context of habitat monitoring

Georges Bernanos Et L'ombre De Frere Martin: Un Ecrivain Catholique Face A Son Eglise. (french Text).

PhDRomance literatureUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/188899/2/7529197.pd

Primi risultati per una nuova regionalizzazione fitogeografica del territorio italiano

Biogeographical regionalization should not be confused with ecological cartography or landscape classification, as biogeographical classification should be based only on species distribution. Therefore, the optimal data set for a phytogeographical (floristic) classification of Italy would be a floristic atlas including all the vascular plants species of the country: grid cells should be treated as OGUs (Operational Geographic Unit) and elaborated through multivariate presence/absence analysis. However, such an atlas has never been realized in our country. Aim of the paper is to present a quantitative phytogeographical classification of Italy based on available data, i.e. the new check-list of the Italian vascular flora, the large amount of published local floras and information about the distribution of Potential Natural Vegetation (vegetation series). As the check-list shows the plant list of each of the 20 administrative regions of Italy, these can be treated as OGUs for a first, coarse-grain framework classification of the country. A more detailed and fine-grained analysis of Italy’s phytogeographical units can be made analyzing a wide set of local floras, chosen – among the many available – on the basis of their study area surface and ecological heterogeneity. We also present a detailed analysis regarding the chorological attributes of species exclusive of the Thyrrenic regions compared to the Adriatic ones. The complex of the analysis confirm the presence of a gradient north-south and a clear separation est-west along the Peninsula. Results confirm that the adopted method is a valuable approach and propose a new boundary for the Centre- European Region in Southern Italy