An overview of the Italian forest biodiversity and its conservation level, based on the first outcomes of the 4th Habitat Report ex-Art. 17

In 2019 the 4th Report ex-Art. 17 on the conservation status (CS) of Annex I Habitats of the 92/43/EEC Directive was expected by every EU/28 country, with reference to the period 2013-18. In Italy, the process was in charge to the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), on behalf of the Ministry for Environment, Land and Sea Protection (MATTM), with the scientific support of the Italian Botanical Society (SBI). A large group of thematic and territorial experts elaborated the available data concerning the 124 types of terrestrial and inland water Habitats present in Italy, 39 of which are represented by Forest Habitats (Group 9),. The main aim of the work was the evaluation of the overall CS of each Habitat by Biogeographic Region (Mediterranean, Continental and Alpine), for a total amount of 294 assessments. A high proportion of these (92, corresponding to 31% of the total) referred to Forest Habitats, including 20 marginal types for which the CS was not requested. The analysis was carried out at different scales: a) administrative territory, through the data contained in the ISPRA database, whose compilation was in charge to the Regions and Autonomous Provinces; b) Natura 2000 site, with the latest updates available (Standard Data Forms updated to 2018); c) national scale, implementing the distribution maps for each Habitat based on the European grid ETRS89-LAEA5210 (10x10 km2 mesh); d) Biogeographic Region, scale of the final assessment. Cartographic outcomes, associated databases and additional data used for the assessments will be available online on the ISPRA Portal as soon as the validation process by the European Commission will be completed. A dedicated archive named "HAB_IT" has been created in the national database "VegItaly" (1), managed by the Italian Society of Vegetation Science, where the phytosociological relevés representative of the various Annex I Habitats in Italy will be archived and freely accessible. An overview of the results regarding the Forest habitats is here provided, including a comparison with the outcomes of the former reporting cycle, the 3rd Report ex-Art. 17 (2). In several cases (e.g. 9120, 91L0), the distribution maps have been remarkably improved due to better knowledge and more fitful interpretation. The conservation status resulted as Favourable (FV) for 6,7%, Inadequate (U1) for 58,7% and Bad (U1) for 32,0% of the 72 assessed forest Habitat types. In no case there was an improvement of the conservation status, while in 6 cases a worsening of the conditions resulted from the data analysis, pointing out the Habitats types with a higher need of action. Similarly to other projects carried out as a team by the network of Annex I Habitat experts of the Italian Botanical Society and the Italian Society for Vegetation Science (e.g. 3, 4), this is another step in the direction of supporting the implementation of the 92/43/EEC "Habitat" Directive in Italy and Europe. On this ground, the high biodiversity of the Italian forest Habitats could be emphasized, however results pointed out that some rare or endemic types (e.g. Alnus cordata or Betula aetnensis-dominated forests) are still scarcely acknowledged by the most prominent EU conservation tools such as the Annex I to the "Habitat" Directive. 1) F. Landucci et al. (2012) Plant Biosyst., 146(4), 756-763 2) P. Genovesi et al. (2014) ISPRA, Serie Rapporti, 194/2014 3) E. Biondi et al. (2009) Società Botanica Italiana, MATTM, D.P.N., http://vnr.unipg.it/habitat/ 4) D. Gigante et al. (2016) Plant Sociology, 53(2), 77-8

Non-Static Fluid Spheres Admitting a Conformal Killing Vector: Exact Solutions

We carry on a general study on non-static spherically symmetric fluids admitting a conformal Killing vector (CKV). Several families of exact analytical solutions are found for different choices of the CKV in both the dissipative and the adiabatic regime. To specify the solutions, besides the fulfillment of the junction conditions on the boundary of the fluid distribution, different conditions are imposed, such as a vanishing complexity factor and quasi-homologous evolution. A detailed analysis of the obtained solutions and its prospective applications to astrophysical scenarios, as well as alternative approaches to obtain new solutions, are discussed

Non-Static Fluid Spheres Admitting a Conformal Killing Vector: Exact Solutions

We carry on a general study on non-static spherically symmetric fluids admitting a conformal Killing vector (CKV). Several families of exact analytical solutions are found for different choices of the CKV in both the dissipative and the adiabatic regime. To specify the solutions, besides the fulfillment of the junction conditions on the boundary of the fluid distribution, different conditions are imposed, such as a vanishing complexity factor and quasi-homologous evolution. A detailed analysis of the obtained solutions and its prospective applications to astrophysical scenarios, as well as alternative approaches to obtain new solutions, are discussed

Hyperbolically Symmetric Versions of Lemaitre–Tolman–Bondi Spacetimes

We study fluid distributions endowed with hyperbolic symmetry, which share many common features with Lemaitre–Tolman–Bondi (LTB) solutions (e.g., they are geodesic, shearing, and nonconformally flat, and the energy density is inhomogeneous). As such, they may be considered as hyperbolic symmetric versions of LTB, with spherical symmetry replaced by hyperbolic symmetry. We start by considering pure dust models, and afterwards, we extend our analysis to dissipative models with anisotropic pressure. In the former case, the complexity factor is necessarily nonvanishing, whereas in the latter cases, models with a vanishing complexity factor are found. The remarkable fact is that all solutions satisfying the vanishing complexity factor condition are necessarily nondissipative and satisfy the stiff equation of state

Esferas estáticas en relatividad general

Recientemente K. Lake ha presentado un algoritmo que permite obtener todas las soluciones estáticas de las ecuaciones de Einstein, para el caso de un fluido perfecto con simetría esférica, a partir de una sola función dada. Este algoritmo se extiende al caso de un fluido localmente anisótropo. Como era de esperar, este nuevo formalismo requiere del conocimiento de dos funciones en lugar de una. Para ilustrar el método se deducen de nuevo algunas  soluciones conocidas.    Recently K. Lake has presented an algorithm that allows to obtain all the static solutions of the equations of Einstein, in the case of a perfect fluid with spherical symmetry, from one given function. This algorithm is then extended to the case of locally anisotropic fluid. Predictably, this new formalism requires knowledge of two functions instead of one. To illustrate the method some known solutions are restored.

EU habitats monitoring along the coastal dunes of the LTER sites of Abruzzo and Molise (Italy)

The Italian LTER network is an integrated and shared system for ecosystem monitoring (Long Term Ecological Research-Italy). The research sites of Abruzzo and Molise are part of the LTER site 20 "Coastal sand dunes in central Italy" (www.lteritalia.it) and include 5 S.C.I. along the central Italy Adriatic coastline. The paper aims to carry out a short review of the main results recently achieved through the dune vegetation monitoring in these LTER sites and proposes a synthesis on the species composition (focal and alien species occurrence) and the spatial distribution of dune EU habitats. We recorded 17 EU dune habitats, 4 of them are priority habitats (2250∗, 2270∗, 3170∗, 1510∗). Results suggest that many EU habitats are still locally widespread, with the exception of wet slacks and evergreen woods, occurring only in residual small patches. Moreover all EU habitats host several invasive alien species and only in salt marshes they are almost absent, because of the occurrence of extreme salinity. This natural heritage is therefore vulnerable and further efforts should be made to reduce the impacts of human pressure, through increased awareness of environmental issues and the education on ecosystem services provided by the natural landscape of coastal dunes

A first checklist of the alien-dominated vegetation in Italy

This study provides a first step toward the knowledge of the alien-dominated and co-dominated plant communities present in Italy. The first ever checklist of the alien phytocoenoses described or reported in literature for the Italian territory has been compiled, produced by data-mining in national and local thematic literature. The resulting vegetation-type draft-list has been checked in the light of the most recent syntaxonomic documentation and updated with regards to syntaxonomy and nomenclature, with special reference to the frame proposed in the Italian Vegetation Prodrome. The list includes 27 vascular and one bryophyte vegetation classes, hosting 194 low rank alien-dominated syntaxa. The different vegetation types detected for each syntaxonomic class and macro-vegetation group, defined by physiognomical and ecological attributes, are discussed