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

Geobotanical analysis of Montagna dei Fiori massif. Flora, vegetation, plant landscape and habitats with detailed maps

Scopo della ricerca è lo studio geobotanico di un’area che si estende sul massiccio della Montagna dei Fiori, situata a cavallo tra le regioni Marche ed Abruzzo. Le indagini, svolte nell’ambito della Tesi di Dottorato, hanno più specificamente interessato lo studio della flora, della vegetazione e del paesaggio vegetale, nonché l’individuazione degli habitat, in base alla Direttiva 92/43/CEE, con produzione dei relativi documenti cartografici, alla scala 1:10.00, che da tali analisi è stato possibile derivare. Lo studio della flora, sebbene del tutto preliminare, ha reso possibile una conoscenza più particolareggiata dell’area nonché l’individuazione di specie di particolare interesse fitogeografico, la cui conoscenza è importante anche al fine della loro salvaguardia. Le indagini geobotaniche, obiettivo primario di questo lavoro, si sono rivelate uno strumento validato ed efficace, utile non soltanto per descrivere le peculiarità naturalistiche dell’area, ma anche e soprattutto per configurare politiche di gestione in ambito conservazionistico soprattutto in considerazione del fatto che la zona in studio risulta sottesa a diverse norme di protezione, di livello regionale, nazionale ed europeo. Il territorio indagato è infatti interessato dalla presenza di quattro siti Natura 2000 (due SIC e due ZPS) ed è, per buona parte, incluso nel Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga. La cartografia della vegetazione ha permesso di delimitare nello spazio le unità vegetazionali rilevate e di poter effettuare valutazioni deduttive sulla composizione del paesaggio vegetale dell’area oggetto di studio. Inoltre da questa è stata derivata la carta degli habitat d’interesse comunitario, sensu Direttiva 92/43/CEE, che si propone come un valido strumento di valutazione e gestione soprattutto dei siti Natura 2000. In conclusione il presente lavoro di ricerca rappresenta un contributo alle conoscenze botanico-territoriali dell’area, utili per definirne le modalità di gestione degli ambienti, nell’ottica di una conservazione mirata al mantenimento e al recupero della naturalità degli ecosistemi presenti e nel necessario rispetto delle condizioni socio-economiche delle popolazioni residenti

Bioclimate of Italy: application of the worldwide bioclimatic classification system

<div><p>The worldwide bioclimatic classification system (WBCS) of Rivas-Martínez was applied to the Italian territory and surrounding areas between latitudes 35°47′–46°60′ N and longitudes 5°92′–21°39′ E. The ‘WorldClim’ precipitation and temperature dataset was used as the source data. Application of the WBCS in a geographic information system allowed the production of macrobioclimates, bioclimates, ombrotypes, continentality, compensated thermicity index and ombro-evaporal index maps at a scale of 1:5,500,000, and a map of thermotypes at a scale of 1:2,250,000. Moreover, the isobioclimates of Italy are identified and quantified in terms of areas. These maps are available here as raster datasets (1 km spatial resolution) and are useful for: (i) rapid bioclimatic diagnosis of the Italian territories; and (ii) vegetation–environment relationship modeling at the national scale.</p></div

Plant communities of Italy: The Vegetation Prodrome.

The Vegetation Prodrome of Italy was promoted in 2012 by the Italian “Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea Protection”, in collaboration with the “Italian Society of Botany”, to provide a comprehensive and systematic catalogue and description of Italian plant communities. The Prodrome that is presented in this paper is the first full organic synthesis of the vegetation of Italy at the alliance syntaxonomic level. It fulfils several needs, the main one being a unified and comprehensive national framework that may make an important contribution to the definition of the European Vegetation Prodrome. Syntaxonomy, as well as taxonomy, is sometimes based on considerations that may in part diverge: several authors tend to favour models that are divisive or aggregative to a greater or lesser extent in terms of flora, biogeography and ecology. These different points of view stimulate the scientific debate and allow the adoption of a framework that is more widely supported. The Prodrome includes 75 classes, 2 subclasses, 175 orders, 6 suborders and 393 alliances. The classes were grouped into nine broad categories according to structural, physiognomic and synecological elements rather than to syntaxonomic criteria. The rank, full valid name, any synonymies and incorrect names are provided for each syntaxon. The short declaration highlights the physiognomy, synecology, syndynamics and distribution of the plant communities that belong to the syntaxon. The Prodrome of the Italian Vegetation is linked to the European Strategy for Biodiversity, the European Habitats Directive and the European Working Groups related to the ecosystems and their services. In addition to basic applications, the Prodrome can be used as a framework for scientific research related to the investigation of the relationships between plant communities and the environmental factors that influence their composition and distributio