Correlations among biodiversity, biomass and other plant community parameters using the phytosociological approach: A case study from the south-eastern Alps

The present study deals with the grassland complex of communities which may be found on the limestones in the southeastern Alps; these communities show in fact a particular interest for their high biodiversity degree and for their importance for the traditional land-use economy of the south-European mountain regions. Phytosociological releve´s corresponding to well-defined plant associations have been used in order to get information on the relationships among plant species diversity, biomass, chorotypes, pollination types, functional strategies and soil characteristics. The analysis was carried out both along an altitudinal and a soil evolution gradient. The analysis of the correlations among the variables and the application of the principal component analysis shows a positive correlation between soil parameters and biomass, eurichory, anemogamy and C- and R-strategies; on the contrary, a negative correlation among stenochory, entomogamy and S-strategy with the soil evolution seems to be present. This article shows how the phytosociological approach can be used to get information and knowledge on the correlations between several variables useful to understand the complex nature of the plant communities in order to support management plans

Administrative and Judicial Collective Enforcement of Consumer Law in the US and the European Community

In the consumer society, as it stands today in Western-type democracies, consumers have a far larger choice of products and services originating from all over the world than they did decades ago. Risks associated with products and services have also increased, as have mass problems and mass damages, often in a transborder dimension. The US and the European Community, though battling against common problems, maintain different standard setting and enforcement regimes. This paper focuses on enforcement regimes, thereby distinguishing between administrative enforcement via agencies and judicial collective enforcement via European collective actions and US class actions. The existing theoretical framework depicting administrative and judicial enforcement as alternative strategies is contrasted against modern developments in the US and the EC. In the field of consumer protection administrative control and judicial collective enforcement are being understood more as functional complements than alternatives. Enforcement covers negotiation, settlement, adjudication and arbitration. The analysis of the institutional variables determining the choice between administrative and judicial control – ex ante vs. ex post control, injunctive relief versus damages, personal injuries and economic losses, sector specificity vs. general instruments to protect consumers, public agencies vs. private organisations – provide the ground for preliminary thoughts on a revised theoretical approach