Relevant but neglected habitat types by the Directive 92/43 EEC in southern Italy

The 92/43/EEC Habitats Directive is the main European Union legal tool concerning nature conservation. The habitat types listed in Annex I to the Directive are phytosociology-based. It is widely acknowledged that phytosociological analysis is a crucial approach for habitats characterization and for monitoring their conservation status. Based on bibliographic investigations and new field survey campaigns, a list of habitat types neglected by the Habitats Directive is here presented and described for southern Italy. In this paper, 8 new habitat types and 13 subtypes are proposed. For each of these proposed new habitat types, a wide range of information, including ecology, chorology, species composition, syntaxonomy, threats, and conservation status, is here provided. To supply more detailed phytogeographical and coenological information about the proposed new habitat types, distribution maps based on 10 x 10 km reference grids and phytosociological tables including unpublished releves were carried out

What is the future for agroforestry in Italy?

The successful promotion of agroforestry in Italy depends on both a recognition of tradition and the opportunities for innovation. In Italy, agroforestry has traditionally been a key component of landscape management. Complex systems, based on the integration among crops–livestock–fruit/forest trees, provided a wide variety of products (e.g. food, feed, fibers, fuelwood and timber) and other ecosystem services (e.g. soil erosion control and biodiversity preservation). Silvopastoral systems have been used for centuries and are still managed in marginal areas. The integration of fruits trees (in primis olive trees) with crops and grazing was widely practiced and is still profitable. Coltura promiscua was historically developed integrating fruit and forest trees and particularly multifunctional trees (e.g. Juglans regia L. and Prunus avium L.) to support vines and intercrops. Building on recent research, projects have also focused on innovation in agroforestry. The adoption of shade tolerant forage species and crops has been studied in silvopastoral and olive systems. Silvopastoral systems can significantly offset the greenhouse gas emissions produced by livestock and shield grazing animals from “heat waves”. Integration of fast growing timber trees (like Populus) in arable systems can help reverse the decline in plantation forestry in Italy. Finally, the constraints imposed by the EU agricultural policy, especially the prevalent provisions for monocrops severely limiting the introduction of innovative agroforestry approaches, are discussed. New political measures and certification actions are strongly required

Notulae to the Italian native vascular flora: 5.

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of native vascular flora in Italy are presented. It includes new records and confirmations to the Italian administrative regions for taxa in the genera Allium, Arabis, Campanula, Centaurea, Chaerophyllum, Crocus, Dactylis, Dianthus, Festuca, Galanthus, Helianthemum, Lysimachia, Milium, Pteris, and Quercus. Nomenclature and distribution updates, published elsewhere, and corrections are provided as supplementary material

New national and regional Annex I Habitat records: from #26 to #36

New Italian data on the distribution of the Annex I Habitats 1510*, 2130*, 2250*, 3180*, 3260, 5230*, 6410, 7140, 7220*, 9320 are reported in this contribution. Specifically, 14 new occurrences in Natura 2000 sites are presented and 20 new cells are added in the EEA 10 km × 10 km reference grid. The new data refer to the Italian administrative regions of Abruzzo, Apulia, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Liguria, Marche, Molise, Sardinia, Sicily, Tuscany and Umbria

New national and regional Annex I Habitat records: from #45 to #59

New Italian data on the distribution of Annex I Habitats are reported in this contribution. Specifically, 8 new occurrences in Natura 2000 sites are presented and 27 new cells are added in the EEA 10 km × 10 km reference grid. The new data refer to the Italian administrative regions of Apulia, Campania, Calabria, Lazio, Tuscany, Umbria, Sardinia, and Sicily

Un primo contributo sull’Erbario storico di Giuseppe De Nicolò.

preliminary information is reported on the historical Herbarium collected in the second part of the XiX century by the apulian botanist Giuseppe De Nicolò. the Herbarium consists of about 6,000 specimens, and witnesses an active collaboration between De Nicolò and the major botanists of his time, including Gussone, Pedicino, and Gasparrini

Conservazione ex situ in Banca del Germoplasma di taxa di interesse conservazionistico del Parco Nazionale del Gargano

Seed banking of taxa of conservation interest in the Gargano National Park. – Ex situ conservation in seed bank is considered to be essential for the safeguard of plants, especially in case they are in danger of extinction. The Project “Vivaio della biodiversità garganica” was implemented in cooperation between the Gargano National Park and the Botanic Garden Museum of the University of Bari. It was aimed at the study and the conservation of the germplasm of some taxa which are of conservation interest in the Gargano and in the Tremiti Islands. Some of the 21 collected taxa are strictly endemic to the National Park (Aubrieta columnae Guss. subsp. italica (Boiss.) Mattf., Campanula garganica Ten. subsp. garganica, Centaurea diomedea Gasp., Iris bicapitata Colas. and Viola merxmuelleri Erben) while others have a high biogeographical value (such as the amphi-Adriatic taxa Aurinia leucadea (Guss.) K. Koch subsp. scopulorum (Ginzb.) Plazibat, Aurinia sinuata (L.) Griseb., Inula verbascifolia (Willd.) Hausskn. subsp. verbascifolia, Laserpitium siler L. subsp. garganicum (Ten.) Arcang. and Lomelosia crenata (Cirillo) Greuter & Burdet subsp. dallaportae (Boiss.) Greuter & Burdet)