A comparative analysis of functional traits in semi-natural grasslands under different grazing intensities

ArticleThe reduction of traditional management practices is a major threat for the conservation of permanent grasslands in many European marginal areas. The ecological importance of grasslands is acknowledged by the European Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC (1992) which includes many natural or semi-natural grassland types, and by the growing attention of society towards functions and services provided by these ecosystems. Nonetheless, the efficiency of conservation policies is questioned also for the lack of local-scale information on trends and state of grasslands hampers the definition of local-tailored schemes. The main objective of this work is to assess the potential of a set of functional traits in discriminating between different management intensities and their capacity to describe the dynamics occurring in semi-natural grasslands. The research was carried out in a hilly area of Tuscany (Italy) on four grassland sites characterized by similar environmental features (soil, climate, topography), and by different management practices for 10 or more years. The survey concerned collection and analysis of different functional traits related to foliar features, litter and botanical composition. The functional traits were able to differentiate the four sites under different management practices, but their effectiveness was different. Results support the possibility to perform a rapid appraisal of grassland successional stages based on leaf functional traits of dominant species and by the assessment of presence of a reduced number of species among those occurring in the community

UTCI field measurements in an urban park in Florence (Italy)

The aim of this study is to evaluate human thermal comfort in different green area settings in the city of Florence by using the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI). Field measurements of air temperature, solar radiation, relative humidity, wind speed and black globe thermometer were collected during hot summer days in various parts of Cascine Park, the biggest urban park in Florence (Italy). UTCI was evaluated over different surfaces (asphalt, gravel and grass) completely exposed to the sun or shaded by a large lime tree (Tilia × europaea). The results showed strong differences in UTCI values depending on the exposure to tree shade, while no significant difference was found among ground-cover materials when all surfaces were equally exposed to solar radiation. Future studies are needed to investigate the microclimatic effects of different tree species on UTCI