Bryophyte, lichen, and vascular plant communities of badland grasslands show weak cross-taxon congruence but high local uniqueness in biancana pediments

Cross-taxon congruence, i.e., using certain taxonomic groups as surrogates for others, is receiving growing interest since it may allow decreasing efforts in biodiversity studies. In this work, we investigated the patterns of cross-taxon congruence in species richness and composition between communities of bryophytes, lichens, and vascular plants in different biancana grasslands of a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) of central Italy. We recorded species presence and abundance in 16 plots of 1 × 1 m size and analyzed the data using Procrustes correlation, co-correspondence analysis, and indicator species analysis. We did not highlight any correlation in species richness and composition between the three taxonomic groups. Conversely, the species composition of bryophyte communities was predictive of the species composition of lichen communities. Moreover, lichen richness was negatively correlated with the total cover of vascular plants. Indicator species analysis evidenced the presence of species from the three biotic communities being particularly related, at least at the local scale, to biancana pediments, like the bryophytes Didymodon acutus and Trichostomum crispulum, the lichens Enchylium tenax, Cladonia foliacea, and Psora decipiens, and the vascular plants Brachypodium distachyon, Parapholis strigosa, and Artemisia caerulescens subsp. cretacea. In the biancana pediments, acrocarp mosses, squamulose lichens, therophyte plants and chamaephyte plants coexisted. In spite of the weak cross-taxon congruence between the three taxonomic groups, this study could highlight a locally unique diversity of bryophytes, lichens, and vascular plants related to the extreme environment of biancana pediments, selected by high soil salinity and deposition from the upper eroded slope. Soil erosion and deposition in biancana badlands supports the increase of local multi-taxonomic plant diversity by creating unique ecosystems. Such biodiversity should be considered locally at risk of disappearance, due to the ongoing vanishing of biancana badlands in central Italy

New national and regional Annex I Habitat records: from #102 to #122

New Italian data on the distribution of the Annex I Habitats are reported in this contribution. Specifically, 9 new occurrences in Natura 2000 sites are presented and 34 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, Calabria, Latium, Lombardy, Marche, Sardinia, Sicily, Tuscany and Umbria

New national and regional Annex I Habitat records: from #60 to #82

New Italian data on the distribution of the Annex I Habitats are reported in this contribution. Specifically, 8 new occurrences in Natura 2000 sites are presented and 49 new cells are added in the EEA 10 km × 10 km reference grid. The new data refer to the Italian administrative regions of Campania, Calabria, Marche, Piedmont, Sardinia, Sicily, Tuscany and Umbria. Relevés and figures are provided as Supplementary material respectively 1 and 2

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

Shedding light on typical species : implications for habitat monitoring

Habitat monitoring in Europe is regulated by Article 17 of the Habitats Directive, which suggests the use of typical species to assess habitat conservation status. Yet, the Directive uses the term “typical” species but does not provide a definition, either for its use in reporting or for its use in impact assessments. To address the issue, an online workshop was organized by the Italian Society for Vegetation Science (SISV) to shed light on the diversity of perspectives regarding the different concepts of typical species, and to discuss the possible implications for habitat monitoring. To this aim, we inquired 73 people with a very different degree of expertise in the field of vegetation science by means of a tailored survey composed of six questions. We analysed the data using Pearson's Chi-squared test to verify that the answers diverged from a random distribution and checked the effect of the degree of experience of the surveyees on the results. We found that most of the surveyees agreed on the use of the phytosociological method for habitat monitoring and of the diagnostic and characteristic species to evaluate the structural and functional conservation status of habitats. With this contribution, we shed light on the meaning of “typical” species in the context of habitat monitoring

New national and regional Annex I Habitat records: from #83 to #101

New Italian data on the distribution of 17 Annex I Habitats are reported in this contribution. Specifically, 11 new occurrences in Natura 2000 sites are presented and 30 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, Sardinia, Sicily and Tuscany

Contributi per una flora vascolare di Toscana. XI (664-738)

Vengono presentate nuove località e/o conferme relative 75 taxa specifici e sottospecifici di piante vascolari della flora vascolare toscana, appartenenti a 67 generi e 41 famiglie: Delosperma (Aizoaceae), Dysphania (Amaranthaceae), Leucojum, Nothoscordum (Amaryllidaceae), Bupleurum, Coriandrum (Apiaceae), Araujia (Apocynaceae), Lemna (Araceae), Hydrocotyle (Araliaceae), Aristolochia (Aristolochiaceae), Bellevalia (Asparagaceae), Asphodelus (Asphodelaceae), Artemisia, Crepis, Eclipta, Erigeron, Hieracium, Senecio, Symphyotrichum, Tolpis (Asteraceae), Symphytum (Boraginaceae), Alyssum, Cardamine, Eruca, Isatis (Brassicaceae), Valerianella (Caprifoliaceae), Petrorhagia, Scleranthus (Caryophyllaceae), Commelina (Commelinaceae), Dichondra (Convolvulaceae), Sedum (Crassulaceae), Diospyros (Ebenaceae), Moneses (Ericaceae), Euphorbia (Euphorbiaceae), Medicago, Trifolium (Fabaceae), Myriophyllum (Haloragaceae), Juncus (Juncaceae), Salvia, Teucrium (Lamiaceae), Broussonetia (Moraceae), Spiranthes (Orchidaceae), Phelipanche (Orobanchaceae), Papaver (Papaveraceae), Passiflora (Passifloraceae), Cedrus, Pseudotsuga (Pinaceae), Bromopsis, Calamagrostis, Cenchrus, Drymochloa, Melica, Oloptum, Phleum, Sporobolus, Tragus (Poaceae), Stuckenia (Potamogetonaceae), Lysimachia (Primulaceae), Anemone, Aquilegia (Ranunculaceae), Eriobotrya (Rosaceae), Crucianella (Rubiaceae), Verbascum (Scrophulariaceae), Typha (Typhaceae), Urtica (Urticaceae), Viola (Violaceae). Infine, viene discusso lo status di conservazione delle entità e gli eventuali vincoli di protezione dei biotopi segnalati.New localities and/or confirmations concerning 75 specific and subspecific plant taxa of Tuscan vascular flora, belonging to 67 genera and 41 families are presented: Delosperma (Aizoaceae), Dysphania (Amaranthaceae), Leucojum, Nothoscordum (Amaryllidaceae), Bupleurum, Coriandrum (Apiaceae), Araujia (Apocynaceae), Lemna (Araceae), Hydrocotyle (Araliaceae), Aristolochia (Aristolochiaceae), Bellevalia (Asparagaceae), Asphodelus (Asphodelaceae), Artemisia, Crepis, Eclipta, Erigeron, Hieracium, Senecio, Symphyotrichum, Tolpis (Asteraceae), Symphytum (Boraginaceae), Alyssum, Cardamine, Eruca, Isatis (Brassicaceae), Valerianella (Caprifoliaceae), Petrorhagia, Scleranthus (Caryophyllaceae), Commelina (Commelinaceae), Dichondra (Convolvulaceae), Sedum (Crassulaceae), Diospyros (Ebenaceae), Moneses (Ericaceae), Euphorbia (Euphorbiaceae), Medicago, Trifolium (Fabaceae), Myriophyllum (Haloragaceae), Juncus (Juncaceae), Salvia, Teucrium (Lamiaceae), Broussonetia (Moraceae), Spiranthes (Orchidaceae), Phelipanche (Orobanchaceae), Papaver (Papaveraceae), Passiflora (Passifloraceae), Cedrus, Pseudotsuga (Pinaceae), Bromopsis, Calamagrostis, Cenchrus, Drymochloa, Melica, Oloptum, Phleum, Sporobolus, Tragus (Poaceae), Stuckenia (Potamogetonaceae), Lysimachia (Primulaceae), Anemone, Aquilegia (Ranunculaceae), Eriobotrya (Rosaceae), Crucianella (Rubiaceae), Verbascum (Scrophulariaceae), Typha (Typhaceae), Urtica (Urticaceae), and Viola (Violaceae). In the end, the conservation status of the units and eventual protection of the cited biotopes are discussed

Notulae to the Italian flora of algae, bryophytes, fungi and lichens: 17

In this contribution, new data concerning algae, bryophytes, fungi and lichens of the Italian flora are presented. It includes new records and confirmations for the algal genera Chara and Nitella, the bryophyte genera Brachythecium, Didymodon, Fissidens, Physcomitrium, and Riccia, the fungal genera Biatoropsis, Cantharellus, Coprinellus, Dacrymyces, Inosperma, Nigropuncta, Urocystis, and Xanthoriicola, and the lichen genera Arthonia, Bellemerea, Circinaria, Lecania, Lecanora, Lecidella, Mycobilimbia, Naetrocymbe, Parmelia, Peltigera, Porpidia, Scytinium, and Usnea