Rocky coastal vegetation of the class Crithmo-Staticetea in the south-east of Italy

In the south-east of Italy, rocky coasts are almost entirely concentrated in the Apulia region. Several phytosociological papers have already dealt with the rocky coastal vegetation of the class Crithmo-Staticetea in some parts of the Apulian coast. However, there is still no overall revision carried out by using modern statistical treatments of phytosociological data. This paper aims to revise the syntaxonomy and nomenclature of the class Crithmo-Staticetea in the south-east of Italy. The revision is based on a data set of 225 relevés consisting of new and original phytosociological relevés (66) and others already published. The data matrix was classified with the use of flexible beta clustering. Indicator species analysis was employed to identify the indicator species of the main clusters of relevés. Results were interpreted from a syntaxonomic point of view. Non-metric multidimensional scaling ordination was performed in order to visualize the floristic relationships among associations. Rocky coastal vegetation of the Crithmo-Staticetea class in the south-east of Italy is represented by two orders, Crithmo maritimi-Staticetalia and Helichrysetalia italici. The first one includes two alliances, Crithmo-Staticion and Limonion anfracti-cancellati, with four associations and one, respectively. However, since they rely on very few character species, the floristic and syntaxonomic relationships between these two alliances need to be deepened by further investigations, involving a larger data set and investigation area. The second order, Helichrysetalia italici, includes two associations, well differentiated by their ecology, structure and floristic composition. For this reason, they were classified within two different alliances, Anthyllidion barbae-jovis and Helichrysion litorei. The Helichrysion litorei is here validated

Knowledge-Based Classification of Grassland Ecosystem Based on Multi-Temporal WorldView-2 Data and FAO-LCCS Taxonomy

Grassland ecosystems can provide a variety of services for humans, such as carbon storage, food production, crop pollination and pest regulation. However, grasslands are today one of the most endangered ecosystems due to land use change, agricultural intensification, land abandonment as well as climate change. The present study explores the performance of a knowledge-driven GEOgraphic-Object—based Image Analysis (GEOBIA) learning scheme to classify Very High Resolution(VHR)imagesfornaturalgrasslandecosystemmapping. Theclassificationwasappliedto a Natura 2000 protected area in Southern Italy. The Food and Agricultural Organization Land Cover Classification System (FAO-LCCS) hierarchical scheme was instantiated in the learning phase of the algorithm. Four multi-temporal WorldView-2 (WV-2) images were classified by combining plant phenology and agricultural practices rules with prior-image spectral knowledge. Drawing on this knowledge, spectral bands and entropy features from one single date (Post Peak of Biomass) were firstly used for multiple-scale image segmentation into Small Objects (SO) and Large Objects (LO). Thereafter, SO were labelled by considering spectral and context-sensitive features from the whole multi-seasonal data set available together with ancillary data. Lastly, the labelled SO were overlaid to LO segments and, in turn, the latter were labelled by adopting FAO-LCCS criteria about the SOs presence dominance in each LO. Ground reference samples were used only for validating the SO and LO output maps. The knowledge driven GEOBIA classifier for SO classification obtained an OA value of 97.35% with an error of 0.04. For LO classification the value was 75.09% with an error of 0.70. At SO scale, grasslands ecosystem was classified with 92.6%, 99.9% and 96.1% of User’s, Producer’s Accuracy and F1-score, respectively. The findings reported indicate that the knowledge-driven approach not only can be applied for (semi)natural grasslands ecosystem mapping in vast and not accessible areas but can also reduce the costs of ground truth data acquisition. The approach used may provide different level of details (small and large objects in the scene) but also indicates how to design and validate local conservation policies

Evaluating impact of possible transgenic poplar cultivation on protected areas

Plant biodiversity studies have been performed in the Migliarino-San Rossore-Massaciuccoli Regional Park in Tuscany (Italy) within the framework of the European project LIFE08 NAT/IT/342.This project aims at developing a quick monitoring index (QMI) to rapidly assess the potential risk generated by transgenic plants in characterized ecosystems or biotopes. For this reason test areas have been selected inside the protected area to evaluate plant (weeds and trees), animal, and soil microoganisms biodiversity. The proximity of the selected test area to cropped surfaces where Genetically Modified Plants (GMPs) might be cultivated has been taken into account. GMPs could spread pollen and contaminate natural populations. To avoid this risk, an efficient monitoring system is required taking into account genetic diversity and breeding study. As far as tree biodiversity concern, Populus species were identified in the test areas. Two populations of Populus present into two different ecosystems (forest and wetland areas) were examined together with two cultivated varieties. The two ecosystems were characterized for the vegetation. Nuclear microsatellites were used to evaluate genetic diversity of poplar populations and level of breeding between natural and cultivated Populus. In addition the insect populations present on male and female poplars during flowering period have been studied

Phytosociological research on temporary ponds in Apulia (southern Italy)

The ephemeral hygrophilous vegetation occurring in the temporary ponds of Apulia (southern Italy) weres studied following the phytosociological approach. On the base of 153 phytosociological relevés carried out during the period 2015-2018, 19 associations were identified, of which 16 described for the first time. All the associations belong to the Isoeto-Nanojuncetea class. The surveyed associations can be arranged in two orders, such as Isoetetalia, including those with a winter-spring cycle and Nanocyperetalia, regarding those with a summertime cycle. The identified association has been examined in detail, and for each one, we provided a phytosociological table. The communities belonging to the Isoetetalia are 17 and arranged in four alliances (Isoetion, Preslion cervinae, Cicendio filiformis-Solenopsion laurentiae, Agrostion salmanticae); instead, those ones of Nanocyperetalia are two both included in the Verbenion supinae. In order to highlight the relationships among the associations, all the relevés used for this investigation are processed. Overall, this analysis confirms the autonomy of the associations, grouping them according to the syntaxonomic arrangement proposed by the authors. Taxonomic investigations on the flora occurring in these habitats allowed the detection of two new subspecies of Solenopsis laurentia, both with a different autoecology

Expert knowledge for translating land cover/use maps to General Habitat Categories (GHC)

Monitoring biodiversity at the level of habitats and landscape is becoming widespread in Europe and elsewhere as countries establish international and national habitat conservation policies and monitoring systems. Earth Observation (EO) data offers a potential solution to long-term biodiversity monitoring through direct mapping of habitats or by integrating Land Cover/Use (LC/LU) maps with contextual spatial information and in situ data. Therefore, it appears necessary to develop an automatic/semi-automatic translation framework of LC/LU classes to habitat classes, but also challenging due to discrepancies in domain definitions. In the context of the FP7 BIO_SOS (www.biosos.eu) project, the authors demonstrated the feasibility of the Food and Agricultural Organization Land Cover Classification System (LCCS) taxonomy to habitat class translation. They also developed a framework to automatically translate LCCS classes into the recently proposed General Habitat Categories classification system, able to provide an exhaustive typology of habitat types, ranging from natural ecosystems to urban areas around the globe. However discrepancies in terminology, plant height criteria and basic principles between the two mapping domains inducing a number of one-to-many and many-to-many relations were identified, revealing the need of additional ecological expert knowledge to resolve the ambiguities. This paper illustrates how class phenology, class topological arrangement in the landscape, class spectral signature from multi-temporal Very High spatial Resolution (VHR) satellite imagery and plant height measurements can be used to resolve such ambiguities. Concerning plant height, this paper also compares the mapping results obtained by using accurate values extracted from LIght Detection And Ranging (LIDAR) data and by exploiting EO data texture features (i.e. entropy) as a proxy of plant height information, when LIDAR data are not available. An application for two Natura 2000 coastal sites in Southern Italy is discussed

Validation of associations for the temporary ponds of the class Isoeto-Nanojuncetea in Puglia (southern Italy)

This paper presents the validation of 16 new associations, described in a previous contribution, for the temporary ponds of the class Isoeto-Nanojuncetea in Apulia (southern Italy)

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

Taxonomic and ecological remarks on Solenopsis bivonae species complex (Campanulaceae)

The populations usually attributed to Solenopsis bivonae (Tineo) M.B.Crespo, Serra & A.Juan are investigated from a taxonomical and morphological viewpoint. Within this species complex, four new subspecies occurring in Sicily and Calabria are recognized, such as subsp. bivonae, subsp. madoniarum, subsp. peloritana and subsp. brutia. In addition, a new species from Cyprus described as S. meikleana and S. bacchettae from Sardinia must be included in this group. The synonymy, typification, description, seed testa morphology, chorology, ecology, illustrations, conservation status, and examined specimens for each taxon are provided. Besides, the analytical keys, distribution maps, and phytosociological arrangement regarding these taxa are given too

Personal Shopping Assistance and Navigator System for Visually Impaired People

International audienceIn this paper, a personal assistant and navigator system for visually impaired people will be described. The showcase presented in-tends to demonstrate how partially sighted people could be aided by the technology in performing an ordinary activity, like going to a mall and moving inside it to find a specific product. We propose an Android ap-plication that integrates Pedestrian Dead Reckoning and Computer Vi-sion algorithms, using an off-the-shelf Smartphone connected to a Smart-watch. The detection, recognition and pose estimation of specific objects or features in the scene derive an estimate of user location with sub-meter accuracy when combined with a hardware-sensor pedometer. The pro-posed prototype interfaces with a user by means of Augmented Reality, exploring a variety of sensorial modalities other than just visual overlay, namely audio and haptic modalities, to create a seamless immersive user experience. The interface and interaction of the preliminary platform have been studied through specific evaluation methods. The feedback gathered will be taken into consideration to further improve the pro-posed system