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This paper presents an original approach for identifying and mapping agricultural landscapes that are highly representative of different biogeographical and natural settings and likely to be tradit...

The present work is aimed at presenting the data, methods and criteria that are being used for the assessment of ecosystem collapse risk in Italy.

According to advances in phytogeographic knowledge, a revision of boundaries for the Italian Ecoregions have been made. Main changes relate to the southern and eastern limits between Temperate and ...

Several international initiatives, including the European Biodiversity Strategy to 2020, promote the identification and mapping of ecosystems as basic tools for the conservation of biodiversity and related services. On coarse scales, the spatial representation of ecosystems is usually based on broad land cover categories that largely overlook important ecological and biogeographic features of the biotic communities they are meant to exemplify. This paper presents a nationwide ecosystem mapping approach that promotes a degree of thematic detail, which is more suited than that found in the continental maps to meeting biodiversity conservation targets in Italy. The approach is based on the rationale that current and potential vegetation cover are valuable proxies for outlining ecosystems. The resulting Ecosystem Map of Italy includes 43 types of forest ecosystems instead of the 5 woodland, forest and other wooded land types recognized at the European level. We outline the expected advantages of this enhanced thematic detail for a number of conservation purposes and highlight how the resulting maps may help to meet biodiversity conservation targets at the national level. In particular, we refer to the assessment of conservation status, the definition of restoration priorities, the planning of green infrastructure and the identification of collapse risks for the ecosystems identified. Comprehensively, the definition, characterization and assessment of ecosystem types represent the carrying structure of the recently launched national system of natural capital accounting.

In promoting biodiversity conservation and ecosystem service capacity, landscape connectivity is considered a critical feature to counteract the negative effects of fragmentation. Under a Green Infrastructure (GI) perspective, this is especially true in rural and peri-urban areas where a high degree of connectivity may be associated with the enhancement of agriculture multifunctionality and sustainability. With respect to GI planning and connectivity assessment, the role of dispersal traits of tree species is gaining increasing attention. However, little evidence is available on how to select plant species to be primarily favored, as well as on the role of landscape heterogeneity and habitat quality in driving the dispersal success. The present work is aimed at suggesting a methodological approach for addressing these knowledge gaps, at fine scales and for peri-urban agricultural landscapes, by means of a case study in the Metropolitan City of Rome. The study area was stratified into Environmental Units, each supporting a unique type of Potential Natural Vegetation (PNV), and a multi-step procedure was designed for setting priorities aimed at enhancing connectivity. First, GI components were defined based on the selection of the target species to be supported, on a fine scale land cover mapping and on the assessment of land cover type naturalness. Second, the study area was characterized by a Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA) and connectivity was assessed by Number of Components (NC) and functional connectivity metrics. Third, conservation and restoration measures have been prioritized and statistically validated. Notwithstanding the recognized limits, the approach proved to be functional in the considered context and at the adopted level of detail. Therefore, it could give useful methodological hints for the requalification of transitional urban–rural areas and for the achievement of related sustainable development goals in metropolitan regions.

Land Use and Land Cover Changes (LULCC) are recognized among the main drivers affecting biodiversity and ecosystem services. Especially in areas with high biophysical and socioeconomic heterogeneity, the need to find optimal planning solutions to combine human and natural systems still remains an open issue. This study aims to investigate how different planning strategies affecting the spatial arrangement of LULCC can produce different impacts in terms of ecosystem conditions in the Lazio region, Central Italy. Starting from the same LULCC magnitude observed in the past through an inventory approach, three different future scenarios to 2030 were depicted by means of the InVEST tool Scenario Generator: the “Business as Usual” (BaU) and, alternatively, one avoiding changes within the “Natura 2000″ sites (N2K) and another within the regional most “Degraded Municipalities” (DM). The ecological impacts of these scenarios were then assessed using the InVEST Habitat Quality model, adopting Habitat Quality (HQ) as a proxy for biodiversity. In order to characterize LULCC impacts at multiple scales, the assessment was carried out both at the regional level and within distinct ecological units. Independently from the spatial arrangement of projected LULCC, HQ decreased under all three scenarios. Nonetheless, HQ values varied among scenarios, highlighting a strict relationship between the spatial arrangement and the ecological impact of LULCC. Compared to BaU, alternative scenarios, as well as their combination into a “Best Scenario”, reduced negative impacts on HQ. These results highlighted the weak sustainability of pursuing with past urban planning strategies, while allowed to foster innovative planning approaches to mitigate habitats loss and degradation. The proposed methodology was effective to localize the conservation priorities as well as ameliorating the reliability of planning strategies based on their ecological performance. Furthermore, it supports the resolution of planning conflicts between contrasting demands (e.g., urban expansion vs biodiversity conservation), thus enhancing simultaneous benefits for both nature and people.

Target 2 of the European Biodiversity Strategy to 2020, whose aim was to maintain and restore ecosystems and their services, deals in practical terms with the mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services, with the development of green infrastructure and with halting the loss of biodiversity at the EU, national, and subnational levels. The aim of this short communication was to show the activities currently being carried out in Italy that are related to this target, focusing on the contribution of vegetation science skills to the national implementation process. In particular, we outline noteworthy inputs in ecosystem mapping, in the assessment of ecosystem conservation status, in the individuation of priorities for the restoration of ecosystems, and in the settingup of an ecological framework to promote green infrastructure. An overview of the process outcomes and their relevance within the national and international contexts is also provided.

Urban&ndash, rural interfaces represent complex systems that require complex solutions for sustainable development and resilience against pollution, habitat fragmentation, biodiversity loss and impaired flux of ecosystem services (ES). Green infrastructure (GI) is increasingly recognised as an effective tool for addressing such a complexity, but needs priority setting to maximise benefits and minimise drawbacks of implementation. Therefore, a prioritisation approach focused on biodiversity and ES in peri-urban areas is required. In the present work, a systematic and hierarchical framework is proposed for setting priority GI objectives, location and actions aimed at enhancing local biodiversity, ES flux and farming sustainability in urban peripheries. By means of a case study in the Metropolitan City of Rome, the framework allowed identification of the main demand for ES and biodiversity, the most suitable location for GI implementation, and the best cost-effective actions. The GI implementation showed an improvement in terms of wooded hedgerow density, an increase regarding the ecological connectivity of riparian ecosystems, and an increment of agroecosystems designated to enhance the ecological network and wildlife support. Finally, the prioritisation framework contributes to fostering environmental benefits while complying with regulations and management practices from the regional to the farm/field decision level.

In this paper we present the land units map of Italy, covering an area of ca. 300,000 km2 between 47°05′ N–35°29′ N and 6°37′ E–18°31′ E. The map was created by means of a Geographic Information System (GIS) and is based on the overlay of various thematic maps according to a hierarchical classification. The map scale is 1:250,000, with a minimum mapping unit of 50 ha. The GIS integration of different layers, covering the main environmental components (climate, lithology and geomorphology), resulted in a number of hierarchically arranged land units, homogeneous in terms of biotic potential and ecological processes. These units highlight the role of physical determinism in characterizing the Italian territory with a high degree of environmental heterogeneity. The proposed land classification scheme could be taken into consideration when planning initiatives aimed at surveying, monitoring, managing and sustainably developing the territory.

This work provides an overview of plant diversity in the municipality of Rome (Italy) through an assessment of the flora in urban and suburban sectors of the city. It is aimed at providing the knowledge required to support proactive action for plant conservation. On the basis of a literature-derived catalogue and of an extensive survey campaign, the flora was investigated in terms of conservation interest; habitat types and locations that require protection measures were identified according to the occurrence of valuable native plants. Valuable species exclusive of the urban sector are threatened by the compaction trend affecting the urban fabric. Such species occur mainly in ruderal environments and fallows of archaeological sites and urban parks, near river courses and in remnants of natural forests. Valuable species exclusive of the suburban sector are threatened by urban sprawl. They occur prevalently in wet environments of the subcoastal strip and in coastal sands, Mediterranean maquis, tuffaceous go...

The maintenance of certain levels of old forest represents a cornerstone of the EU’s biodiversity management strategy. A consensus on a single general ecological definition of old‐growth is particularly difficult in Mediterranean Europe. The present paper deals with old‐growth forests and persistent woodlands in the Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park (PNCVD) to give an ecological understanding of forest complexity and dynamics under a multiscale and multidisciplinary perspective. The multiscale approach ranged from the identification and mapping of potential old‐growth stands at landscape scale to a two‐level field review of forest stand features. Field sampling involved a multidisciplinary team of researchers in forest structure, pedologic environment, soil microbial activity, flora and vegetation and deadwood components. The research provided sound knowledge about old‐growthness features in the PNCVD that constitutes a unique case study in the whole Mediterranean basin. The integration of...

This paper aims to discuss the role of plant sociology in the framework of ecology and biodiversity conservation, and to present an experimental approach that promotes the integration of vegetation science with landscape ecology. A new model of deductive plant sociology at the landscape level is proposed, which is rooted in the traditional approach but relates to the landscape ecology of the ‘European school’ for its emphasis on landscape classification. Using the case study of the Municipality of Rome, a methodological process for defining and mapping vegetation series, geosigmeta and landscape units is proposed, based on the overlay of climatic, lithomorphological, floristic and vegetation information, the latter in its syntaxonomical and dynamical aspects. At the landscape level plant sociology can significantly contribute to formalize ecological models based on complex isofunctional units and helpful in environmental management and planning.

The aim of this paper is to document plant diversity in the metropolitan area of Rome (Italy) by providing a comprehensive inventory of the present-day vascular flora and an overview of its composition and species diversity. We compiled the floristic catalogue by including all vascular plant entities that occur spontaneously within the administrative boundaries of the Rome municipality. The data, which were gathered from extensive field surveys, from a broad review of the literature and from herbaria records, were updated and integrated in a comprehensive account. The inventory of the flora of metropolitan Rome lists 1649 entities, from 139 families and 677 genera. The flora contains 228 taxa that are non-native to the Italian flora, 81 of which are established in the study area. The overview of flora reveals a remarkable species diversity and outlines the main characteristics of the flora of Rome, which may be summarized as (1) a large number of taxa of high conservation value which occur in remnants of near-natural vegetation, (2) the loss or decline of some species, particularly of native freshwater plants, (3) a remarkably high native species richness within the urban area, which includes many native woody species and (4) a rich ruderal flora, prevalently composed of native species that are well adapted to human disturbance, along with a variety of taxa of non-native or uncertain origin. The large set of data and the overview presented in this paper represent a fundamental framework for future research and for the conservation of plant diversity in metropolitan Rome.

The possibility to balance the rainfall by the evapotranspiration of a poplar and willow plantation has been investigated in an artificial Island of the Venice Lagoon (Isola dei Petroli) whose soil is contaminated with As, Cd, Pb, and Zn and surrounded by a deep insulating wall. One of the objectives was to individuate the best clones of the two Salicaceae (three poplars and willows) with the highest transpiration and extraction capacity of these metals. Further, the natural vegetation and a plantation of Pteris vittata were also evaluated for their ability to extract metals from the top soil.. Poplars showed higher tolerance to soil contaminants measured as the maintenance of a high photosynthesis-related parameters and transpiration rates per plant per day were also higher in poplars compared to willows. The plantation in short rotation density proved to be efficient in removing the rainfall available in the soil in excess of the field capacity during the vegetative season.