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Aims: This paper presents the results of phytosociological research on scree vegetation in the northern Apennines with the aim of comparing vegetation types classified in different syntaxa. The specific objectives were: 1) to identify, classify and describe the vegetation units of scree communities; 2) to pinpoint the main ecological gradients underlying different vegetation units; and 3) to identify a possible hierarchy of predictor variables explaining floristic differences between vegetation types. Study area: The study area lies on the northern border of the Italian Peninsula, between 44° and 44°45' N and 9°20' and 10°45' E, characterized by a large variety of scree habitats and representing both a centre of endemism and a phytogeographic transition zone between the Alps and Apennines. Methods: The study was based on a dataset including 364 relevés taken according to the Braun-Blanquet method, which were then classified following an unsupervised numerical procedure. Species fidelity was used to define the diagnostic species of the associations. PCA and RDA ordinations were employed to perform ecological analyses using both Ellenberg Indicator Values as indirect variables and directly measured or calculated variables. Results: A total of 15 plant associations were identified, belonging to 6 alliances and 4 different orders (Thlaspietalia rotundifolii, Arabido alpinae-Petasitetalia paradoxi, Achnatheretalia calamagrostis and Androsacetalia alpinae) within the class Thlaspietea rotundifolii. All associations were described according to their floristic composition, structure, syntaxonomy, habitat and distribution. Conclusions: Nine scree associations and two alliances - endemic to the study area - are described here for the first time. The syntaxonomic scheme followed is in accordance with that proposed in the EuroVegChecklist, with a few important exceptions. The largest variation in vegetation types was found along complex environmental gradients and the most important factors driving the difference between the four orders were gravel size, elevation and the geological substrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sword lily Gladiolus palustris Gaudin is protected on European level and listed in Annexes II and IV of the EC Habitat Directive 92/43/EEC. It grows in nutrient-poor, calcareous meadows in central and eastern Europe. Tree encroachment in montane meadows of the European Alps as a result of recent land use changes and the abandonment of traditional farming practices threaten the survival of this species. Conservation-driven mowing is considered a feasible conservation measure for maintaining high species diversity in abandoned semi-natural grasslands. To assess the effects of ten years of biennial mowing on a grassland community in the Dolomiti Bellunesi National Park, Italy (Site of Community Importance, Natura 2000 network), ten 25 m2 plots were established whereby four plots were placed in the mowed area, four in the non-mowed area and two in a small non-mowed patch of grassland inside the mowed area. In each plot the following variables were recorded, total percentage of plant cover, percentage cover of woody species, percentage cover of herbaceous species, percentage cover and number of flowering ramets of G. palustris and a complete list of species and their percentage abundance. Mowed plots showed a higher species richness than non-mowed plots. The number of G. palustris flowering ramets and percentage cover increased manifold in mowed plots compared to non-mowed plots. The resumption of mowing for conservation purposes undertaken by the managing authority halted the process of tree encroachment and avoided a drastic change in plant composition. Periodic mowing (every second or third year) was demonstrated to be a cost-effective conservation measure in non-productive grasslands to keep grasses at bay in favour of forbs of high conversation value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Safeguarding plants as seeds in ex situ collections is a cost effective element in an integrated plant conservation approach. The European Alps are a regional centre of plant diversity. Six institutions have established a regional network covering the European Alps which will conserve at least 500 priority plant species and which will improve the conservation status of plant species in grassland communities in the subalpine, alpine and nival altitudinal belts. Targeted research will expand the knowledge of the ecology of target species. Public engagement activities will raise the awareness for the importance of specific conservation actions in the European Alps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The search for a balance between nature conservation and tourism development within protected areas is becoming an increasingly multifaceted problem worldwide, as outlined by an increasing number of authors and highlighted at several international events. Since it is unlikely that all management objectives will reach their optimum values simultaneously, an optimization approach is required to meet multiple, conflicting goals and to obtain an overall trade-off in terms of the conceived objectives. In this paper we propose a new model for optimizing the allocation of tourist infrastructures (refuges and camping sites), and apply it to a protected area in the European Alps, where tourism has grown considerably in recent years. To reach this goal, a complex model based on genetic algorithms was required (instead of a common multicriteria analysis) to obtain a complex interplay in the form of a dynamical simulation where candidate solutions are interactively evaluated. In accordance with local actors, we selected 18 quantifiable criteria encompassing all relevant tourist activities within the study area. These were translated into geographic information system (GIS) layers, submitted to a genetic optimization procedure and compared the performances of the optimized tourist allocations with those of existing infrastructures and with worst case scenarios. Resulting tourist allocations perform very well, while existing tourist sites behaved halfway between the fittest and the least fit genetic solutions, since they prioritized logistic and safety criteria rather than ecological ones. The proposed model is a very flexible and effective tool, easily exportable to any protected area, with implications for researchers and policymakers who aim to provide an effective balance between nature and human impact. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]