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The census of the loci classici of 1,227 native, non-endemic vascular plants described from Italy is here presented and described. The effective place of publication of accepted names, basionyms and homotypic synonyms were identified and critically verified. The geographic information on the loci classici was excerpted from the protologues, as well as information on typification for the taxa described before 1 January 1958. The names without a holotype are 1,165. For 591 names a lecto- or neo-typification is available in literature, while 572 currently accepted taxa still need a type designation. For ten of these names showing previous ineffective typification, nomenclatural types are designated here ( Allium savii , A. tenuiflorum , Anemone millefoliata , Catapodium tuberculosum , Cynosurus siculus , Filago congesta , Saponaria bellidifolia , Sclerochloa patens , S. zwierleinii , and Vicia leucantha ). A new combination ( Trisetaria aurea comb. nov. ) is proposed. The general picture of the currently accepted taxa of vascular plants described from Italy, including endemics, amounts to 2,631, i.e. about 32% of the native flora currently recorded for the country.

Our study aimed at clarifying the current and previous occurrence, distribution and status (native vs. introduced) of Euphorbia lathyris L., the caper spurge, in S Italy and Sicily: most of the recent Italian floras and checklists, in fact, do not report this species for this area. To do this, a multi-disciplinary research was carried out taking into account not only botanical but also ethnobotanical and dialectological sources and a survey of the main herbaria of central and southern Italy. Our results point out that E. lathyris was much more frequent, well-known and commonly used in the whole southern Italy and in Sicily until 2-3 centuries ago, and that it probably experienced isolated cases of short naturalization at that time. Nowadays the caper spurge still occurs with few, small and scattered populations only in Molise and Calabria.

Biodiversity-Ecosystem Function experimental stu- dies focusing on marine systems are few and produce contrasting outcomes. Here, we provide experimental proofs on how communities, on a natural gradient of diversity, respond under stressful conditions in inter- tidal habitats. In August 2017 a field experiment was performed in Western Sicily (Italy) in a site charac- terized by tidal pools whose biodiversity structure and composition change as a function of the distance from the low tide mark. The pools closer to the sea are more stable from a thermal and oxic point of view and characterized by high algal biodiversity. Those further from the sea are highly variable with extreme conditions and are poorer in species. We chose 12 pools – homogeneous in size and geometry – and, to know the environmental fluctuations, we measured, for 24 hours at the minute resolution, the oxygen concentration (through an oximeter) and the tem- perature (using thermos-loggers). Then, we carried out a manipulative experiment, follow the same field procedures, to investigate the effects of a climatic event (heat wave) in combination with anthropogenic stress (increased gasoline concentra- tion). We used community metabolism (oxygen consumption, mg/L) as a proxy of functioning. At the end of the treatments, we characterized the bio- diversity contained in each pool by scraping 3 quad- rats 10 x 10 cm and related it to community metabolism. No difference was observed in the metabolism between treated and controlled in high diversity pools; whilst significant differences have been found in low diversity pools for the climatic stressor. Regarding to the chemical stressor, no remarkable difference has been found. Interestingly, these results show that under the action of a disturbance, the functioning – as expressed by oxy- gen consumption – can be altered over time. The richer the community increases the ability to restore the control conditions, while the poorer pools were unable to do so.

The Mediterranean Sea, one of the most complex marine ecosystems, is inhabited by a rich and diverse biota which is disproportionate to its dimensions. Such high species richness makes the Mediterranean Sea a true hotspot of biodiversity. However, the Mediterranean Sea is amongst the most impacted regional sea areas, due to increasing levels of threats, mainly driven by human activities such as climate change and the introduction of non-indigenous species (NIS, i.e. organisms introduced outside of their natural, past or present, range and outside of their natural dispersal potential). NIS may in time become invasive (i.e. invasive alien species (IAS)) with severe impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Due to the dramatically accelerating rate of such introductions (nearly 1000 marine NIS so far) the Mediterranean Sea may be considered as a true hotspot of marine biological invasions in terms both of the number of species and rate of introduction. In the marine realm, species richness not always confer an “invasion resistance”. For instance, biological invasions may severely affect Marine Protected Areas, whose major aim is biodiversity conservation, due to their proximity to marinas or tourism activities. The Mediterranean Sea harbours the largest number of non-indigenous macrophytes (around 120-130 taxa) and their number has steadily increased over time. The main vectors of introduction of non-indigenous macrophytes into the Mediterranean Sea are shellfish aquaculture, shipping and the Suez Canal, while the main donor region is the Indo-Pacific Ocean. Most of Indo-Pacific invaders are still confined to the Eastern Mediterranean Basin whereas some have spread to the Western Basin, and with the forecast increase of temperature the westward spread is expected to continue. In the Mediterranean Sea, the Rhodophyta Womersleyella setacea (Hollenberg) R. E. Norris and the Chlorophyta Caulerpa cylindracea Sonder, successfully colonizing valuable habitats (e.g. coralligenous outcrops and vermetid reefs), are among the most harmful IAS. Due to the significant threats biological invasions pose, NIS are targeted in the more recent legislative instruments, such as the Strategy on Invasive Species, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and the Biodiversity Strategy. Accurate and reliable data on the distribution, pathways and impacts of NIS, contained in several inventories and databases which share their data over the web, are essential for developing effective policies for prevention and control. However, to stem the tide of IAS introduction, a coordination and cooperation among all the States bordering the Mediterranean Sea is needed.

As part of an ongoing study on the names of vascular plants described from Sicily (Southern Italy), a nomenclature investigation on the name Lavatera agrigentina Tineo, basionym of Malva agrigentina (Tineo) Soldano, Banfi & Galasso in Banfi et al., which appears to be yet untypified, is here presented.

Mediterranean forests continue to be an inexhaustible reservoir of fungi of considerable ecological and biogeographical interest. In this paper two rare and/or infrequent species are reported. Boletopsis grisea is a threatened species in Europe while H. subtortum is infrequent.

The main purpose of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) is biodiversity conservation. The effects that invasive species have on MPAs, and vice versa, are still not completely known, even though their assessment is crucial for MPA management and conservation purposes. In this respect, monitoring plans are essential and the involvement of citizen scientists may be fundamental. Our experience of Caulerpa cylindracea Sonder 1845 monitoring within the Egadi Islands MPA highlighted that the alga is widespread within the MPA, mainly at Favignana Island, also threatening valuable habitats such as vermetid reef and coralligenous formations. Moreover, Favignana is the island of the Aegadian archipelago most affected by the introduction of non-indigenous species. Since invasive species are likely to continue to expand, and further arrivals are to be expected, additional management actions (e.g. concerning tourism activities) should be taken in MPAs to effectively control invasive species.

In the last decades, with the increase of molecular studies, the study of plant forms has gone through a steady decline in interest, and researches on this topic are often neglected and underestimated. Notwithstanding, comparative morphology as integrative discipline still assumes a pivotal role in modern sciences, remaining fundamentally relevant to nearly all fields of plant biology, such as systematics, evolutionary biology, ecology, physiology, genetics, molecular biology, not to mention also agriculture, bioengineering, and forensic botany. Contrary to common belief, plant morphology is not a conservative finished science, but, like other sciences, it is open to constant innovations involving both concepts and methods. This contribution aims to promote a reflective discourse on the role of plant morphology in modern sciences and provides some examples of significant supports from plant morphology to different botanical issues.

Italy is among the European countries with the greatest plant diversity due to both a great environmental heterogeneity and a long history of man–environment interactions. Trait-based approaches to ecological studies have developed greatly over recent decades worldwide, although several issues concerning the relationships between plant functional traits and the environment still lack sufficient empirical evaluation. To draw insights on the association between plant functional traits and direct and indirect human and natural pressures on the environmental drivers, this article summarizes the existing knowledge on this topic by reviewing the results of studies performed in Italy adopting a functional trait approach on vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens. Although we recorded trait measurements for 1418 taxa, our review highlighted some major gaps in plant traits knowledge: Mediterranean ecosystems are poorly represented; traits related to belowground organs are still overlooked; traits measurements for bryophytes and lichens are lacking. Finally, intraspecific variation has been little studied at community level so far. We conclude by highlighting the need for approaches evaluating trait–environment relationship at large spatial and temporal scales and the need of a more effective contribution to online databases to tie more firmly Italian researchers to international scientific networks on plant traits.

Coastal dune ecosystems are increasingly threatened by the mass tourism phenomenon. Intense concentration of human activities and mass tourism are leading to coastal dune loss and fragmentation. Besides the loss and fragmentation of coastal dunes, mass tourism has considerably affected remnant natural areas. To prevent degradation of remnant natural areas, it is mandatory to understand whether, and under what conditions, tourism can be allowed. In the present study I addressed the problem by evaluating the impact of tourism on the structure and resilience of pollination networks in coastal dune ecosystems freely accessible to tourists. Pollination networks represent ecological community structure and depict interactions among species, providing the opportunity for a holistic assessment of ecosystem structure and functioning. I conducted the study on coastal dune sites of the North Adriatic coast, with different levels of touristic pressure. I recorded pollination interactions together with descriptors of human disturbance along sea-inland transects. A moderate level of human disturbance was positively related to the richness of animal-pollinated plant and pollinator species. Besides species richness, the resilience of pollination networks was also highest at moderate disturbance. By assessing the impact of human disturbance on coastal dune ecosystems from the perspective of pollination interactions, evidence arises that moderate disturbance and long-term conservation of pollination networks of coastal dunes can co-exist. However, to achieve this goal, tourism should be regulated, and visitor access to coastal sites managed, so as to prevent intense human disturbance from compromising both the structure and function of coastal dune ecosystems.

The cosmopolitan genus Ceramium Roth (Ceramiaceae), with over 200 currently accepted species, is one of the largest in the Rhodophyta. The genus is characterized by cylindrical or slightly compressed thalli, with axial cells incompletely to completely covered by cortical cells, alternate to pseudo-dichotomous branching and straight to inrolled apices. Despite recent studies, the nomenclature and taxonomy of this genus are still very problematic, linked to the high degree of variation in morphological characters, small thallus sizes, epiphytic habit and the existence of cryptic species. The Mediterranean Sea is reported to have a particularly high diversity of Ceramium species: the North Adriatic Sea, in particular Venice and nearby coasts, was a favourite classical collecting area from where several species were described. In this study we characterize Ceramium sampled from transitional waters of the Venice Lagoon (Italy) by molecular and morphological approaches. Through phylogenetic analyses, using the plastid ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase gene (rbcL) as molecular marker, we identify six distinct taxonomic entities, of which four represent taxa not currently recognized in the Venice Lagoon or the wider Mediterranean Sea. One of these is the poorly known species Ceramium connivens Zanardini, which is non-spiny and fully corticated when mature with short naked internodes developing in older axes. Two entities with erect partially corticated thalli without spines, probably misidentified up to now as Ceramium diaphanum (Lightfoot) Roth, correspond to the new species Ceramium rothianum Wolf et al. and to the forgotten species Ceramium nodosum (Kützing) A.W. Griffiths & Harvey. The last entity, characterized by prostrate axes giving rise to narrow erect incompletely corticated, non-spiny axes, is identified as the rare, poorly known species Ceramium incospicuum Zanardini.

Aim Species-area relationships (SARs) are fundamental scaling laws in ecology although their shape is still disputed. At larger areas, power laws best represent SARs. Yet, it remains unclear whether SARs follow other shapes at finer spatial grains in continuous vegetation. We asked which function describes SARs best at small grains and explored how sampling methodology or the environment influence SAR shape. Location Palaearctic grasslands and other non-forested habitats. Taxa Vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens. Methods We used the GrassPlot database, containing standardized vegetation-plot data from vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens spanning a wide range of grassland types throughout the Palaearctic and including 2,057 nested-plot series with at least seven grain sizes ranging from 1 cm(2) to 1,024 m(2). Using nonlinear regression, we assessed the appropriateness of different SAR functions (power, power quadratic, power breakpoint, logarithmic, Michaelis-Menten). Based on AICc, we tested whether the ranking of functions differed among taxonomic groups, methodological settings, biomes or vegetation types. Results The power function was the most suitable function across the studied taxonomic groups. The superiority of this function increased from lichens to bryophytes to vascular plants to all three taxonomic groups together. The sampling method was highly influential as rooted presence sampling decreased the performance of the power function. By contrast, biome and vegetation type had practically no influence on the superiority of the power law. Main conclusions We conclude that SARs of sessile organisms at smaller spatial grains are best approximated by a power function. This coincides with several other comprehensive studies of SARs at different grain sizes and for different taxa, thus supporting the general appropriateness of the power function for modelling species diversity over a wide range of grain sizes. The poor performance of the Michaelis-Menten function demonstrates that richness within plant communities generally does not approach any saturation, thus calling into question the concept of minimal area. We thank all vegetation scientists who carefully collected multi‐ scale plant diversity data from Palaearctic Grasslands available in GrassPlot. The Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG) and the International Association for Vegetation Science (IAVS) sup‐ ported the EDGG Field Workshops, which generated a core part of the GrassPlot data. The Bavarian Research Alliance (grant BayIntAn_UBT_2017_58) and the Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER) funded the initial GrassPlot workshop during which the database was established and the cur‐ rent paper was initiated. A.N. acknowledges support by the Center for International Scientific Studies and Collaboration (CISSC), Iran. C.M., I.B., I.G.‐M and J.A.C. were funded by the Basque Government (IT936‐16). D.V. carried out the research supported by a grant of the State Fund For Fundamental Research Ф83/53427. G.F. carried out the research in the frame of the MIUR initiative ‘Department of excellence' (Law 232/2016). I.D. was supported by the Polish National Science Centre (grant DEC‐2013/09/N/NZ8/03234). J.Do. was supported by the Czech Science Foundation (GA 17‐19376S). M.J. was supported by grant by Slovak Academy of Sciences (VEGA 02/0095/19). W.U. ac‐ knowledges support from the Polish National Science Centre (grant 2017/27/B/NZ8/00316).

The declining native orchid Himantoglossum adriaticum H. Baumann is a European endemic of priority interest (92/43/ EEC, Annex II). Northern Italian populations of H. adriaticum are small and isolated, with depressed seed set. Given the important implications for plant population conservation, we tested the hypothesis that artificial pollen transfer (hand-pollination) and outbreeding between populations increases fruit set and seed germination percentage. The background fruit set and in vitro germination rates were determined for ten reference populations. An artificial cross-pollination experiment included (a) pollen transfer from one large population to two small and isolated populations; (b) pollen transfer between two small but not isolated populations; (c) within-population pollen transfer (control). All seeds were sown on a modified Malmgren's medium and cultured in a controlled environment. Germination percentage was compared using a Kruskal-Wallis anova. The background fruit set (mean = 18%) and germination (

The Non-Indigenous Species (NIS) Caulerpa taxifolia var. distichophylla (Sonder) Verlaque, Huisman & Procaccini has been reported for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea along the coast of South Turkey. This NIS is actively expanding into the Eastern and Western Mediterranean Sea. In this paper, we present an overview of the current distribution of this alga in the Mediterranean Sea, based on relevant scientific publications, grey literature and personal observations. New records from the Sicilian coast (Italy) are also reported. Caulerpa taxifolia var. distichophylla was found over a wide range of environmental conditions (depth, light and substratum), suggesting a broad ecological plasticity of this alga which makes it a potential threat for the Mediterranean benthic communities. In this respect, artificial structures, often linked to harbours and maritime traffic, seem to provide suitable habitats for this NIS. Since maritime traffic is intense in the Mediterranean Sea, further expansion of C. taxifolia var. distichophylla in this region is to be expected. For this reason, it is very important to build up an overview on the current distribution of the species and its possible pattern of colonisation in relation to environmental conditions, as well as in view of future climate change scenarios.

The mycological collections represent a huge source of molecular information that may be exploited to obtain important DNA data. Indeed, it has been demonstrated that DNA barcoding projects of fungarium material have the potential to enlarge the coverage of species-level DNA sequence information deposited in public databases. However, these collections are an underused resource for building up voucher-based reference datasets, due to the difficulty to obtain DNA sequences from herbarium material. The over one century old Saccardo mycological collection preserved in the herbarium of the Botanical Garden of Padua contains about 70,000 specimens including more than 4,000 type specimens. The types in this collection have been borrowed by mycologists from all over the world for morphological revisions and consequent taxonomic reclassifications, but they have never been involved in sequencing projects so far. Accordingly, the aim of this research was to apply a DNA barcoding approach to obtain internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences, the consensus barcode for fungal species identification, from specimens preserved in this collection. This DNA region has been identified as a suitable marker for molecular studies that involve ancient mycological material, because only short DNA regions can be obtained from ancient and degraded DNA. In addition, in case of initial PCR failure of the ITS region, it is possible to increase the amplification/sequencing success by analyzing separately the two non-coding regions ITS1 and ITS2 that form the entire ITS. In this thesis work, an Illumina MiSeq sequencing method was applied to recover ITS1/ITS2 sequences overcoming the problems of the high level of DNA degradation of the Saccardo fungarium samples and the presence of contaminations by exogenous fungal DNA. The method required the setup of the steps involved in the samples preparation for the sequencing and in the bioinformatic data analysis, and then its efficacy was first tested to obtain ITS2 sequences from 36 non-type Peziza specimens. Despite the presence of both external fungal contamination and cross-contamination between fungarium specimens, this high-throughput sequencing method has permitted to recover ITS2 sequences from 23 out of the 36 specimens studied and also a taxonomic re-evaluation of some samples at the species level and others at genus or higher taxonomic level. Then, this next-generation sequencing (NGS) approach was used to retrieve ITS1/ITS2 sequences from type specimens belonging to the genus Nectria and from Nectria-like types classified in the collection as members of other genera. Several of these types were morphologically revised in the past by expert mycologists and placed in synonymy with other species or reclassified as members of new genera. The ITS1/ITS2 sequences were obtained for 25 different types (30 in total considering multiple specimens) out of 76 specimens involved in the study. The combined morphological and molecular data analysis suggests that there is a need to reclassify some Nectria/Nectria-like types previously reclassified only on a morphological basis and some types never considered for taxonomic revisions. In fact, for 11 types the original species name has been confirmed, for four and five types new nomenclature combinations and synonymies have been proposed respectively, while for other five types the taxonomic assignment has been possible only at genus level. Since type specimens constitute an integral part of fungal classification and nomenclature and given the outstanding and worldwide importance of the Saccardo collection, these findings provide material for a taxonomic revision of invaluable types. Moreover, the method proposed in this research not only has provided an additional scientific value to the Saccardo collection, but it can be applied to obtain important voucher-sequences from problematic herbarium material, thus expanding the databases with well-annotated ITS barcode sequences.

Il lavoro svolto per questa tesi si articola su tre livelli principali: 1. Collaborazione all’implementazione e aggiornamento del database della Flora d’Italia con relativa redazione delle due checklist delle piante vascolari autoctone ed alloctone, le quali sono state pubblicate nei primi mesi del 2018 in due articoli separati di cui sono coautore. Analisi multivariata dei dati derivanti dalle due checklist, con particolare attenzione alle differenze floristiche tra le regioni. 2. Collaborazione alla creazione del Portale della Flora d’Italia, che integra i dati delle due checklist e li connette con risorse multimediali aggiuntive derivanti dai database del Progetto Dryades (Università di Trieste) e da Acta Plantarum. 3. Analisi dei dati derivanti da tre banche dati interconnesse: 1) Il database della Flora d'Italia; 2) Il database della Flora del Friuli Venezia Giulia di L. Poldini; 3) Il database dei caratteri morfologici delle piante vascolari del progetto Dryades. Le due checklist della Flora d’Italia comprendono, complessivamente, ben 9792 taxa infragenerici (8195 per le autoctone e 1597 per le alloctone), un numero molto maggiore di quello incluso nelle checklist e flore precedenti, con dati relativi alla nomenclatura, alla tassonomia, alla eventuale sinonimia e alla distribuzione regionale. L’analisi multivariata dei dati relativi alle piante autoctone ed alloctone è stata svolta separatamente per i due gruppi di taxa infragenerici, evidenziando differenze floristiche significative tra le diverse regioni d’Italia, correlabili a diverse caratteristiche dei rispettivi territori. Il Portale della Flora d’Italia permette di effettuare ricerche complesse sulla flora d’Italia e delle singole regioni italiane. Per ogni taxon infragenerico viene fornita una “taxon page” comprendente tutte le risorse derivanti dalle checklist nazionali e dai diversi database del Progetto Dryades. Il portale è stato integrato con dati che includono il binomio latino, la posizione sistematica (APG IV) e relativo cladogramma, la distribuzione regionale e status attuale, il nome vernacolare italiano e le immagini delle piante, oltre che con collegamenti alle risorse di ActaPlantarum. La terza e ultima parte di questa tesi è stata dedicata all'esplorazione delle potenzialità offerte dall'interoperabilità realizzata tra il database della Flora d'Italia, le risorse del Progetto Dryades e quelle del Database della Flora del Friuli-Venezia Giulia di Poldini. Mostriamo diversi esempi di set di dati che è ora possibile ottenere rapidamente dai tre database, tra cui la caratterizzazione ecologica della vegetazione con indici ecologici, la definizione di "habitat virtuali" definita da elenchi di specie con un'ecologia simile, l'analisi di complesse matrici di dati ecologici e tratti morfologici. Tali test saranno utili per arricchire le future versioni del Portale della Flora d'Italia con ulteriori dati e ulteriori funzionalità. La creazione del Portale della Flora d’Italia e la sua interoperabilità con le risorse del Progetto Dryades e quelle di Acta Plantarum non sono solo un punto di arrivo, ma soprattutto un punto di partenza per futuri interessanti sviluppi. I dati resi pubblici sul Portale della Flora d’Italia sono soltanto una minima parte di quelli che potranno essere resi pubblici e interrogabili nelle prossime versioni. Alcuni di essi sono già presenti nel database della Flora d’Italia per più dell’80% delle specie, altri possono derivare da database locali integrabili nel sistema (ad es. il Progetto Wikiplantbase), mentre una ricca messe di dati riguardanti i tratti morfologici delle specie è già da ora ricavabile dal database del Progetto Dryades. Con questa tesi ritengo quindi di aver contribuito a gettare le basi per un futuro database distribuito sulla flora e vegetazione d’Italia. Work for the present thesis was focused on three main levels: 1. Collaboration in the implementation and updating of the database of the Flora of Italy, with the preparation of two checklists (native and alien vascular plants) which have been published in the first months of 2018 in two separate articles, of which I am co-author. Multivariate analysis of the data deriving from the two checklists, with special emphasis on the floristic differences among regions. 2. Collaboration in the creation of an online Portal to the Flora of Italy, which integrates the data of the two checklists and connects them with additional multimedia resources deriving from several databases of the Dryades Project (University of Trieste), and Acta Plantarum. 3. Analysis of data deriving from 3 interconnected databases: 1) The database of the Flora of Italy; 2) The database of the Flora of Friuli Venezia Giulia by L. Poldini; 3) The database of morphological traits of vascular plants of Project Dryades. The two national checklists include a total of 9792 infrageneric taxa (8195 native and 1597 alien), a number which is much higher than those of previous checklists and floras, with data on nomenclature, taxonomy, synonymy, and regional. The multivariate analysis of the data related to autochthonous and alien plants at regional level was carried out separately for the two groups taxa, highlighting significant floristic differences among the different regions of Italy, which are correlated to different characteristics of the respective territories. The Portal of the Flora of Italy allows to carry out queries on the flora of Italy and of the individual Italian regions. For each infrageneric taxon, a "taxon page" is provided, including all the resources deriving from the national checklists, and those deriving from different databases of the Dryades Project: scientific binomial, systematic position (following APG IV) and relative cladograms, regional distribution (with auto-generating maps) and current status, Italian vernacular names and digital images, plus links to resources from ActaPlantarum. The third and last part of this thesis was devoted to the exploration of the potentialities offered by the achieved interoperability between the database of the Flora of Italy, the resources of Project Dryades, and those of the Database of the Flora of Friuli-Venezia Giulia by Poldini. We show different examples of datasets which is now possible to rapidly obtain from three main databases, including the ecological characterization of vegetation releves by ecological indices, the definition of “virtual habitats” defines by lists of species with a similar ecology, the analysis of complex matrices of ecological data and morphological traits. Such tests will be useful to enrich the future versions of the Portal to the flora of Italy with further data and further functionalities. The creation of the Portal of the Flora of Italy and its interoperability with the resources of the Dryades Project and those of Acta Plantarum are not only a point of arrival, but above all a starting point for future interesting developments. The data made public on the Portal of the Flora of Italy are only a small part of those that can be made searchable in future versions. Some of them are already present in the Flora of Italy Database for more than 80% of the species, others may derive from local databases that can be integrated into the system (e.g. the Wikiplantbase Project), while a wealth of data concerning the morphological features of the species can already be found in the Dryades Project database. With this thesis I have contributed to laying the foundations for a future distributed database on the flora and vegetation of Italy, where data from the Portal to the Flora of Italy can act as a nucleus of crystallization for the aggregation of several other databases that at the moment are not public and/or are not able to communicate with each other.

In recent years, fungi have been recognized as producers of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors, agents important for the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This study aimed to examine the AChE inhibitory, the antioxidative and antibacterial activity of two different Schizophyllum commune strains that originated from Serbia (SRB) and Italy (IT). Submerged cultivation of grown mycelia (M) and fermentation broth (F) of ethanol (EtOH) and polysaccharide (PSH) extracts lasted for 7, 14, 21 and 28 days. For AChE activity Ellman method was performed, while for antioxidative activity, sevendifferent assays were conducted: DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, SOA, OH, NO together with total phenolic content. Antimicrobial screen, LC–MS/MS technique and FTIR measurements were performed. Different isolates exhibited different AChE activity, with PSH being the strongest (SRB, M, 28 days IC90 79.73 ± 26.34 µg/mL), while in EtOH extracts, IT stood out (F, 14 days, IC50 0.8 ± 0.6 µg/mL). PSH extracts (7 days) exhibit significant antioxidative activity (AO), opposite to EtOH extracts where 14 and 21days periods stood out. Only tw extracts showed antibacterial activity. Following LC–MS/MS analysis p-hydroxybenzoic and gallic acids were the most abundant phenolics. PSH extracts demonstrated remarkable results, making this study debut and introducing S. commune as a valuable resource of AChE inhibitors.

Medicinal mushrooms have important health benefits and exhibit a broad spectrum of pharmacological activities, including antiallergic, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, antiviral, cytotoxic, immunomodulating, antidepressive, antihyperlipidemic, antidiabetic, digestive, hepatoprotective, neuroprotective, nephroprotective, osteoprotective, and hypotensive activities. The growing interest in mycotherapy requires a strong commitment from the scientific community to expand clinical trials and to propose supplements of safe origin and genetic purity. Bioactive compounds of selected medicinal mushrooms and their effects and mechanisms in in vitro and in vivo clinical studies are reported in this review. Besides, we analyzed the therapeutic use and pharmacological activities of mushrooms.

Southeastern Asia is one of the main centres of diversity of the genus Capparis in the Old World. Morpho-chorological investigations carried out on collections from Lao PDR provided new data on the variation and distribution of some intrageneric taxa that were critical, poorly known or unrecorded in the country. The variability of Capparis pyrifolia and Capparis zeylanica is discussed, while Capparis acutifolia subsp. acutifolia and Capparis tenera are respectively confirmed and first recorded in Lao PDR. A new variety of Capparis micracantha is described and 12 lectotypes are designated. For each taxon morphological, chorological and autecological data are given.

An updated overview of the marine alien and cryptogenic species recorded in the Egadi Islands Marine Protected Area (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy), based on relevant publications, grey literature and unpublished data, is presented and discussed. Altogether, 17 species (14 aliens and 3 cryptogenic) belonging to five taxa are present in the area: Rhodophyta (Antithamnionella elegans, Asparagopsis armata, Asparagopsis taxiformis, Bonnemaisonia hamifera, Botryocladia madagascariensis, Ceramium strobiliforme, Laurencia caduciramulosa, Lophocladia lallemandii, Neosiphonia harveyi, Womersleyella setacea), Chlorophyta (Caulerpa cylindracea and Caulerpa taxifolia), Mollusca (Aplysia dactylomela), Arthropoda (Percnon gibbesi) and Cordata (Fistularia commersonii, Kyphosus vaigiensis and Stephanolepis diaspros). The overall Mediterranean presence of one further taxon recorded from the area, Zygochlamys patagonica (Mollusca), is here confuted since recent findings of living specimens with certain data are missing. One loose valve of “Pinctada imbricata radiata (Mollusca)” was found in 2010 at Favignana, but we did not include it in the list of alien species, pending further finding of living or dead specimens. Unpublished distributional data are reported for some of these species, and their known distribution in the Aegadian Archipelago is mapped. Records of P. gibbesi (a conspicuous number of specimens) constitute the first for the archipelago. All the species included in the present paper were recorded after the Egadi Islands Marine Protected Area was established, with the first record dating back to 2000. This is presumably due to the recent increase in research programs on marine reserves. Finally, we provide the establishment status of all the recorded species updated to 2015, and discuss why unaided spread (whether alien or native) and/or transport-stowaway constitute the more plausible vectors of introduction.

The group of Centaurea (sect. Acrolophus) cineraria (Compositae) in Sicily includes four currently accepted species plus four taxa that have been considered, with some doubt, as subspecies of one of them (C. panormitana). In total, discounting recombinations and replacement names, 11 names (seven specific, three varietal, one of a forma), all based on Sicilian material, were published by past authors for these eight taxa. Two of the names had their holotype indicated upon publication; two have been lectotypified previously; six (C. busambarensis var. obtusiloba, C. cineraria var. soluntina, C. cineraria var. umbrosa, C. todaroi, C. todaroi f. seguenzae and C. ucriae) are lectotypified here; and C. panormitana is neotypified. The whole group is extremely variable and the delimitation of most taxa is still uncertain. Pending further study, including the sampling of wild populations, no taxonomic reassessment is therefore attempted here, with one exception: the merger of C. panormitana subsp. ucriae with C. panormitana subsp. panormitana.

An updated overview of the outcome of studies conducted on the culinary-medicinal mushroom Pleurotus nebrodensis is presented by placing emphasis on the clarification of the taxonomic identity of P. nebrodensis and other related taxa possessing entirely white to cream basidiomes, which grow in association with different plants of the family Apiaceae. Cultivation techniques, quality of the product sold and sales price, as well as nutritional and medicinal aspects are discussed. Taking also into consideration the high economic importance of P. nebrodensis, it is essential to proceed with the verification of the commercial strains currently available in the international market under the name of "P. nebrodensis" since it is very probable that many (or most) of them do not represent the real P. nebrodensis. TO confirm this hypothesis, an in silico analysis was conducted on a large of number of ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 rRNA sequences deposited in the National Center for Biotechnology Information database under the name P. nebrodensis. Results demonstrated that all "P nebrodensis" material examined from China (plus several sequences of no reported origin) corresponded to P. eryngii subsp. tuoliensis, with only 2 exceptions, which were grouped within P. eryngii sensu stricto. The real P. nebrodensis biological material from Italy and Greece is certified and is available upon request by the authors at the University of Palermo and the Agricultural University of Athens.

In this paper, we present a detailed record of the plant remains recovered on the palaeo-seafloors of Neapolis harbour, spanning ≈700 years, between the 2nd century BC and the 5th century AD, thus intersecting the entire Roman Imperial Age. The site preserved many cultivated or cultivable plant remains, especially from food related trees. This particular feature provided the opportunity to reconstruct the puzzling history of planting them and the Roman economy, especially with respect to food production, the market and to dietary habits. The evidence suggests that Prunus persica, Castanea sativa, Juglans regia and Pinus pinea were locally grown all along the investigated period, testifying for a well advanced arboriculture. A broad presence of P. pinea cones could be related to their large use as stoppers for amphorae which probably was among the driving force for planting it actually influencing its original range. The seafarers had extensive access to dry fruit such as walnut, hazelnut and chestnut that for its imperishable nature and the high energy density, would probably have been part of the food-stocks of the galleys. Chestnut consumption, attested throughout the entire period in the harbour, represents the first strong archaeobotanical evidence of chestnut as food in the Western Mediterranean in Roman time. This evidence shed light on the cultural-social significance of these fruits that was probably eaten mainly or almost exclusively by low social classes. The exceptional find of Hyphaene thebaica for the first time outside its native range is also reported.

Several plant species emit isoprene, a compound able to protect plants against high temperatures and oxidative stresses, and to affect the oxidative capacity of the atmosphere. The emission of isoprene in monocots is much less investigated than in dicots. We explored the emission of isoprene among members of the Poaceae tribe Arundineae, and its potential impact on plant performance. Our results confirm, also in monocots, the existence of a significant correlation between photosynthesis and isoprene emission and further suggest that isoprene inversely correlates to habitat xericity in unstressed Arundineae. Isoprene emission capacity developed rapidly in unfolding leaves, implying some developmental differences in the control of this biosynthetic pathway with respect to dicots. Among Arundineae, marked species-specific differences in several parameters related to plant productivity (photosynthesis, carbon lost as isoprene, water use efficiency, biomass and chloroplast ulrastructure) were observed. Isoprene presence improved structural organization of thylakoid membrane system and decreased the heat dissipation at physiological temperature. Our results demonstrate that, as in dicots, also in monocots isoprene could contribute to improve photosynthesis performance, although this was not necessarily reflected in higher yields, at least in unstressed conditions.

Pancratium maritimum L. (Amaryllidaceae) is a geophyte occurring in the Mediterranean region, from the Black Sea to part of the Atlantic coast. This plant is receiving much attention from the international scientific community due to its value as a bioindicator, the potential industrial value of its chemical compounds, and its use as a commercial ornamental plant. Plant morphometry and sequences of three plastid DNA regions (rbcL, matK, trnH-psbA) were used to assess the phenotypic and genetic variability of this taxon and its closest congeneric species (in particular Pancratium linosae, from the volcanic island of Linosa) in the Central Mediterranean (Sicily, Tunisia and surrounding islands). Pancratium maritimum and P. linosae cannot be distinguished based on morphological and genetic data and should belong to the same taxon. Our results also highlight a diversified gene pool in P. maritimum that is worth preserving. The lectotypes of the names Halmira stellaris, Pancratium angustifolium and Pancratium foetidum are here designated.

Abies nebrodensis, endemic to the Madonie mountains (central-north Sicily), was originally described by Lojacono Pojero as A. pectinata var. nebrodensis and later raised to the rank of species. The species is considered to be critically endangered and was thought to be extinct until an extant population was rediscovered in 1957. The name is here lectotypified on a specimen preserved at NAP.

So far considered as endemic to Greece, Hieracium umbrosum subsp. abietinum is reported as new for the Italian flora. Its presence has been noted on the Pollino National Park (S Italy). Morphological, ecological and taxonomical notes are given. This discovery increases the list of taxa showing an amphi-Adriatic distribution.

The Mediterranean Sea is currently experiencing a decline in the abundance of several key species, as a consequence of anthropogenic pressures (e.g., increase in human population, habitat modification and loss, pollution, coastal urbanization, overexploitation, introduction of non-indigenous species and climate change). Herbaria and natural history collections are certainly fundamental for taxonomic studies, but they are also an invaluable, if currently underestimated, resource for understanding ecological and evolutionary responses of species to environmental changes. Macroalgae herbarium collections, which are really consistent (ranging from 200,000 to approximately 500,000 specimens) in some European herbaria (e.g., Mus&eacute, um National d&rsquo, Histoire Naturelle in Paris, University of Copenhagen, Natural History Museum in Kensington), can be successfully used as real &ldquo, witnesses&rdquo, to biodiversity changes. In this respect, we report some case studies from the Mediterranean Sea which summarize well the potential of macroalgae herbarium specimens to provide useful data on biodiversity changes. Indeed, these data enable the evaluation of the responses of biota, including shifts in species ranges, the detection of the presence of introduced species, and the prediction of changes in species distributions and patterns under future climate scenarios. To increase the use of this invaluable tool of research, their curation, the digitization of collections, and specimen genomics should be even more addressed.

Fraxinus angustifolia subsp. angustifolia is a plant with an age-old use for the production of manna. However, it is also a valuable source of fixed oil rich-seeds. In the present study we examined the chemical and biological properties of this oil in order to support a possible application in foodstuffs, nutraceuticals and cosmetics. Fatty acid composition, volatile and phenolic substances were evaluated. Oleic and linoleic acid represented 45.5% and 50.0%, respectively, of the total fatty acid composition. Among polar phenolic substances identified (secoiridoids, phenylethanoid glycosides, phenolic acids and alcohols, flavonoids, coumarins) isoverbascoside is for the first time reported in this species. Volatiles were mainly characterized by sesquiterpenes. The oil showed good antioxidant activity, in terms of ABTS radical scavenging activity, with an IC 50 value of 28.2 μg/mL. The antiproliferative activity was also investigated: amelanotic melanoma (C32) and lung carcinoma (A549) cells were the most sensitive with IC 50 values comparable to that of the positive control vinblastine. These findings shed light on the potential use of F. angustifolia subsp. angustifolia fixed oil in nutraceutics and cosmetics.

Salinity is one of the most widespread soil degradation processes. In fact in saline soils uneven temporal and spatial water distribution and localized high concentration of salts occur, characterizing restricted habitats where most of the present organisms are halophilic or salt tolerant. Soils could be classified hypersaline when salt concentration exceeds certain thresholds (1, 2). For this study were analysed 10 hypersaline soil localities from Sicily (Birgi, Isola Lunga, Salinelle Marsala, Capo Feto, Piana del Signore, Vendicari) and Tunisia (Qurba, Khniss, Ras Dimas, Chebba). These areas are temporarily flooded in autumn and winter, with longer permanence of water in some zones. Salt crusts with thickness of 1–3mm appear above the soil surface during the dry season, from June to September. Climate of these areas belongs to semiarid Mediterranean, characterized by an intense summer drought and a mean annual rainfall that ranges from 361 to 383mm. Mean daily air temperature ranges from a maximum of 26.6 °C in August to a minimum of 4.9 °C in Januarywhereas for Monastir area it ranges from a maximum of 27.8 °C in August to a minimum of 12.2 °C in January. The vegetation belongs to the Thero-Salicornietea A. & O. Bolòs, 1950 class and is structured as a scattered mosaic of patches whose distribution is related to the flooding pattern and duration. Vegetation, in which most plants. The physiognizing elements of these communities are halophilous pioneer swards typical of salt marshes: Salicornia fruticosa (L.) L., Suaeda vera J.F.Gmel., and Atriplex halimus L. The field investigations were done between spring 2013 and spring 2018. Floristic surveys and biological traits observations and measurements were performed during repeated visits. On the whole, 20 traits from those available in the TRY Plant Trait Database (https://www.try-db.org) were selected and were measured in site. These concerns vegetative, reproductive and dispersal traits as well: Plant growth form; Plant height vegetative; Stem diameter; Crown (canopy) length: diameter along the longest axis; Crown (canopy) width; Leaf angle (inclination, orientation); Leaf compoundness; Leaf distribution along the shoot axis (arrangement type); Leaf length; Leaf width; Leaf thickness; Flower color; Flower sex; Diaspore Typology; Dispersal unit appendages; Dispersal unit length; Dispersal unit shape; Seeds per Diaspore; Fruit type; Plant reproductive phenology timing; Species occurrence range: native vs invasive; Plant chromosome number. Chromosome data were retrieved from Chrobase, Chromosome numbers for the Italian flora, database (http://bot.biologia.unipi.it/chrobase/index.php) or from the Index to Plant Chromosome Numbers (IPCN) (http://www.tropicos.org/Project/IPCN). Nomenclature of taxa follows the updated checklists of native and alien flora of Italy (3, 4) and Euro+Med (http://www.emplantbase.org/) for Tunisia. The recorded florula was compared by means of statistical analysis to that of neighboring areas with lower content of salt. The main differences concern the number of taxa that is 4 or more times lower in hypersaline soils. Saline habitats are highly selective but host species with large distribution range. A limited number of local endemic species (Limonium cf. oblanceolatum Brullo & Erben, Linaria aegyptiaca (L.) Dumort.) was found only in the studied areas with lower content of salt in the soil.

Breastfeeding furnishes optimal nutrition, immune support, and a multitude of health benefits to mothers and newborns. Since ancient times plants have been employed as galactagogues in the folk medicine of many human cultures. In Sicily, a region with great floristic diversity in the Mediterranean area, where a conspicuous pool of species is traditionally used for food and aromatic, cosmetic, handicraft, agricultural, forestry, and medicinal purposes, some people recognize the galactagogue properties of some spontaneous plants.The goal of this study was to identify wild plants with galactagogue properties and vegetable-food remedies traditionally used by women during breastfeeding to increase milk production. It was conducted in the Madonie territory (province of Palermo) by interviewing a sample of 105 people that was divided into three age groups.Ethnobotanical investigations revealed a total of 34 species, belonging to 11 families and 25 genera, used as galactagogues. For each taxon, the parts used, the methods of preparation, and the phytochemical profiles according to the literature were reported. The most represented family was Asteraceae, with 12 genera and 17 species, the majority of which contained latex.The most frequently used parts of the galactagogue plants were leaves (69%) that were mainly eaten as cooked vegetables, raw in salads, or utilized as an infusion tea. The species cited in this study are mainly wild traditional vegetables with high nutritional profiles that could improve the quality and the quantity of the milk produced. The study found that older people represent a precious source of information to help younger people preserve the cultural identity of the territory.

In Sicily, the genus Helleborus (Ranuculaceae) is only represented by H. bocconei subsp. siculus (= H. bocconei subsp. intermedius). In some mountain areas of the Island, the rhizomes of this plant, harvested in a particular month of the year (May) and dried, are used in traditional veterinary practice for treating pneumonia in domestic animals, cattle and horses in particular. The same usage – with rhizomes of other Helleborus species or subspecies – is reported from various other areas of Mediterranean Europe. Phytochemical tests have permitted the isolation and characterization of new biologically active molecules. The extracts of rhizomes and aerial parts of the plant were shown antibacterial properties. Some compounds, isolated from the methanolic extract of the rhizomes, were shown to be cytotoxic. In addition, morpho-anatomical studies have revealed the presence of different endophytic and commensal fungi in all organs of the plant, which could be isolated and cultured. One of the isolates has been identified as the endophytic fungus Botrytis byssoidea, which is also widely present in the soil. Further fungal isolates include Chaetomium strumarium, strain RR1, an endophytic ascomycete the identity of which was confirmed by molecular analyses. When cultured, it developed plentifully; the filtered broth from these cultures was used in antibiotic property assays. The tests were positive; the detailed results are forthcoming. They support our initial hypothesis, that the therapeutic effect the hellebore’s rhizomes extract is due to metabolites produced by an endophytic fungus. It remains to be seen whether the plant itself, devoid of the microfungus, produces the same therapeutically effective metabolites that are present in the extracts of plants from the wild or from outdoor cultivation. The study of the Sicilian hellebore, beyond its biological interest, has potential for its relevance for therapeutic applications both in veterinary and human medicine.

In the system of Sicilian archaeological parks, the area of Segesta - an ancient city of western Sicily referring to the Carthaginian eparchy, - represents, together with Selinunte, Erice and Mothia, another integrated hotspot of biodiversity and archeaology. The current plant landscape is strongly influenced by a millenary anthropic transformation. There are no residual expressions of the original plant covering that, with reference to the environmental potential of the area, can be traced back to the evergreen Mediterranean forest dominated by Quercus ilex, presently only sporadically occurring in the area of the ruins, together with other species related to associations and upper syntaxa referable to the class Quercetea ilicis (Olea europaea subsp. sylvestris, Ceratonia siliqua, Pyrus spinosa s.l., Rhamnus alaternus, Chamaerops humilis, Crataegus laevigata, Ruscus aculeatus, Asparagus albus, A. acuti- folius, etc.). Sporadic is the presence of Celtis australis and Ficus carica. The whole area of Segesta is included in the potential belt of both maquis and Mediterranean ever- green forest, formations once present but progressively replaced with classical Mediterranean tree crops (olive, almond, carob and vines). The abandonment of these crops allowed the advent of grass- lands, sometimes with trees, until the introduction of new plants scattered to further mark the anthropization of the area. Quite widespread in the hill next to the theatre is the garrigue with Chamaerops humilis and Ampelodesnmos mauritanicus, here diversified by the presence of Plumbago europaea which, due to its high degree of coverage, sociability and frequency, is a good unpublished plant association. The whole area is rich in aromatic (Phoeniculm vulgare, Origanum vulgare, Mentha pulegium and M. rotundifolia, Salvia sclarea) and medicinal species (Atractylis gummifera, Hypericum perforatum, H. perfoliatum, Sylibium marianum, Urginea maritima). Elements of landscape importance in spring-summer are Asphodelus ramosus, some spiny Asteraceae, such as Cynara cardunculus subsp. cardunculus and Onopordum illyricum, and other Apiaceae, as Magydaris tomentosa, Thapsia garganica and the most frequent and expressive Ferula communis. There are several exotic plants introduced in the last century (Eucalyptus sp. pl., Cupressus sp. pl., Pinus sp. pl.), or naturalized since longer time (Agave americana, Opuntia ficus-indica, Myoporum serratum). The presence of the invasive Ailanthus altissima, widespread even in the most sensitive areas, has negative repercussions on the stability of the already precarious monuments and on the landscape in general, away from the stereotypical images of Segesta. Some iconographic documents, dating back to the illustrations of the travellers of the Grand Tour, give a representation of the vegetation covering this area before its transformations. It would be advis- able inspiring to this period the actions of landscape restoration to be undertaken in this area.

I cambiamenti climatici e il futuro della flora endemica delle Alpi sud-occidentali: valutazione del rischio e strategie di conservazione

This PhD project has been focused on the improvement of the methods commonly used in biomonitoring surveys of persistent airborne pollutants based on native lichens. These protocols recommend to measure the content of pollutants in the outermost parts of foliose epiphytic thalli, which purportedly developed in the last year before sampling. This allows to associate the pollutant content to a known exposure period. Unfortunately, lichens are very sensitive to local environmental conditions, although the lack of data concerning most of the species used in biomonitoring surveys caused an underestimation of the problem. Therefore, in a first study, I investigated the influence of site-specific climatic factors on the inter-site variability of seasonal and long-term Radial Growth Rates (RaGR) of Xanthoria parietina, one of the most popular lichen biomonitor. For 17 months RaGR was monitored in 11 sites along an altitudinal transect by measuring the lobe length of 54 thalli, whereas site-specific climatic variables were monitored with thermo-hygrometric sensors. Results highlighted that site-specific climatic differences in terms of air water availability and wind frequency were strongly correlated to the observed inter-site variability of both RaGRs, with thalli of dry sites that had significantly lower seasonal RaGR with respect to those of moist ones. For this reason, it was concluded that biomonitoring surveys with native lichens should be limited to climatically homogeneous areas in order to ensure comparable exposure periods. In a second study, the correct reference exposure period revealed itself as an important yardstick if we want to correctly use lichen data in the validation of atmospheric dispersion models (ADMs). In this study, I used the element concentrations measured in lichen samples from the surroundings of a coal-fired power plant as the core dataset for the validation of two alternative ADMs. These ADMs simulated the dispersion of Total Suspended Particulate emitted by the plant during the year 2005, selected by the authorities as reference meteorological period (ADM1), and, the six months preceding the lichen sample collection (ADM2), because this was the age of the collected lichen samples, as estimated using the above-mentioned RaGR. After normalization for the element soil content, results showed that the Cr content of lichen samples were more correlated with the outcomes of ADM2 rather than with those of ADM1. These results were confirmed by a PM10 survey, carried out by ARPA FVG, which revealed that in two successive periods of activity and inactivity of the putative source, concentration of Cr was significantly higher in the former. Finally, a third study was aimed at investigating the influence of lichen melanins in trace element retention. Most of the species used as biomonitor of airborne trace elements belong to the Parmeliaceae, a highly differentiated family characterized by a highly melanised lower cortex, whose adaptive value is unknown. Here, I tested the hypothesis that melanins can affect the content of selected elements. Macro- (Ca, K and S) and micro- (Fe, Mn and Zn) nutrients in melanized and non-melanized pseudotissues of nine species was first evaluated by micro-XRF analysis on either the upper and lower cortex, and on the artificially exposed medulla. Afterwards, the total concentration of the same elements was measured by ICP-AES, and a sequential elution experiment was performed on one heavily melanised and one lightly melanised species. In this way, I could demonstrate that native lichens with heavily melanised surfaces are more Fe- and Zn- enriched than lightly or non-melanised lichens, possibly increasing the bioavailability of both elements in favour of the photobionts. Therefore, in order to exclude any bias related to the different degree of melanisation, the proposal is to compose analytical samples with lichen material chara This PhD project has been focused on the improvement of the methods commonly used in biomonitoring surveys of persistent airborne pollutants based on native lichens. These protocols recommend to measure the content of pollutants in the outermost parts of foliose epiphytic thalli, which purportedly developed in the last year before sampling. This allows to associate the pollutant content to a known exposure period. Unfortunately, lichens are very sensitive to local environmental conditions, although the lack of data concerning most of the species used in biomonitoring surveys caused an underestimation of the problem. Therefore, in a first study, I investigated the influence of site-specific climatic factors on the inter-site variability of seasonal and long-term Radial Growth Rates (RaGR) of Xanthoria parietina, one of the most popular lichen biomonitor. For 17 months RaGR was monitored in 11 sites along an altitudinal transect by measuring the lobe length of 54 thalli, whereas site-specific climatic variables were monitored with thermo-hygrometric sensors. Results highlighted that site-specific climatic differences in terms of air water availability and wind frequency were strongly correlated to the observed inter-site variability of both RaGRs, with thalli of dry sites that had significantly lower seasonal RaGR with respect to those of moist ones. For this reason, it was concluded that biomonitoring surveys with native lichens should be limited to climatically homogeneous areas in order to ensure comparable exposure periods. In a second study, the correct reference exposure period revealed itself as an important yardstick if we want to correctly use lichen data in the validation of atmospheric dispersion models (ADMs). In this study, I used the element concentrations measured in lichen samples from the surroundings of a coal-fired power plant as the core dataset for the validation of two alternative ADMs. These ADMs simulated the dispersion of Total Suspended Particulate emitted by the plant during the year 2005, selected by the authorities as reference meteorological period (ADM1), and, the six months preceding the lichen sample collection (ADM2), because this was the age of the collected lichen samples, as estimated using the above-mentioned RaGR. After normalization for the element soil content, results showed that the Cr content of lichen samples were more correlated with the outcomes of ADM2 rather than with those of ADM1. These results were confirmed by a PM10 survey, carried out by ARPA FVG, which revealed that in two successive periods of activity and inactivity of the putative source, concentration of Cr was significantly higher in the former. Finally, a third study was aimed at investigating the influence of lichen melanins in trace element retention. Most of the species used as biomonitor of airborne trace elements belong to the Parmeliaceae, a highly differentiated family characterized by a highly melanised lower cortex, whose adaptive value is unknown. Here, I tested the hypothesis that melanins can affect the content of selected elements. Macro- (Ca, K and S) and micro- (Fe, Mn and Zn) nutrients in melanized and non-melanized pseudotissues of nine species was first evaluated by micro-XRF analysis on either the upper and lower cortex, and on the artificially exposed medulla. Afterwards, the total concentration of the same elements was measured by ICP-AES, and a sequential elution experiment was performed on one heavily melanised and one lightly melanised species. In this way, I could demonstrate that native lichens with heavily melanised surfaces are more Fe- and Zn- enriched than lightly or non-melanised lichens, possibly increasing the bioavailability of both elements in favour of the photobionts. Therefore, in order to exclude any bias related to the different degree of melanisation, the proposal is to compose analytical samples with lichen material characterized by a similar degree of melanisation.

Background: Wild vegetables in the Mediterranean Basin are still often consumed as a part of the diet and, in particular, there is a great tradition regarding their use in Sicily.In this study, an ethnobotanical field investigation was carried out to (a) identify the wild native taxa traditionally gathered and consumed as vegetables in Sicily, comparing the collected ethnobotanical data with those of other countries that have nominated the Mediterranean diet for inclusion in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and (b) highlight new culinary uses of these plants.Methods: Interviews were carried out in 187 towns and villages in Sicily between 2005 and 2015. A total of 980 people over the age of 50 were interviewed (mainly farmers, shepherds, and experts on local traditions).Plants recorded were usually collected in collaboration with the informants to confirm the correct identification of the plants. The frequencies of citation were calculated.Results: Two hundred fifty-three taxa (specific and intraspecific) belonging to 39 families, and 128 genera were recorded (26 were cited for the first time). The most represented families were Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, Apiaceae, Amaryllidaceae, Malvaceae, and Polygonaceae. Only 14 taxa were cited by 75% of the people interviewed.The aerial parts of wild plants, including leaves, tender shoots, and basal rosettes, are the main portions collected, while the subterranean parts are used to a lesser extent. For some vegetables, more parts are utilized. Most of the reported vegetables are consumed cooked.In addition to the widely known vegetables (Borago officinalis, Beta spp., Cichorium spp., Brassica spp., Carduus spp., etc.), the so-called ancient vegetables are included (Onopordum illyricum, Centaurea calcitrapa, Nasturtium officinale, Scolymus spp., Smyrnium rotundifolium), and some unique uses were described.Comparing the Sicilian findings to those from other countries, a very high number of vegetable taxa were detected, 72 of which are eaten only in Sicily, while 12 are consumed in all the Mediterranean countries examined.Conclusions: The research shows a high level of Sicilian knowledge about using wild plants as a traditional food source. Wild vegetables are healthy and authentic ingredients for local and ancient recipes, which are fundamental to the revitalization of quality food strictly connected to traditional agroecosystems.

Today, in many European countries, people are looking for wild edible plants to experience new tastes and flavors, by following the new trend of being green and environmentally friendly. Young borage and spinach leaves can be easily confused by inexpert pickers with those of other plants, including poisonous ones, such as Mandragora autumnalis Bertol. (mandrake) or Digitalis purpurea L. (foxglove), common in southern and northern Italy respectively. In the last twenty years, several cases of intoxication by accidental ingestion of mandrake and foxglove have been reported. The purpose of this work was to perform a pharmacognostic characterization of young leaves from borage, mandrake, foxglove and spinach, by micro-morphological, molecular and phytochemical techniques. The results showed that each of the three techniques investigated could be sufficient alone to provide useful information for the identification of poisonous species helping the medical staff to manage quickly the poisoned patients. However, the multi-disciplinary approach proposed could be very useful to asses the presence of poisonous plants in complex matrices, to build a database containing morphological, molecular and phytochemical data for the identification of poisonous species or in forensic toxicology, given their increasingly frequent use due to their low cost and relatively common availability.

The results of macroscopic and microscopic observations have highlighted the presence of P. albus also in Italy. The distribution of this species in the Italian territory seems much wider than previously realised and most of the herbarium samples previously identified as P. arhizus should probably be re-analyzed using morphological, microscopic and molecular criteria.

Nell’ambito di ricerche biosistematiche condotte sulla flora endemica della Sicilia, viene esaminata sotto il profilo morfologico Arabis madonia C.Presl, una specie ancora poco nota e critica sotto il profilo tassonomico.

Aim: Aphyllophoroid fungi are associated with plants, either using plants as a resource (as parasites or decomposers) or as symbionts (as mycorrhizal partners). In spite of their strong association with plants, it is unknown how much plant distributions determine their biogeographical patterns compared with environmental factors such as climate and human land use. In this study, our aims are to (1) describe the spatial diversity patterns of aphyllophoroid fungi in Europe and (2) identify the factors shaping these patterns. Location: Europe, as well as the adjacent Subarctic to Arctic islands (Greenland, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Svalbard), Palestine and the south-east coast of the Caspian Sea. Methods: We compiled a dataset consisting of 14,030 fruitbody occurrences of 1,491 aphyllophoroid fungal species from 39 geographical areas (17 countries) belonging to eight biogeographical regions. We assessed the differences in fungal species richness and overall diversity and its nestedness and turnover components across biogeographical regions of Europe, as well as between southern and northern Europe (based on geographical latitude of 50 degrees as threshold). We used cluster and ordination analyses to classify the European aphyllophoroid communities biogeographically and evaluated the importance of climate, host-tree species, topography and human land-use intensity in explaining biogeographical variation. Results: The importance of biogeographical regions in determining European aphyllophoroid fungal communities varies for different diversity components. Species richness and nestedness are best explained by plant-based biogeographical regions, whereas overall beta diversity and species turnover are driven mostly by variation in climate, and nestedness mostly by tree species occupancy. Beta-diversity patterns of aphyllophoroid fungi do not differ between southern and northern Europe. Main conclusions: At the continental scale, aphyllophoroid fungi are less shaped by historical legacies than vascular plant and animal communities, and trends of overall beta diversity in southern and northern Europe are similar to patterns found for bryophytes.

The general increase of the cultivation and trade of Bt transgenic plants resistant to Lepidoptera pests raises concerns regarding the conservation of animal and plant biodiversity. Demand for biofuels has increased the cultivation and importation of oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.), including transgenic lines. In environmental risk assessments (ERAs) for its potential future cultivation as well as for food and feed uses, the impact on wild Brassicaeae relatives and on non-target Lepidoptera should be assessed. Here we consider the potential exposure of butterflies as results of possible cultivation or naturalization of spilled seed in Sicily (Italy). Diurnal Lepidoptera, which are pollinators, can be exposed directly to the insecticidal proteins as larvae (mainly of Pieridae) through the host and through the pollen that can deposit on other host plants. Adults can be exposed via pollen and nectar. The flight periods of butterflies were recorded, and they were found to overlap for about 90% of the flowering period of B. napus for the majority of the species. In addition, B. napus has a high potential to hybridise with endemic taxa belonging to the B. oleracea group. This could lead to an exposure of non-target Lepidoptera if introgression of the Bt gene into a wild population happens. A rank of the risk for butterflies and wild relatives of oilseed rape is given. We conclude that, in environmental risk assessments, attention should be paid to plant-insect interaction especially in a biodiversity hotspot such as Sicily.

During the last year, the first two authors continued their survey of the scarcely known Characeae flora of the island of Sicily: plants were collected in different periods, habitats and areas of the island, and identifications – made on fresh material – were based mainly on Mouronval et al. (2015). We had the opportunity to include here some results deriving from the visit in Sicily made by Klaus van de Weyer in March 2018. Roman Romanov identified some specimens and revised some identifications. Data for Sicily are basically limited to more than one hundred years old reports; data for the national Flora have been completed with recent reports for Sardinia (cf. the work made by Ralf Becker). We present here the main results (in alphabetic order). 1) Chara baltica Bruzelius (new for Sicily) – Collected in different seasons in the lake Preola (Nature Reserve near Mazara), where it probably colonises most of the lake bottom, reaching a depth of ca. 2 m. 2) C. braunii C.C. Gmel. (new for Palermo province, new population of a rare species in Italy) – Collected in the small mountain ponds of Rebuttone. 3) C. canescens Loisel. (new population of a rare species in Italy): we found a new parthenogenetic population in the “Margi Milo” (Petrosino, Trapani province), where it grows together with C. cf. aspera Willd. 4) C. conimbrigensis A.G. Cunha (new for Sicily and Italy) – Collected in June-July in shallow mountain ponds, in the Nebrodi Mts, at about 1400 m a.s.l. It is different from the similar C. gymnophylla A. Braun mainly for its tylacanthous stem cortex. Waiting for further studies, we provisionally treat this taxon (as well as the following one) at the species rank. 5) C. oedophylla Feldmann (new for Sicily and Italy) – Collected in mid-April in temporary ponds (in the locus classicus of Isoetes todaroana Troia & Raimondo near Mazara del Vallo). The taxon is currently known in few sites in W-Mediterranean. 6) Nitella capillaris (Krock.) J. Groves & Bull.-Webst. (species not recently reported for Sicily and Italy) – Collected in the wetlands of Anguillara, near Calatafimi. 7) N. opaca (C. Agardh ex Bruzelius) C. Agardh (new for Sicily) – Collected in the small mountain ponds of Rebuttone (near Piana degli Albanesi) and Coda di Riccio (in the Nature Reserve of Ficuzza). 8) Tolypella salina Corill. (new for Sicily) – Collected in March in a single pond at Margi Milo near Petrosino (Klaus van de Weyer), it probably occurs also in other sites along the western coast of the island. - Mouronval JB, Baudouin S, Borel N, Soulié-Märsche I, Klesczewski M & Grillas P. 2015. Guide des Characées de France méditerranéenne. Office National de la Chasse et Faune Sauvage, Paris. 214 p.

Kozuharova, E., Panayotov, M. & Spadaro, V.: Autecology and ex situ growth of Leontopodium nivale subsp. nivale (Asteraceae) from North Pirin marbles (SW Bulgaria). — Fl. Medit. 28: 187-206. 2018. — ISSN: 1120-4052 printed, 2240-4538 online. Leontopodium nivale subsp. nivale is a local and disjunct endemic of the central Apennines in Italy and the Pirin Mountains in Bulgaria. The aim of this study is to investigate in situ microhabitat specifics and ex situ ontogenesis regarding the possible future cultivation and to evaluate hazards for wild populations in conditions of human impact and climate change. Leontopodium nivale subsp. nivale is stenobiont which is difficult to grow ex situ and therefore particularly vulnerable. Its wild habitats and populations in Pirin Mts. should be efficiently protected. The results of our study indicate that the stenobiontic plants such as Leontopodium nivale subsp. nivale are particularly subject to hazard.

The non-indigenous spotted sea hare Aplysia dactylomela Rang, 1828, entered the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic, is recorded for the first time from shallow coastal waters of Pianosa Island in 2015. This record can be considered the first occurrence in the northern Tyrrhenian Sea. One specimen of A. dactylomela was photographed while was feeding on a rock bottom mainly covered with red algae.

A new hawkweed taxon endemic to the Pollino National Park (southern Italy), Hieracium jurassicum subsp. serrapretense, is described and illustrated. Information on its morphology, distribution, ecology and taxonomic relationship is provided.

Allium valdecallosum is a critical and poorly known species endemic to Morocco. Its diagnostic features, karyology, seed testa micro-morphology, leaf anatomy, ecology, distribution, conservation status, and taxonomic relationships are examined here.

The results of a multidisciplinary study conducted on the circali- ttoral soft bottom assemblages at Secchitello (Sicchiteddu) and in the neighbouring areas along the southern coast of Ustica Island (Sicily, Southern Tyrrhenian Sea) are presented. In particular, the study pro- vided useful data for a taxonomic, ecological and paleoecological revi- sion of the Coastal Detritic facies with free-living calcareous algae and for a critical analysis of their relationship with the sedimentary dynamics. During a survey, carried out by the University of Catania (1991) with a R.O.V. (remotely operated vehicle), the presence of the Coastal Detritic (DC) biocoenosis, characterized by a surprisingly high biodiversity, and of the Platform Coralligenous (C) biocoenosis, dominated by rhodolith bio-concretions with large and branched Bryozoa was recorded. The DC of Secchitello, situated at a depth of between 50 and 90 m, was mainly characterized by: prâlines, boxwork, branches and coated grains growth forms; the dominance of the Lithothamnion minervae fa- cies; coarse sediments belonging to the sand and gravel classes, with the last one mainly of biogenic nature. Where the hydrodynamism is reduced (at a depth of between 80 and 90 m), an ecotone community between the DC and the C biocoenoses, growing on boxworks, was found. The density and biodiversity of the free-living calcareous algae and of epiflora found at Secchitello are high, and the extension of the rhodolith beds are comparable to that of the C assemblage. The rough morphology of the bottom, increasing the current activ- ity, together with the presence of biodisturbance phenomena mainly due to echinoderms such as Cidaris cidaris, Echinaster sepositus and “sail” epiphytes, such as Cystoseira spinosa v. compressa and Phyllophora cris- pa, were responsible for the increase of the rhodolith overturning. The analysis of thin sections of non-geniculate coralline red algae allowed to reconstruct the paleoenvironmental evolution of the Secchitello, point- ing out three different phases of colonization: initial, intermediate and recent. The transition from one phase to another is probably due to the changes in intensity and direction of the currents in the last millennium.

Trattamento del genere Orobanche s.l. per la seconda edizione delle Flora d'Italia di Sandro Pignatti.

Biodiversity is undergoing rapid and worrying changes, partially driven by anthropogenic activities. Human impacts and climate change (e.g. increasing temperature and ocean acidification), which act at different spatial scale, represent the most serious threats to biodiversity and ecosystem structure and function. In this overview, the effects of anthropogenic pressures on unique and valuable Mediterranean systems, such as Cystoseira sp. pl. forest and Posidonia oceanica meadows, are examined. These complex systems, characterized by a high associated biodiversity, are regularly exposed to natural and anthropogenic pressures. Due to the central role they have for several important ecological processes in marine ecosystems, their loss can lead dramatic consequences. Since these ecosystems are often unable to recover naturally, it is necessary to reinforce their resilience. Therefore, reintroduction by transplantation and reforestation methods have been recently proposed. Considering future increase in anthropogenic and climatic pressures, understanding how these systems respond to stressors and preserving their resilience should be an essential component of any conservation management plan.