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In the Mediterranean Basin, a critical focal point for the conservation of plant diversity, there has been a large increase in practical conservation actions for many plant species to prevent extinction and to improve their conservation status; quantifying the effectiveness of these initiatives in reversing species declines is urgently important. In 2021, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) launched a new tool that allows the impact of conservation actions on plant species to be assessed. The Green Status of Species is a new set of metrics under the Red List of Threatened Species that assigns species to recovery categories, complementary to the classic extinction risk categories. Crucially, the Green Status of Species provides methods to evaluate the impact of past conservation, and the potential for future conservation impact, on species status and recovery in a standardized way. Considering the efforts made so far for the conservation of Mediterranean threatened plants, using the Green Status of Species would be highly useful to direct future conservation policies. We, therefore, encourage botanists and practitioners working on threatened plants in the Mediterranean area to use this new assessment tool to inform conservation and recovery programs.

The Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change Project set out to improve the diversity, quantity, and accessibility of germplasm collections of crop wild relatives (CWR). Between 2013 and 2018, partners in 25 countries, heirs to the globetrotting legacy of Nikolai Vavilov, undertook seed collecting expeditions targeting CWR of 28 crops of global significance for agriculture. Here, we describe the implementation of the 25 national collecting programs and present the key results. A total of 4587 unique seed samples from at least 355 CWR taxa were collected, conserved ex situ, safety duplicated in national and international genebanks, and made available through the Multilateral System (MLS) of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (Plant Treaty). Collections of CWR were made for all 28 targeted crops. Potato and eggplant were the most collected genepools, although the greatest number of primary genepool collections were made for rice. Overall, alfalfa, Bambara groundnut, grass pea and wheat were the genepools for which targets were best achieved. Several of the newly collected samples have already been used in pre-breeding programs to adapt crops to future challenges.

L’Italia è localizzata al centro del bacino Mediterraneo, uno tra i centri di biodiversità a livello globale più minacciati. La sua eterogeneità ambientale e climatica ha permesso la differenziazione di un ampio numero di specie vegetali (oltre 8,200 taxa), che tuttavia sono sottoposte ad un crescente numero di minacce principalmente legate ai cambiamenti di dinamiche socio-economiche. Pertanto, urgenti misure di conservazione sono necessarie per fermare la perdita di diversità vegetale e conservare il patrimonio naturale del nostro paese. Questo volume è il prodotto finale di un progetto iniziato nel 2012, finanziato dal Ministero dell’Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio e del Mare, portato avanti dalla Società Botanica Italiana. Complessivamente, i criteri per la redazione delle liste rosse elaborati dalla IUCN sono stati applicati a 2.488 taxa della flora vascolare autoctona del nostro paese, al fine di valutare il loro attuale stato di conservazione e mettere in evidenza le principali minacce che incombono su di esse. Dopo la pubblicazione del primo volume (2013), che include la valutazione di tutte le specie italiane incluse nelle normative ratificate a livello nazionale (policy species), quali le specie elencate negli allegati della Direttiva 92/43/UE “Habitat” e negli allegati della Convenzione di Berna, in questo contributo è stato valutato un ulteriore gruppo di 2.191 taxa, incluse tutte le specie endemiche italiane non ancora sottoposte ad assessment. I risultati pubblicati nel presente volume hanno rilevato che 37 taxa sono estinti, estinti in natura o verosimilmente estinti a livello regionale (inclusi 11 taxa endemici), mentre 420 taxa (inclusi 228 taxa endemici) sono stati assegnati ad una categoria di rischio. Inoltre, 338 taxa (inclusi 248 taxa endemici) sono stati inseriti nella categoria DD, ovvero specie per cui i dati a disposizione sono insufficienti per una valutazione. La flora vascolare italiana è minacciata soprattutto dalla modificazione degli habitat naturali e semi-naturali, dovuta al disturbo antropico e, specialmente, ad agricoltura, turismo e sviluppo residenziale. Il numero più alto di taxa estinti o in declino è infatti localizzato nelle zone costiere e di pianura, dove gli impatti antropici e la distruzione degli ecosistemi sono più evidenti. La valutazione di circa un terzo dei taxa vegetali spontanei del nostro paese costituisce un importante passo verso la conservazione della flora italiana. Tuttavia, per mettere in atto una strategia di conservazione efficace del paesaggio naturale italiano e in particolare della flora vascolare, ulteriori ricerche ed approfondimenti sono necessari. Sarebbe infatti urgente risolvere alcune criticità tassonomiche, effettuare monitoraggi sulle specie minacciate e sviluppare strategie specifiche di conservazione in situ ed ex situ e piani di azione specie specifici.

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.

Restoration interventions of natural ecosystems, as well as degraded urban areas, require an accurate selection of plants, not only considering the genotype, but also the adopted growing techniques. Native species are to be preferred (often mandatory in restoration interventions and in some municipal regulations), being able to guarantee high eco-physiological responses, especially to post-transplanting plant stress. This feature is intrinsic of each species, but it is also highly influenced by agronomic techniques. The growing techniques usually adopted in the ornamental sector are aimed at obtaining high quality standard. Nevertheless, not always these methods lead to satisfactory post-transplanting performances, especially if transplanting cares, e.g., irrigation, are not available. Another critical issue in restoration interventions is the use of potted plants grown on peat-based substrates, which must be reduced/avoided in line with high sustainability requirements of this special sector as well as of waste policies. With the aim to evaluate post-transplanting responses of the Euro-Mediterranean native Viburnum lantana L., a one-year cultivation trial was conducted by testing different peat-free substrates, followed by transplanting in a degraded area of the "Parco Regionale Lombardo della Valle del Ticino". Tested growing media were: 1) peat:pumice 70:30 v v-1, as control treatment; 2) coconut coir dust:pumice 70:30 v v-1; 3) coconut coir dust:green compost 55:45 v v-1; 4) coconut coir dust:stabilized wood fibre 60:40 v v-1. Cuttings were planted in 4 L pots directly adding a controlled release fertilizer to the substrate, integrated with a top-dress controlled release one in the following early spring. Plant growth was monitored throughout the entire vegetative cycle by both non-destructive biometric measures (i.e., plant height, collar diameter) and eco-physiological parameters (i.e., gas exchange, efficiency of photosystem II and SPAD index). At the end of the cultivation cycle, some plants were sampled to assess root and shoot biomass productions and tissue nutrient contents, while 12 plants per treatment were transplanted in field in three randomized blocks. Irrigation was provided after the transplant and then plants were subjected to the environmental conditions (i.e., sunny, dry summer). At 100 days after transplanting both eco-physiological and destructive biometric parameters were collected (i.e., shoot biomass and leaf necrotic area). Plants grown in the tested peat-free substrates showed a faster response to transplanting stress respect to control plants, which showed higher phylloptosis and wider necrotic leaf area. This higher efficiency in recovery from transplanting stress was also highlighted by the ecophysiological measures.

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.

The results of a project for the identification of species-specific monitoring protocols for the Italian plant species protected under the Habitats Directive (Annexes II/IV/V) are presented. The project led to the development of 118 monitoring factsheets, providing an operational guidance for 107 vascular taxa, 10 bryophytes and 1 lichen taxon. Each factsheet includes information on the species (distribution, biology, ecology, conservation status, threats, etc.) and the description of field methodologies for the detection of the two main reporting parameters, i.e. population size and habitat quality. Practical information to plan field activities are also given. Protocols were designed to address the requirements of the European reporting system with the aim to standardize future monitoring activities, optimize efforts at national scale and overcome some current problems related to data heterogeneity and discrepancies from the EC standards. More than 60 botanists collaborated to identify the best practices and to design an operational field survey format through several stages of discussion and sharing. The protocols, developed by ISPRA and Scientific Societies and shared with the Italian institutions responsible for the Directive application, were published in a dedicated National handbook. The work provides a first uniform technical basis for future national monitoring plans.

Kosteletzkya pentacarpos seashore mallow, is recognised as an important plant species for several industrial applications, especially in North America and Asia. In Europe, seashore mallow is highly threatened and subject of conservation actions (e.g. reintroduction). In order to define appropriate multipurpose cultivation protocols, suitable for biomass production and for conservation purposes, we investigated the effect of varying levels of soil salt content and nutrient availability on seashore mallow. As expected, seashore mallow had the best performance in terms of growth rate, flowering and fruit production when fertiliser was applied, while salt had only limited effects. Interestingly, seeds produced by fertilised plants showed a lower germination performance and higher mortality than seeds developed from non-fertilised plants. Our results highlight a trade-off between parental plant growth and seed performance, the former being enhanced and the latter being reduced by fertiliser application. The causes of this trade-off are related to a transgenerational maternal effect of fertiliser application that has important implications for seashore mallow cultivation. Biomass production benefits from fertiliser application but if the quality of seeds and the fitness of the next generation are major objectives (e.g. seed production and species conservation), fertiliser application is not recommended.

The ongoing activities for the identification of monitoring methods for the Italian flora of Community interest (FCI) are presented. The reference framework is the Directive 92/43/EEC. Monitoring is an obligation arising from Art. 11 and the results have to be reported every six years, according to Art. 17. In the last Italian National Report, covering the period 2007-2012, the status of the FCI was assessed using available knowledge and expert judgment, still revealing relevant lack of data for some plant species and, in turn, population parameters (Ercole and Giacanelli, 2014). To overcome these deficiencies, in 2015 began a project aims to set future monitoring activities and to optimize efforts at national scale. A network of institutions (Ministry of the Environment, Regions), research institutes (ISPRA) and scientific societies (SBI for flora) has been organized. Main objective of this project, to be reached by the end of 2016, is the identification of shared monitoring protocols for the FCI. For plant species ISPRA and SBI are engaged in the drafting of species-specific monitoring methodologies and schemes, based on the updated scientific knowledge and responsive to the EC requests. A working group made up of 12 units (10 groups for vascular and two for non-vascular plants) distributed throughout the country have been established. The monitoring protocols for each plant species (109 vascular taxa, 10 bryophytes, one lichen) have been developed and tested in the field for 12 target plant species, identified according to representativeness criteria for: life forms, phenology, ecology and biogeography. These shared protocols should lead to overcoming some current problems related to data heterogeneity and discrepancies from the EC requests and would allow greater repeatability and comparability over time. The results will be available in a dedicated website and in a National Manual for FCI, which will be published by ISPRA together with the manuals for fauna and habitats.

The climate of Europe has become more extreme in the last century. Exceptional summer heat waves (HWs), associated with lack of precipitation, are increasing in frequency and duration. The wild flora and vegetation are often negatively affected by such extreme weather events and their direct and indirect consequences. The most important effects of HWs on the European wild flora and vegetation are due to high temperatures and extreme drought stress, which affect plant physiology and metabolism, and in turn affect plant growth and reproduction with two main consequences: adaptation or extinction. The prediction of increasing occurrence and intensity of weather extremes implies further efforts for understanding their consequences on wild flora and vegetation in high sensitive ecosystems like high latitude (sub-arctic and arctic) and mountain areas.

"The New Red List of the Italian Flora" includes all the Italian policy species and other species of known conservation concerns for a total of 400 taxa, 65% of which are threatened with extinction. The Red List is based on a huge georeferenced data-set useful for conservation purposes. © 2013 © 2013 Società Botanica Italiana.

Vengono presentate le nuove liste rosse per la Flora Italiana incluse le piante superiori, le briofite ed i funghi