Notulae to the Italian native vascular flora: 5

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of native vascular flora in Italy are presented. It includes new records and confirmations to the Italian administrative regions for taxa in the genera Allium, Arabis, Campanula, Centaurea, Chaerophyllum, Crocus, Dactylis, Dianthus, Festuca, Galanthus, Helianthemum, Lysimachia, Milium, Pteris, and Quercus. Nomenclature and distribution updates, published elsewhere, and corrections are provided as supplementary material.

Are Red Lists really useful for plant conservation? The New Red List of the Italian Flora in the perspective of national conservation policies

La nuova Lista Rossa della flora Italiana comprende tutte le "policy" specie italiane e altre specie di nota conservazione e comprende 400 taxa di cui il 65% sono minacciate di estinzione. La Lista Rossa si basa su un enorme data-set georeferenziato utile per gli scopi di conservazione. - 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. -

Red Listing plants under full national responsibility: Extinction risk and threats in the vascular flora endemic to Italy

Abstract Taxa endemic to a country are key elements for setting national conservation priorities and for driving conservation strategies, since their persistence is entirely dependent on national policy. We applied the IUCN Red List categories to all Italian endemic vascular plants (1340 taxa) to assess their current risk of extinction and to highlight their major threats. Our results revealed that six taxa are already extinct and that 22.4% (300 taxa) are threatened with extinction, while 18.4% (247; especially belonging to apomictic groups) have been categorized as Data Deficient. Italian endemic vascular plants are primarily threatened by natural habitat modification due to agriculture, …

Seed germination under osmotic stress across different wild populations of mountain rye (Secale strictum (C.Presl) C.Presl))

The selection of resilient cultivars could help stem the losses in forage production due to a changing climate. Secale strictum is a wild grass with interesting potential as a forage crop. We studied the germination requirements of six wild S. strictum populations, representative of the whole species distribution range in Italy and occurring under different osmotic conditions (0 MPa, −0.8 MPa, −1.0 MPa, −1.2 MPa, −1.4 MPa and −1.6 MPa). Our aim was to find beneficial seed and germination traits for the possible use of this species as a crop. Different accessions of domesticated Secale cereale and ×Triticosecale were used as comparison. Some populations of S. strictum were drought tolerant a…

Conservation status of the Italian flora under the 92/43/EEC ‘Habitats’ Directive

The results of the 4th National Report for the Italian flora under the 92/43/EEC ‘Habitats’ Directive are presented. The outcomes showed a general negative conservation status for plant species, with the worst situation being in the Mediterranean bioregion. At the National level, significant monitoring and conservation activities are required.

Implementation of IUCN criteria for the definition of the Red List of Ecosystems in Italy

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.

The Italian Loci Classici Census

Notulae to the Italian alien vascular flora: 6

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of vascular flora alien to Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, exclusions, and status changes for Italy or for Italian administrative regions of taxa in the generaAcalypha,Acer,Canna,Cardamine,Cedrus,Chlorophytum,Citrus,Cyperus,Epilobium,Eucalyptus,Euphorbia,Gamochaeta,Hesperocyparis,Heteranthera,Lemna,Ligustrum,Lycium,Nassella,Nothoscordum,Oenothera,Osteospermum,Paspalum,Pontederia,Romulea,Rudbeckia,Salvia,Sesbania,Setaria,Sicyos,Styphnolobium,Symphyotrichum, andTradescantia. Nomenclature and distribution updates, published elsewhere, and corrigenda are provided as supplementary material.

Red list of threatened vascular plants in Italy

Italy has a rich natural heritage, which is dangerously under pressure. In recent years, there is an increased awareness of the crucial role of plants in ecosystem functioning and in providing ecosystem services. Consequently, an updated Red List of the Italian vascular flora was compiled in this work, at the request of the Ministry for Environment, Land and Sea Protection, with the scientific support of the Italian Botanical Society. The IUCN Red List criteria were applied to 2,430 Italian native vascular plant taxa to assess their current extinction risk and to highlight the major threats affecting the Italian flora. Our results revealed that 54 taxa (2.2% of the assessed taxa) are extinc…

Conserving plant diversity in Europe: outcomes, criticisms and perspectives of the Habitats Directive application in Italy

Habitat Directive is the core strategy of nature conservation in Europe aiming at halting biodiversity loss. In this study the results of the third Italian assessment regarding the conservation status (CS) of plants listed in the Habitat Directive (Flora of community interest—FCI) was presented. Data was collected from several sources related to plant distribution, population data, habitats and pressures. Following the official European procedure, all parameters were evaluated and combined to give the CS of each taxon in each biogeographical region of presence. A comparison between the recent Italian IUCN and Reporting assessments was performed in order to evaluate the consistency between t…

Is legal protection sufficient to ensure plant conservation? The Italian Red List of policy species as a case study

AbstractThe conservation of species listed in the Bern Convention and European Directive 1992/43/EEC (so-called policy species) is mandatory for European Union (EU) countries. We assessed the conservation status of Italian policy species, based on the IUCN categories and criteria, to evaluate the effectiveness of existing protection measures at the national level. Among the 203 vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens evaluated, 41.9% are categorized as threatened, and one is already extinct, indicating that the protection measures for policy species are inadequate. Our results for the Italian policy species are consistent with those of an assessment at the EU level. Conservation priorities …

Lectotypification of the Linnaean name Dianthus virgineus (Caryophyllaceae) and its taxonomic consequences

A lectotype is designated for the name Dianthus virgineus. The relationships between D. virgineus, D. caryophyllus var. caryophyllus, and D. caryophyllus var. inodorus are analyzed. Dianthus virgineus is the oldest available name that applies to a species complex that is often referred to as D. sylvestris or a broad circumscription of the cultivated ornamental D. caryophyllus. The taxonomic consequences are discussed, and the need for further studies is highlighted.

Supplementary material 1 from: Bartolucci F, Domina G, Ardenghi NMG, Banfi E, Bernardo L, Bonari G, Buccomino G, Calvia G, Carruggio F, Cavallaro V, Chianese G, Conti F, Facioni L, Del Vico E, Di Gristina E, Falcinelli F, Forte L, Gargano D, Mantino F, Martino M, Mei G, Mereu G, Olivieri N, Passalacqua NG, Pazienza G, Peruzzi L, Roma-Marzio F, Scafidi F, Scoppola A, Stinca A, Nepi C (2018) Notulae to the Italian native vascular flora: 5. Italian Botanist 5: 71-81. https://doi.org/10.3897/italianbotanist.5.25892

Supplementary material : Explanation note: 1. Nomenclature updates; 2. Distribution updates; 3. Synonyms, misapplied or included names.

Supplementary material 1 from: Bartolucci F, Domina G, Ardenghi NMG, Bacchetta G, Bernardo L, Buccomino G, Buono S, Caldararo F, Calvia G, Carruggio F, Cavagna A, D'Amico FS, Di Carlo F, Festi F, Forte L, Galasso G, Gargano D, Gottschlich G, Lazzaro L, Magrini S, Maiorca G, Medagli P, Mei G, Mennini F, Mereu G, Miserocchi D, Olivieri N, Passalacqua NG, Pazienza G, Peruzzi L, Prosser F, Rempicci M, Roma-Marzio F, Ruggero A, Sani A, Saulle D, Steffanini C, Stinca A, Terzi M, Tondi G, Trenchi M, Viciani D, Wagensommer RP, Nepi C (2018) Notulae to the Italian native vascular flora: 6. Italian Botanist 6: 45-64. https://doi.org/10.3897/italianbotanist.6.30575

Supplementary data : Explanation note: 1. Nomenclature updates; 2. Distribution updates; 3. Synonyms, misapplied or included names.