The habitat monitoring under article 17 of the 92/43/eec Directive in Italy: the contribution of vegetation science

The 4th National Report ex Art. 17 of the 92/43/EEC Directive in Italy (period 2013-2018) will try to fill a number of gaps still affecting the former versions of the Italian Reports, where territorial data were still missing for large parts of the country and the assessment was mostly based on the use of the expert opinion. Similar inconsistencies also emerged in other European countries (State of nature in the EU, EEA 2015). In order to reach this aim, a nationally shared protocol for monitoring the vegetation-based Annex I Habitats is currently under development. The most prominent issues addressed by the ongoing project are: i) fixing standardized, updated and scientifically grounded me…

8130 Ghiaioni del Mediterraneo occidentale e termofili

Preliminary checklist of the Italian gypsophilous flora

The richness and uniqueness of the flora growing on gypsum substrates in Italy is known since the XIX century (Macchiati, 1888). Furthermore, the concept of plant gypsophily can be defined as the exclusiveness (or virtually exclusiveness) for living in gypsum outcropping rocks. Thus only those plant species, which show preference – or even exclusivity - for gypsum substrates, would be classified as gipsophilous (Mota et al., 2011). The main aim of this research has been the elaboration of a checklist of the Italian gypsophilous flora. The study was made possible through international collaboration between the "Mediterranea" University of Reggio Calabria (Italy) and the University of Almería…