The ancient irrigation system of the Palermo Plain (Sicily, Italy) as a substitute ecosystem: preliminary investigations on its aquatic flora

Many cities around the world are expanding, including in their perimeters green and blues spaces that could be crucial for the maintaining of biodiversity. Urban waterbodies are generally created to provide other services, but correctly managed they can provide also relevant ecosystem services. The Palermo Plain was characterized, in the past centuries, by several wetlands that were progressively destroyed (or “reclaimed”). The ancient irrigation system, probably set during the Arab domination (IX-XI century A.D.), became a substitute ecosystem able to host a significant biodiversity. Our research focused on the remains of this system, scattered in the relictual green areas of the Plain, an…