Circummed pine forest database: An electronic archive for mediterranean and submediterranean pine forest vegetation data

Large thematic databases of vegetation plots are increasingly needed for vegetation studies and biodiversity research. In this paper, we present the CircumMed Pine Forest Database (GIVD ID: EU-00-026), which in November 2018, comprised records from 6317 pine-dominated vegetation plots (relevés) and associated vegetation types from 20 countries of the Mediterranean Basin, Near East and Crimea. These vegetation plots were collected through a detailed literature search for plots not previously included in the European Vegetation Archive (EVA), in order to fill geographic gaps in data coverage. The database comprises Mediterranean (including Oromediterranean) pine-forest vegetation plots from b…

VegItaly: The Italian collaborative project for a national vegetation database

Abstract Two years after its official start, the national vegetation database VegItaly, a collaborative project supported by the Italian scientific community and developed by a large group of scientists, is presented. This article offers a concise overview of the content of the database, currently consisting of 31,100 vegetation plot, including published and unpublished data. Some basic statistics are analysed; for example, data distribution in space and time, represented vegetation types expressed as physiognomic categories. Although rather young and still in progress, VegItaly already contains data from all the Italian regions and stands as an optimal candidate for the development of an I…

New insight on Mediterranean and sub-Mediterranean syntaxa included in the Vegetation Prodrome of Italy

First overview on the 4th Annex I Habitats Report in Italy: methods, criticality, results and future prospects

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Variations in seed germination behavior ofPhleum hirsutumsubsp.ambiguumand possible applications in semi-natural grassland restoration

Phleum hirsutum Honck. subsp. ambiguum (Ten.) Tzvelev is an important component of the vegetation of some semi-natural grassland habitats of central and southern Italy and especially of those referring to the 6210* habitat (Directive 92/43/EEC). Seeds of this species are required for the execution of restoration works concerning this habitat. Therefore, the recovery and the study of autochthonous germplasm are needed. This study focused on the intra-specific variations in seed mass and size and in seed germination behavior in this species since the knowledge of these aspects can be very useful in the planning of restoration projects. The present research evidenced significant differences in…

An overview of the Italian forest biodiversity and its conservation level, based on the first outcomes of the 4th Habitat Report ex-Art. 17

In 2019 the 4th Report ex-Art. 17 on the conservation status (CS) of Annex I Habitats of the 92/43/EEC Directive was expected by every EU/28 country, with reference to the period 2013-18. In Italy, the process was in charge to the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), on behalf of the Ministry for Environment, Land and Sea Protection (MATTM), with the scientific support of the Italian Botanical Society (SBI). A large group of thematic and territorial experts elaborated the available data concerning the 124 types of terrestrial and inland water Habitats present in Italy, 39 of which are represented by Forest Habitats (Group 9),. The main aim of the work was the…