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Quercus cerris forests in Italy

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.

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.

Il volume, risultato di una collaborazione tra Dipartimento Difesa della Natura dell’ISPRA e Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Università di Roma Tre, presenta una sintesi delle conoscenze sugli habitat dunali italiani e sulle specie vegetali tipiche di questi ambienti. L’obiettivo è di fornire uno strumento utile per la conoscenza, la gestione e la tutela di questi ecosistemi, fortemente minacciati a livello nazionale ed europeo. Lo studio riassume i caratteri ecologici e geomorfologici delle dune costiere (cap.1) e descrive in forma di schede gli habitat dunali italiani di interesse comunitario (Direttiva 92/43/CEE) (cap.2) e le principali specie vegetali psammofile (cap.3). Le schede riportano informazioni relative a: nomenclatura, classificazione, ecologia, distribuzione, corologia, minacce, stato di conservazione e trend, il tutto corredato da immagini ed iconografia originali. Infine il volume tocca anche il tema del monitoraggio, delle pressioni e delle azioni di conservazione (cap. 4). This volume is the outcome of a collaboration between the ISPRA Nature Protection Department and the Science Department of the Roma 3 University. The volume provides a synthesis of current knowledge on the Italian sand dune habitats and of the plant species typical of these environments, with the aim of providing a useful tool for the protection and management of these highly threatened ecosystems at a national and European scale. The study summarizes the ecological and geomorphological features of coastal dunes (chapter 1) and describes in the form of descriptive sheets both the Italian dune habitats of community interest (Directive 92/43/CEE) (chapter 2) and the main psammophilous plant species (chapter 3). The habitat/species sheets report: nomenclature, classification, ecology, distribution, chorology, specific pressures, conservation status and trends, with photographs and original iconography. Lastly habitat and species monitoring are considered including also major threats and conservation actions (chapter 4).

This study describes the vegetation zonation of the coastal sandy landscapes of the Lazio region (Central Italy) and analyses the effects of disturbance (in the main human, but also natural) on this vegetation. A comparison is made between real and potential coastal vegetation using a hierarchical landscape classification approach, which identifies land units on the basis of a combination of climatic, lithological, geomorphological and hydrogeological factors, integrated with phytosociological data. Information about the coastal phytocoenoses was obtained both from previous studies and from original phytosociological data (241 releves). Observation of real vegetation showed that coastal zonation is relatively well-preserved at only a few sites along the Lazio coast. At these sites real vegetation distribution is very similar to the potential zonation. However, widespread disturbance means that real vegetation is drastically different from the hypothetical phyto-topo sequence along most of the coast. Where disturbance has been particularly intense or prolonged in time, coenoses have often completely disappeared. Where disturbance is severe, but slightly less so, coenoses tend to have became fragmented or substituted by replacement communities.