1,721,210 research outputs found
Ellenberg’s Indicator values for the Flora of Italy – first update: Pteridophyta, Gymnospermae and Monocotyledoneae
Full text linkEllenberg’s indicator values are an useful tool to delineate the relationship between plants and
environment, recognising to each species a functional role as biological indicator. In the frame
of the second edition of the Pignatti’s “Flora d’Italia”, some new informative systems are under
preparations, in order to support geobotanical/applied studies, including a complete and updated
review of the Ellenberg’s indicator values for the whole bulk of species mentioned in the
flora of Italy. This first contribution includes a list of 380 species of Pteridophyta,
Gymnospermae and Monocotiledoneae that complete the first assignment of the Ellenberg’s
indicator values to the flora of Italy, published in 2005. Besides, some methodological considerations
on the attribution and the use of Ellenberg’s indicator values are reported
Diversitas and Biodiversity: the roots of a 21st century myth
No full textThe first on conceptualization of what we now term “biodiversity” was given by Federico Cesi about 400 yrs ago. By the light of the first formulation of this concept, the historical changes in the human approach to “biodiversity” are discussed. The popularity of this term shifted from scientific to socio-political contexts and its significance became progressively blurred by eco-social implications. Biodiversity, today, is perceived by most as an ideal container of the remains of a vanishing traditional landscape, where man and nature lived together harmoniously. This is in contrast with the man’s desire for self-assertion, which has accompanied the civilisation process from its origins up to the birth of the ecology movements. While the present need to promote research on biodiversity arises from the desire to help organisms and ecosystems threatened by man, Federico Cesi and the first Linceans were inspired by the desire to “acquire knowledge and wisdom” in order to improve man’s condition. Between the Cesian view of diversitas and the modern perception of biodiversity, there is the same gap that marked the transition from a “traditional” world, longed for by modern man as an Edenic state, to a “modern” world, probably dreamt by the first Linceans as the point of arrival of a strongly innovative scientific ascent, which was taking its first steps during their time. The strong connecting element between diversitas and biodiversity is represented by a common epistemological approach, i.e. to delineate an exhaustive and shareable bulk of knowledge on living organisms, according to how they appear in the light of a collection of empirical data
SGUARDO SULLA VEGETAZIONE DEL LAZIO MARITTIMO, IN RICERCHE ECOLOGICHE,FLORISTICHE E FAUNISTICHE SULLA COSTIERA MEDIOTIRRENICA ITALIANA,II
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Ecological responses of plant species and communities to climate warming: upward shift or range filling processes?
No full textThe fate of alpine species in response to climate warming is still unclear. We analyze effects of climate warming on the composition of alpine plants communities and unravel the range filling of communities within a belt from long-term true upward shift processes. In the European Alps we re-sampled in 2003 the vegetation at sites studied in 1953 and analyzed the changes at intra- and inter-community level. Since 1953 all communities experienced a high species turnover, leading to an overall increase in species richness as new species exceeded species losses. The dominant species mainly declined allowing the potential expansion of competitors and/or of new species. The main recruitment sources are neighbor communities within the same elevation belt performing biotic exchanges with other plant communities in the same altitudinal belts. The changes of species distribution curves with elevation emphasized that more than half of the most widespread persisting species exhibited downward shifts instead of upward shifts. Upward shifts from lower elevation belts and of nonnative species were very limited. One third of the persisting species declined and could be used as a proxy to measure the extinction debt. Therefore the fate of plant communities will depend on the ability of the original species to persist and fill the available ecological gaps. Species persistence may be crucial in developing adaptation and environmental protection strategies
Relations entre la structure et la composition de la végétation ligneuse et le climat
No full textRelations entre la structure et la composition de la végétation ligneuse et le clima
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