1,720,996 research outputs found
The contribution of plant sociology to the ecosystem service approach in urban and peri-urban areas: Evidences from a Mediterranean metropolis case study (Rome, Italy)
No full textIn this paper, we promote the use of vegetation and land cover data as biodiversity indicators of pressure, state and impact for ecosystem goods and services in urban and periurban landscapes. In the case study of the Municipality of Rome, a Mediterranean metropolis with a long history of care for biodiversity conservation and sustainable development, recent landscape researches have been addressed towards typification of plant communities, modelling of vegetation series, ecological land classification, design of land ecological network and analysis of land cover change. The results of these investigations have been employed for the identification and ecological evaluation of some locally relevant ecosystem services - such as habitat provision, conservation of species diversity, urban climate regulation, and educational values - and provide experimental evidence of the bioindication potential of plant communities and vegetation series
Phytosociological analysis of white oak (Quercus pubescens s.l.) woodlands and related successional stages. Spatial patterns and their drivers
No full textThe woodlands dominated by white oak (Q. pubescens s.l.) in south and south-eastern Europe are a habitat of high conservation concern that is undergoing intense fragmentation as a result of human settlements and agriculture. Owing to this high degree of fragmentation and the taxonomic complexity of the subgenus Quercus, an in-depth analysis of white oak woodland communities is still lacking. The aims of this study were i) to identify and describe the spatial patterns of white oak woodlands and related successional stages in central Italy, and ii) to explore the drivers of compositional variation within these plant communities. We collected in central Italy 337 original phytosociological relevés of Quercus virgiliana and Q. pubescens s. str. woodlands and of the communities representing their successional stages. Samples were distributed within ecologically homogeneous areas (i.e. land units), which were specifically defined and mapped for this study on the basis of climate, lithology and land morphology. Vegetation data were analysed through cluster and constrained ordination analyses using a set of natural and anthropogenic explanatory variables. We identified five land units (consisting of numerous polygons), characterized by a specific set of abiotic constraints, and with a specific series of successional stages resulting in 8 vegetation classes, 9 orders, 10 alliances and 17 community types. The diverse
types of white oak woodland and of the related stages are differentiated mainly along a steep climatic gradient derived from the combined effect of altitude and continentality. Indeed, the most striking compositional differences were observed between the Mediterranean and Submediterranean communities of the subcoastal area, and the communities in the temperate inner Apennines
Submediterranean dry grasslands along the Tyrrhenian sector of central Italy: Synecology, syndynamics and syntaxonomy
No full textSemi-natural dry grasslands are habitats of high conservation concern. These ecosystems have not been extensively explored in the Tyrrhenian sector of the Italian peninsula, particularly in the Submediterranean climatic region. In order to address this issue and to define the synecology, syndynamics and syntaxonomy of calcareous grasslands in this area, we considered 127 phytosociological relevés. Our sampling was performed in the Lazio region according to a stratified sampling scheme based on homogeneous land units, defined by means of an ecological land classification process. We analyzed the vegetation data using multivariate methods. Two new associations, whose typical aspects occur in the mesotemperate phytoclimatic belt, were identified:Erysimo pseudorhaetici-Dasypyretum villosi (Taenianthero-Aegilopion) and Scorpiuro muricati-Brometum erecti (Phleo-Bromion). Phytoclimatic belts within the Submediterranean region cause a significant degree of differentiation within Scorpiuro-Brometum, which was described at the subassociation and variant levels. The overall relevance of therophytes represents the most important feature distinguishing Scorpiuro-Brometum from the published Bromus erectus associations. At a finer scale, the presence of the two physiognomically different grassland communities is related to different soil types. All these communities are dynamically linked to Quercus virgiliana and Q. pubescens woods, and contribute to the coenological differentiation of the vegetation series related to such woodlands. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC
Influenza dei fattori geografici ed ecologici sulla variazione in beta-diversità delle praterie aride: indagine a differenti scale spaziali (Influence of geographic and ecological factors on dry grasslands beta-diversity variation: a study at multiple spatial scales).
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Exploring biodiversity in a metropolitan area in the Mediterranean region: The urban and suburban flora of Rome (Italy)
No full textThis work provides an overview of plant diversity in the municipality of Rome (Italy) through an assessment of the flora in urban and suburban sectors of the city. It is aimed at providing the knowledge required to support proactive action for plant conservation. On the basis of a literature-derived catalogue and of an extensive survey campaign, the flora was investigated in terms of conservation interest; habitat types and locations that require protection measures were identified according to the occurrence of valuable native plants. Valuable species exclusive of the urban sector are threatened by the compaction trend affecting the urban fabric. Such species occur mainly in ruderal environments and fallows of archaeological sites and urban parks, near river courses and in remnants of natural forests. Valuable species exclusive of the suburban sector are threatened by urban sprawl. They occur prevalently in wet environments of the subcoastal strip and in coastal sands, Mediterranean maquis, tuffaceous gorges, sulphur springs and archaeological sites. The results highlight the need to preserve the complexity of the land mosaic, especially within the urban matrix, and to strengthen the existing environmental protection tools in the suburban area against foreseeable land cover changes
Ecological characterization of central Italy dry pastures belonging to habitats 6210(*) and 6220*
No full textIn our study we considered 215 phytosociological relevés, sampled in the Tyrrhenian sector of Central Italy (Latium), of pastures dominated by Bromus erectus or by annual species that are maintained by grazing traditional practices. Our aim is to evaluate the contribution of geographical and environmental factors in determining the floristic variation of the considered grasslands, in order to characterize
the habitats of the studied communities
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