Syntaxonomical Remarks on the Garrigues from Apulia (S Italy) and Neighboring Territories.

In this study, the garrigues occurring in Apulia and neighboring territories (southern Italy) were surveyed in order to clarify their syntaxonomical arrangement. Many contributions previously focused on this vegetation type, often adopting different and sometimes contrasting treatments from both the nomenclature and syntaxonomical aspects. Our investigations are supported by the multivariate analysis of a dataset containing 292 phytosociological relevés, whose resulting cluster dendrogram highlights the hierarchical relationships between the examined plant communities.

Best practices, errors, and perspectives of half a century of plant translocation in Italy.

Conservation translocations are becoming common conservation practice, so there is an increasing need to understand the drivers of plant translocation performance through reviews of cases at global and regional levels. The establishment of the Italian Database of Plant Translocation (IDPlanT) provides the opportunity to review the techniques used in 186 plant translocation cases performed in the last 50 years in the heart of the Mediterranean Biodiversity Hotspot. We described techniques and information available in IDPlanT and used these data to identify drivers of translocation outcomes.

Echoes of the past: Agricultural legacies shape the successional dynamics of protected semi-natural dry grasslands.

European semi-natural dry grasslands are among the most endangered terrestrial ecosystems, being recognised as habitats of community interest by the EU Habitats Directive. The occurrence and preservation of these habitats depend on a combination of anthropogenic and natural factors, although little is known regarding the role of past land-use changes. Here, we investigated the role of time since cultivation abandonment as a major driver of grassland successional dynamics in the Mediterranean agro-pastoral system of Alta Murgia, southern Italy.