Floristic-Vegetational Features of , an Alpine-Apennine Species at Its Limit of Distribution in the Apennines.

We present a floristic-vegetational study on a plant community dominated by in the Sibillini Mountains (Central Apennines), at the southern limit of its distribution in the Apennines. It is a rare pioneer community located at an elevation of about 2100 m a.s.

Challenges and Opportunities behind the Use of in Paleogenomics Studies.

Paleogenomics focuses on the recovery, manipulation, and analysis of ancient DNA (aDNA) from historical or long-dead organisms to reconstruct and analyze their genomes. The aDNA is commonly obtained from remains found in paleontological and archaeological sites, conserved in museums, and in other archival collections. collections represent a great source of phenotypic and genotypic information, and their exploitation has allowed for inference and clarification of previously unsolved taxonomic and systematic relationships.

Clonality drives structural patterns and shapes the community assemblage of the Mediterranean subalpine belt.

Past anthropogenic disturbances lowered the altitudinal distribution of the Mediterranean forests below 2,000 m a.s.l.

Forests Determine a Shift in Herbaceous Layer Richness: A Paired Comparison with Hardwood Native Forests in Sub-Mediterranean Europe.

is an invasive alien species (IAS) present throughout Europe and included in the list of alien species of Union concern. In sub-Mediterranean areas of central Italy, there is a lack of knowledge about this invasive species and its interactions with the native forest ecosystems. We aim to find what are the main differences in vegetation structure and floristic diversity between forests and native forests through the assessment of the principal ecological parameters that differ between the forest types.

Impact of invasive alien plants on native plant communities and Natura 2000 habitats: State of the art, gap analysis and perspectives in Italy.

Invasive alien plants are a major threat to biodiversity and they contribute to the unfavourable conservation status of habitats of interest to the European Community. In order to favour implementation of European Union Regulation no. 1143/2014 on invasive alien species, the Italian Society of Vegetation Science carried out a large survey led by a task force of 49 contributors with expertise in vegetation across all the Italian administrative regions.

One ring to rule them all: an ecosystem engineer fungus fosters plant and microbial diversity in a Mediterranean grassland.

Species coexistence in grasslands is regulated by several environmental factors and interactions with the soil microbial community. Here, the development of the Basidiomycetes fungus Agaricus arvensis, forming fairy rings, in a species-rich Mediterranean grassland, is described. Effects of the mycelial front on plants, fungi and bacteria were assessed by vegetation survey and next generation sequencing approaches.