Carmen Giancola

• PhD "Enviroment and Territory"
• PostDoc Position at University of Molise

The macro-site includes the following research sites along the Apennine mountain range: LTER_EU_IT_022 – Central and Southern Apennine: Majella-Matese LTER_EU_IT_025 – Central Apennine: Velino-Duchessa LTER_EU_IT_024 – Central Apennine: Gran Sasso LTER_EU_IT_023 – Northern Apennine It consists of “orographic islands” with high elevation vegetation...

We announce the formation of the "GLORIA ITALIA NETWORK" and present an overview of the Italian alpine plant communities changes that have occurred in the last 20 years. This network will provide coordination between Italian GLORIA sites and enhance public awareness of changes in alpine plant diversity under climate change.

In recent decades, the conservation of biodiversity has become one of the main areas under consideration in managing forests in an ecologically sustainable way. Forest management practices are primary drivers of diversity and may enhance or decrease forest biodiversity, according to the measures applied (thinning options). We have focused on three...

The conservation of semi-natural habitats represents a primary challenge for European nature conservation due to their great species diversity and their vulnerability to ongoing massive land-use changes. As these changes rapidly transform and phase out semi-natural habitats, conservation measures should be prompt and specifically focused on a sound...

The importance of taking into account ecosystems, plant communities and habitats for the development of biodiversity conservation strategies is increasingly acknowledged. Recently, the first ever European Red List of Habitats was produced, which provided an evaluation of the extinction risk of EUNIS-based natural and semi-natural habitats in Europe...

In recent years, depopulation and abandonment of traditional practices in the mountainous areas have affected the land use and land cover inducing the modification of the landscape mosaic. These processes have consequently facilitated the forest expansion, sometimes altering the floristic composition of the original vegetation in forests and other...

Organized transhumant pastoralism has contributed to shaping the cultural landscape of many countries. It has affected areas designated for grazing, temporary and permanent shelters, and towns. Through the analysis of historical maps and recent information, in a temporal range from 1652 to 2014, this study focused on changes in land cover and conse...

The European Red List of Habitats provides an overview of the risk of collapse (degree of endangerment) of marine, terrestrial and freshwater habitats in the European Union (EU28) and adjacent regions (EU28+), based on a consistent set of criteria and categories and detailed data and expertise from involved countries (http://ec.europa.eu/environmen...

Several international initiatives have been recently established to promote sustainable development in European mountain areas. Contextually, different research initiatives and project centers have been developed to offer scientific support and share experience and knowledge. With the main purpose to fill the existing knowledge gaps in ancient huma...

The evaluation and the subsequent monitoring of the conservation status of habitats is one of the key steps in nature protection. While some European countries have tested suitable methodologies, others, including Italy, lack procedures tested at the national level. The aim of this work is to propose a method to assess the conservation status of ha...

Along with several other European countries, Italy is contributing to the development of a European Red List of Habitats, on behalf of the EC - DG Environment (Rodwell et al., 2013, Contract N. 070307/2012/624047/SER/B3). The habitat types taken into account are resulting from a critical review of the types listed in the EUNIS classification, large...

During the last 50 years, the Italian landscape has been subjected by different land use and land cover changes (LULCC). The IUTI inventory (Inventario dell’Uso delle Terre d’Italia) is proved to be a cheaper, fast and statistically accurate method for LULCC monitoring. The aim of this study is to summarize the LULCC trends at national level, in It...

Towards a Red List of European Habitats: first results for Italy

The new alliance Cerastio tomentosi-Globularion meridionalis and the new association Helianthemo alpestris-Globularietum meridionalis are here proposed as a contribute to the prodrome of Italian vegetation. The new syntaxa are related to the chamaephytic high-mountain vegetation and they are characterized by a wide presence of endemics, southern Eu...

As many other European countries, Italy is contributing to the forthcoming Red List of European habitats, based on a DG Environment feasibility study (Rodwell et al. 2013). The adopted habitat classification is an implemented version of EUNlS including a phytosociological reference to the European Vegetation Checklist (Mucina et al. in progress). T...

Forest ecosystems provide fundamental benefits to people. Over the last centuries, the interactions between human and natural systems shaped Mediterranean forest landscapes. More recently, abandonment phenomena and environmental changes (land use changes and climate) strongly reduced the biodiversity and determined a partial erosion of ecosystem se...

We propose a procedure to detect significant changes in forest spatial patterns and relevant scales. Our approach consists of four sequential steps. First, based on a series of multi-temporal forest maps, a set of geographic windows of increasing extents are extracted. Second, for each extent and date, specific stochastic simulations that replicate...

Mongiana Obiettivo generale Lo scopo principale del progetto Life ManFor CB.D "Managing forests for multiple purposes: carbon, biodiversity and socio-economic wellbeing" (LIFE09 ENV/IT/000078 – www.manfor.eu) è quello di testare e verificare l'efficacia di diverse opzioni di gestione forestale multifunzionale (produzione, protezione, biodiversità,...

One of the main goals of the protection and management of Natura 2000 habitat types is the assessment of their conservation status. While some countries have already tested procedures to assess conservation status, many others, including Italy, still lack standard measures at the national level. The aim of our study was to address this lack of a na...

Finally, in order to quantify species diversity, a floristic list is draw up all over the area of 3 ha related to each forest management option. Particularly, Braun-Blanquet relevés provide data about vegetation structure and how species occurrence may be related to site conditions. In each forest selected site, a phytosociological relevé is carrie...

The research involved the application of CORINE Land Cover categories in order to analyse changes in land cover and in the socio-economic system over the last 50 years in Molise (Southern Italy). The boundaries of the study area corresponded to those of six local councils: Guglionesi, Montecilfone, Montenero di Bisaccia, Petacciato, San Giacomo deg...

The flora of San Pietro Avellana municipality (Alto Molise) - A first contribution to the flora of a little township in Alto Molise, characterized by the presence of “old growth forest”, is offered. In the present survey 557 taxa have been recorded; they belong to 292 genus and 75 families. The most represented family is Asteraceae (Compositae) wit...

Habitats Directive in highmountain areas of Molise - The main aims of Habitat Directive (92/43/EEC) are oriented to the conservation and the protection of the natural and seminatural enviroments. The application of management and planning instruments included in Habitat Directive ensure the conservation of these habitats, but to strenght these purp...

The main aims of Habitat Directive (92/43/EEC) are oriented to the conservation and the protection of the natural and seminatural enviroments. The application of management and planning instruments included in Habitat Directive ensure the conservation of these habitats, but to strenght these purposes, wide and deep knowledge about a site is necessa...

The transhumance system in the middle-south of Appenines has shaped over the centuries one of the most important historical and cultural landscape in Italy. Abandonment of traditional practices linked to seasonal movements of livestock threatened the conservation of the ancient landscape patterns. In particular, the web of drove roads of transhuman...

This paper is a contribution to the knowledge of high altitude rock-face vegetation of Molise region; the plant communities have been investigated according to the Braun-Blanquet phytosociological approach. The study area includes the limestone mountainous chain Le Mainarde, which is part of the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park, and the Moun...