Claudia Angiolini

Università degli Studi di Siena | UNISI · Department of Life Sciences

The changes of agriculture led to deep transformations of arable plant diversity. The features of arable plant communities are determined by many anthropic, environmental, and geographic drivers. Understanding the relative importance of such drivers is essential for conservation and restoration purposes. In this work, we assessed the effects of agr...

Vascular plants are good environmental indicators. Thus, floristic inventories have a high potential in environmental management since they reflect the current and past status of the environment. In this study, we used the flora of a suburban riverscape in central Italy to test the performance of the Floristic Quality Assessment (FQA) approach, an...

We propose methods to automatically assess the conservation status of a habitat. Habitat monitoring is usually performed by botanists and other specialists in their field work, searching for the presence or lack of typical plant species (Evans D, Arvela M (2011) Assessment and reporting under Article 17 of the Habitats Directive. Explanatory Notes...

Cross-taxon analyses are important to detect organisms that are surrogates of other components of biodiversity. However, multi-taxonomic surveys can be challenging, expensive and time-consuming. To our knowledge, no studies investigated cross-taxon congruence between vascular plant and soil microbial communities in arable ecosystems. Thus, in this...

Using vegetation as a bioindicator in urban and degraded areas is an effective way to assess the status of the environment. In this work, we present the results of a phytosociological investigation of a suburban river and of its surroundings in southern Tuscany (Bestina river and its tributary Bestinino in Asciano, Province of Siena). By means of 9...

New Italian data on the distribution of Annex I Habitats are reported in this contribution. Specifically, 8 new occurrences in Natura 2000 sites are presented and 27 new cells are added in the EEA 10 km × 10 km reference grid. The new data refer to the Italian administrative regions of Apulia, Campania, Calabria, Lazio, Tuscany, Umbria, Sardinia, a...

A comparative analysis of the riparian vegetation dominated by Alnus glutinosa in Italy and Tyrrhenian islands, based on literature data and unpublished relevés, is presented. A total of 456 phy-tosociological relevés were processed. For the definition of plant communities and alliances, hierarchical clustering was performed by using Bray-Curtis co...

In riparian forests, clear-cutting causes long-lasting changes in both riparian and aquatic biota. In this work, we examined if past clear-cutting events occurred at different times have imprints on riparian forests in a Mediterranean river in central Italy. We carried out a randomized, plot-based vegetation survey of riparian forests in systematic...

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of native vascular flora in Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, and status changes to the Italian administrative regions. Nomenclatural and distribution updates, published elsewhere, and corrigenda are provided as Suppl. material 1.

Etruria Natura XV: 59-66

Wood distillate (WD) is a bio-based product stimulating plant growth and yield, environmentally safe, and allowed in Italy in organic farming. To the best of our knowledge, there are no studies on the effects of WD on spontaneous plants growing among crops, including their functional traits like biomass. To test such effects, we carried out a lab e...

Riverine ecosystems are among the most impacted ecosystems worldwide since they are exposed to multiple stressors. Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) changes is the main human imprint on those ecosystems whose spatiotemporal habitat destructions pose a threat to biodiversity, ecosystem integrity and ecological processes. The most important statutory instru...

In this contribution, Italian new data concerning the distribution of the Annex I Habitats 3150, 3170*, 3260, 4090, 91L0, 91M0, 9340 are reported. In detail, 20 new occurrences in Natura 2000 sites are presented and 30 new cells are added in the EEA 10 km × 10 km reference grid. The new data refer to the Italian administrative regions of Campania,...

Temporal changes in the distribution range of plant communities and habitats should be considered for optimal conservation. However, this information is often lacking. In this research, we investigated the changes in the spatial distribution pattern of the plant communities characterised by the presence of three dominant Mediterranean pines conside...

Riparian areas are defined as environmentally heterogeneous zones of transition between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Native riparian vegetation hosts high levels of biological diversity, contributing unevenly to regional biodiversity. Unfortunately, riparian zones are often colonized by invasive alien species. The invasion process has a cons...

Aim: Understanding the variation in community composition and species abundances (i.e., β-diversity) is at the heart of community ecology. A common approach to examine β-diversity is to evaluate directional variation in community composition by measuring the decay in the similarity among pairs of communities along spatial or environmental distance...

The changes of agriculture led to deep transformations of arable plant diversity, whose conservation is crucial to maintain biodiversity in agroecosystems [1]. The drivers shaping arable plant communities are many and diverse, including anthropic, environmental, and geographic factors [2]. Understanding the relative importance of such drivers is es...

The recognition of the ecological quality of ecosystems and habitats therein is increasingly important in the Anthropocene. However, there are still scarcely explored ways of how and what to assess to obtain a sound ecological status of habitats. Ferns are an understudied plant group, especially given their usefulness as ecological indicators. Dise...

The importance of wetlands for biodiversity conservation is widely recognized. Their relevance is crucial in the identification of habitat types included in the Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC and in the application of the following conservation measures. Yet, several montane and submontane areas are poorly investigated from the phytosociological poin...

This study aims to characterize saline habitats of the Tuscan coast based on the Natura 2000 Habitats Directive 92/43/ECC. These habitats include Atlantic salt meadows (1330), Mediterranean salt meadows (1410) Mediterranean and thermo-Atlantic halophilous scrubs (1420), and Mediterranean salt steppes (1510). We compiled vegetation data from a tota...

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of vascular flora alien to Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, exclusions, and status changes for Italy or for Italian administrative regions. Nomenclatural and distribution updates published elsewhere are provided as Suppl. material 1.

Agricultural management has a great influence on biodiversity and its services in agroecosystems. In Europe, a relevant proportion of biodiversity is dependent on low-input agriculture. To assess the effects of agricultural management on biodiversity, in this study we surveyed the communities of arable plants, diurnal flying insects, and pollinator...

Le zone ripariali contribuiscono fortemente alla biodiversità regionale ospitando specie ed ecosistemi di elevato pregio ecologico (Sabo et al. 2005). Purtroppo, la loro integrità viene spesso alterata dall'impatto antropico eser-citato direttamente sul corso d'acqua o sul paesaggio in cui esso è ubicato. L'invasione da parte di specie aliene è tra...

Sorghum halepense is a synanthropic tall grass distributed worldwide from tropical to temperate zones, and it is often considered an invasive alien. It is a perennial, rhizomatous plant that tends to form dense stands derived from vegetative and sexual propagation. Despite roadside plant communities dominated by Sorghum halepense are very common in...

New Italian data on the distribution of the Annex I Habitats 1510*, 2130*, 2250*, 3180*, 3260, 5230*, 6410, 7140, 7220*, 9320 are reported in this contribution. Specifically, 14 new occurrences in Natura 2000 sites are presented and 20 new cells are added in the EEA 10 km × 10 km reference grid. The new data refer to the Italian administrative regi...

The main purpose of the 92/43/EEC Habitats Directive is to contribute to the conservation of biodiversity, understood as habitat types and species of the flora and fauna of the European Union. To achieve this goal, natural and semi-natural biodiversity as a whole must be recognized and included in its annexes. As for the conservation of biotopes, n...

Arable plants are of great conservation and ecological interest due to their support to biodiversity and provision of ecosystem services. In springs of 2018 and 2019, we surveyed arable plant communities in winter cereal and legume crops of mainland Italy using 149 plots of 1×16 m size (one per field, Fig. 1a), oriented along seed-drill lines and p...

Biodiversity maintenance is a key strategy for sustainable forestry in both above-ground and below-ground biotic communities. However, few studies applied continuous monitoring to analyse the responses of different taxonomic groups to silvicultural treatments. We studied the short-term effects of three silvicultural treatments (no thinning, thinni...

Vengono presentate nuove località e/o conferme relative a 61 taxa specifici e sottospecifici di piante vascolari della flora vascolare toscana, appartenenti a 56 generi e 25 famiglie: Delosperma (Aizoaceae), Ridolfia (Apiaceae), Dracunculus (Araceae), Gamochaeta, Hieracium, Matricaria, Rhagadiolus, Senecio, Tolpis (Asteraceae), Atriplex (Amaranthac...

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of vascular flora alien to Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, exclusions, and status changes for Italy or for Italian administrative regions. Nomenclatural and distribution updates published elsewhere are provided as Suppl. material 1.

The tradition of floristic studies in Italy has made it possible to obtain a good knowledge of plant diversity both on a national and regional scale. However, the lack of knowledge for some areas, advances in plant systematics and human activities related to globalization, highlight the need for further studies aimed at improving floristic knowledg...

Mediterranean pine woodlands are one of the most common wooded vegetation types across the Mediterranean Basin and are included in two habitats of European interest as they have great conservation importance. We studied the woodlands of the class Pinetea halepensis dominated by Pinus halepensis, P. pinaster, and P. pinea in Sardinia (Italy) with th...

IDPlanT is the Italian Database of Plant Translocation, an initiative of the Nature Conservation Working Group of the Italian Botanical Society. IDPlanT currently includes 185 plant translocations. The establishment of a national database on plant translocation is a key step forward in data sharing and techniques improvement in this field of plant...

Sorghum halepense is a synanthropic cosmopolitan tall grass. It is a perennial, rhizomatous plant creating dense vegetatively-and sexually-reproduced communities. It disperses by water, wind, animals, and through impurities in grain and hay [1]. The species usually indicates habitat degradation, biodiversity reduction, physical disturbance, and mod...

Riparian areas host among the most fragile, threatened, and at the same time biologically valuable ecosystems in the world. Alien plant invasions have considerable impacts on riparian vegetation, which is often under severe human pressure. The artificialization of river courses due to human-induced transformations of the surrounding landscape led t...

Free pdf download: https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1dL7b1L~GwQwgR In the European Union (EU), there is an urgent need to define a specific and standardized monitoring strategy for Habitat Directive (HD) forest habitats, like Quercus suber woodlands (EU habitat 9330). Such forests are an important component of western Mediterranean landscapes. In Ita...

Habitat monitoring in Europe is regulated by Article 17 of the Habitats Directive, which suggests the use of typical species to assess habitat conservation status. Yet, the Directive uses the term “typical” species but does not provide a definition, either for its use in reporting or for its use in impact assessments. To address the issue, an onlin...

The assessment of the ecosystem state is fundamental to understand the success of ecological rehabilitation, especially in the long-term. We aim to evaluate the rehabilitation success of a unique Mediterranean dune system site along the Tyrrhenian coast of Italy which underwent a dune consolidation intervention and species planting at the beginning...

Biodiversity maintenance is a key strategy for sustainable forestry in both above-ground and below-ground biotic communities. However, few studies applied continuous monitoring to analyse the responses of different taxonomic groups to silvicultural treatments. We studied the short-term effects of three silvicultural treatments (no thinning, thinnin...

Understanding the variation in community composition and species abundances, i.e., β-diversity, is at the heart of community ecology. A common approach to examine β-diversity is to evaluate directional turnover in community composition by measuring the decay in the similarity among pairs of communities along spatial or environmental distances. We p...

Aim Vegetation types of Mediterranean thermophilous pine forests dominated by Pinus brutia, P. halepensis, P. pinaster, and P. pinea were studied in various areas. However, a comprehensive formal vegetation classification of these forests based on a detailed data analysis has never been developed. Our aim is to provide the first broad‐scale classif...

Wetlands are among the most fragile habitats on Earth and have often undergone major environmental changes. As a study case in this context, the present work aims at increasing the floristic knowledge of a reclaimed land now turned into an agricultural lowland with scarce patches of natural habitats. The study area is named Piana di Rosia, and it i...

New localities and/or confirmations concerning 74 specific and subspecific plant taxa of Tuscan vascular flora, belonging to 69 genera and 28 families are presented: Bunium, Trinia (Apiaceae), Nerium (Apocynaceae), Lemna (Araceae), Artemisia, Bidens, Centaurea, Crupina, Gazania, Hieracium, Rhagadiolus, Symphyotrichum, Tagetes, Tripleurospermum (Ast...

Le aree umide sono tra gli ambienti naturali maggior-mente compromessi dalle pressioni antropiche. Ope-razioni di bonifica, inquinamento delle acque, urbanizzazione e modifiche strutturali ai corsi d'ac-qua portano sovente all'alterazione e/o alla completa scomparsa di interi ecosistemi e della biodiversità che questi supportano (Ramsar Convention...

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...

Coastal dunes are among habitats with the worst conservation status on a global, European and national scale. Monitoring and reporting are of strategic importance to determine the effectiveness of the implementation of Habitats Directive and to preserve the unique biodiversity heritage of the Italian dunes. In this study we show main results of the...

This study provides a first step toward the knowledge of the alien-dominated and co-dominated plant communities present in Italy. The first ever checklist of the alien phytocoenoses described or reported in literature for the Italian territory has been compiled, produced by data-mining in national and local thematic literature. The resulting vegeta...

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of vascular flora alien to Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, exclusions, and status changes for Italy or for Italian administrative regions. Furthermore, three new combinations are proposed. Nomenclatural and distribution updates published elsewhere are provided a...

A robust survey method that samples the main characteristics of plant assemblages is needed to assess the conservation status of European habitat in the Natura 2000 network. A measure of variability, called pseudo-multivariate dissimilarity-based standard error (MultSE), was recently proposed for assessing sample-size adequacy in ecological communi...

Vengono presentate nuove località e/o conferme relative 75 taxa specifici e sottospecifici di piante vascolari della flora vascolare toscana, appartenenti a 67 generi e 41 famiglie: Delosperma (Aizoaceae), Dysphania (Amaranthaceae), Leucojum, Nothoscordum (Amaryllidaceae), Bupleurum, Coriandrum (Apiaceae), Araujia (Apocynaceae), Lemna (Araceae), Hy...

The growing interest in emerging environmental crisis has increased the level of public attention and the willingness to take part in participatory science projects, commonly defined with the term “Citizen Science”. This phenomenon can be recorded globally in many national contexts, with a prevalence in anglophone and more industrialized countries....

During botanical researches, we found an isolated population of Coriaria myrtifolia for the first time in Tuscany (Italy). This study aims to gain insights into the distribution of this species and its associated vegetation. We studied the scrub vegetation dominated by C. myrtifolia at the currently known southernmost limit of its distribution in I...

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of vascular flora alien to Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, exclusions, and status changes for Italy or for Italian administrative regions of taxa in the genera Bunias, Calocedrus, Calycanthus, Celosia, Clerodendrum, Convolvulus, Crassula, Cyclamen, Datura, Dicli...

Habitat conservation has been identified as relevant for the preservation of biodiversity in the European Union (92/43 EEC Habitats Directive, hereafter: HD). According to the Art. 11 and Art. 17 of this Directive (1), each European country is obliged to monitor the Annex I Habitats every six years to periodically evaluate if the conservation targe...

“MONITO-RARE” is a project involving Tuscany Region and Universities of Firenze, Siena and Pisa, aimed to improve the knowledge and develop monitoring methodologies for species and habitats included in Natura 2000 Network and considered of community interest, according to Art. 11 and Art. 17 of the Directive 92/43/EEC. Among the habitat of interest...

Coastal dunes are rich in habitats with a high heterogeneity in species composition. Though widely recognized as very fragile and dynamic ecosystems, they are systematically overexploited. In addition, mismanagement contributes making these habitats highly endangered, especially in the Mediterranean area. In this study, an impoverished dune system...

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of native vascular flora in Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations and status changes to the Italian administrative regions for taxa in the genera Acer , Alchemilla , Andrachne , Bromus , Clinopodium , Colchicum , Damasonium , Erodium , Festuca , Hieracium , Hyparrhenia...