Daniele Viciani

University of Florence | UNIFI · Dipartimento di Biologia

The current issue is the first one of the journal Vegetation Ecology and Diversity, formerly Plant Sociology, the international peer-reviewed journal of the Italian Society of Vegetation Science (SISV). Vegetation Ecology and Diversity (VED) publishes original research articles covering all aspects of vegetation, ranging from plant communities to l...

Wetlands are among the world’s valuable ecosystems for biodiversity conservation, but they are also among the most threatened habitats, heavily impacted by human pressures and threats. The Mediterranean basin features numerous small lakes, ponds, and pools, whose number and quality are decreasing at an alarming rate, and whose biodiversity is often...

Context A long history of human colonisation has profoundly altered Mediterranean coastal dunes, as well as their capacity of providing ecosystem services important for human well-being. The provisioning of these services depends on the integrity of the dune system, which is formed and maintained by coastal plant communities. Analysing the drivers...

Wetlands are among the most valuable ecosystems on the planet for biodiversity conservation, but also among the most threatened habitats in the world, strongly affected by human pressures and threats. The Mediterranean basin features numerous small lakes, ponds and pools, whose number and quality are decreasing at an alarming rate, and whose biodiv...

First contribution to the knowledge of the flora of the Roman Amphitheater of Arezzo (Tuscany, Italy). The first results of the floristic collections underway at the Roman Amphitheater of Arezzo, an urban archaeological area so far unexplored from a botanical point of view, are presented. The floristic analysis highlights an almost equivalent divis...

European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forests can have a high variability in plant species richness and abundance, from monospecific stands to highly species-rich communities. To understand what causes the low plant diversity observed in some beech forests, we analyzed the drivers of plant community completeness in 155 vegetation plots. Data were col...

The first results of a herbariological study on the genus Callitriche L. at the Central Italian Herbarium (Herbarium Centrale Italicum) of the Museum of Natural History of the University of Florence are presented. This genus represents a critical group from a systematic and taxonomic point of view, as the diagnostic characters mainly consist in det...

A long history of human colonisation has profoundly altered Mediterranean coastal dunes, as well as their capacity of providing ecosystem services important for human well-being. The provisioning of these services depends on the integrity of the dune system, which is formed and maintained by coastal plant communities. Analysing the drivers of plant...

Typha shuttleworthii W.D.J.Koch & Sond. in W.D.J.Koch (1844: 786) is a species distributed in Central and Southern Europe, from France to Ukraine (Leonova 1976; Cook 1980) as well as Turkey and Iran (Baytop 1984; Hamdi et al. 2009) but it may have been overlooked due to its resemblance to the better known Typha latifolia Linnaeus (1753: 971), espec...

Plant species inventories are crucial for botanical research and plant conservation, as they provide fundamental data regarding the measurement and distribution of biodiversity. To be effective, floristic lists must be prepared and continuously updated at global and local level. For these reasons, this study was aimed to update and discuss the vasc...

This ancient manuscript of historical importance is here studied, placed from a temporal point of view and transcribed. The collection locations were georeferenced and the geographical survey area precisely identified; the sites are mainly concentrated at the foot of Mt. Rondinaio and in other locations in the Lucca Apennines, but there are also co...

New localities and/or confirmations concerning 96 specific and subspecific plant taxa of Tuscan vascular flora, belonging to 77 genera and 43 families are presented: Mesembryanthemum (Aizoaceae), Alisma, Sagittaria (Alismataceae), Amaranthus, Chenopodium (Amaranthaceae), Allium (Amaryllidaceae), Torilis (Apiaceae), Nerium (Apocynaceae), Asparagus (...

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...

Beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forests are among the habitats with the highest naturalness in Europe. They are often considered as species-poor ecosystems since beech is highly competitive especially for light, but examples of species-rich beech forests are also well-documented. It is unclear if the lack of species in many beech forests is due to natur...

Freshwater ecosystems are crucial for biodiversity conservation. They are among the most threatened habitats in the world. However, the wetlands of southern European mountains still lack fine-scale plant community studies. Here we studied submontane and montane palustrine communities of the Tuscan-Romagna Apennines. Data from 123 vegetation plots d...

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...

Based on the results of previous phytosociological works, one concerning the Tuscan Quercus petraea forests, another one concerning Apennine communities belonging to Mulgedio-Aconitetea, and the changes provided in the 4th edition of the International Code of Phytosociological Nomenclature, four association names are here validated and the lectotyp...

Grasslands represent biodiversity hotspots in temperate Europe and, for this reason, have been extensively studied in the last century. As diversity is the result of a multitude of processes that shape communities, the adoption of a multi-faceted approach (i.e., encompassing taxonomic and functional facets simultaneously) is fundamental to assessin...

New localities and/or confirmations concerning 85 specific and subspecific plant taxa of Tuscan vascular flora, belonging to 68 genera and 36 families are presented: Amaranthus (Amaranthaceae); Allium (Amaryllidaceae); Bifora, Bupleurum (Apiaceae); Arisarum (Araceae); Maianthemum, Ruscus (Asparagaceae); Bidens, Crepis, Galinsoga, Senecio, Taraxacum...

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...

Etruria Natura XV: 59-66

We analysed two different plant communities hosting Ionopsidium savianum (Brassicaceae), a species of EU interest included in the Habitats Directive 92/43/CEE annexes, for which specific studies on the ecology of communities where the species grows are lacking and more in-depth knowledge is needed. We examined two important sites of occurrence of...

Carpobrotus acinaciformis and C. edulis are well-known invasive alien plants native to South Africa, whose detrimental effects on native communities are widely documented in the Mediterranean basin and thus largely managed in coastal ecosystems. Most of the literature on these species focuses on their impacts on habitats of sandy coastal dunes, whi...

Grasslands represent biodiversity hotspots in temperate Europe and, for this reason, have been extensively studied in the last century. Because such diversity is the result of a multitude of processes that shape communities, the adoption of a multifaceted approach (i.e., encompassing taxonomic and functional facets simultaneously) is fundamental to...

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...

Genista radiata is a dwarf/low orophilic shrub having a fundamentally southern European distribution. In Italy, it can be found in different ecological contexts, often giving rise to diversified coenoses. Due to its ecological plasticity, G. radiata communities have been considered sometimes as simple dynamic variants of grasslands aspects, sometim...

Eleocharis mamillata subsp. austriaca belongs to Eleocharis subser. Eleocharis. The presence of this entity in the Italian territory was known for almost all the Alpine administrative regions and for Calabria. According to the Portal to the Flora of Italy, this entity was reported for Piedmont based on erroneous records. Nevertheless, during a wide...

Il lavoro “La vegetazione dell’Emilia-Romagna” rappresenta una sintesi completa delle conoscenze attuali sulle tipologie vegetazionali presenti nell’intero territorio regionale, dalle coste Adriatiche ai crinali appenninici. In questo lavoro, la vegetazione è descritta attraverso la prospettiva dell’approccio fitosociologico di Braun-Blanquet, volt...

Narrow endemic plants constitute a pivotal group for conservation, being often reduced to a small contingent of individuals and frequently threatened. However, effective conservation actions require reliable basic information about distribution range, ecological requirements, and population traits. Nevertheless, such knowledge results are incomplet...

In this study, we carry out a revision of the Italian specimens belonging to Juncus L. subgenus Agathryon Raf. sect. Tenageia Dumort stored in the Herbarium Centrale Italicum of the Museum of Natural History of the University of Florence. By re-examining the 650 specimens present, we find that all the taxa belonging to this section are present in t...

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...

Semi-natural grasslands are characterized by high biodiversity and require multifaceted approaches to monitor their biodiversity. Moreover, grasslands comprise a multitude of microhabitats, making the scale of investigation of fundamental importance. Despite their wide distribution, grasslands are highly threatened and are considered of high conser...

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...

Based on the results of a previous nomenclatural revision of the Italian Quercus cerris forests, 31 syntaxon names are here validated or described as new and 5 lectotypes are designated.

The herb layer plays a significant role in maintaining forest functions, and its community composition is determined by various abiotic factors and biotic interactions. This study attempted to investigate the interspecific plant-plant biotic interactions using a functional traits approach. Specifically , the effects of a dominant species coverage o...

Altitudinal gradients have been widely studied, especially on mountains, in order to investigate diversity patterns occurring among and within communities, on the basis of abiotic and biotic factors. Taking into account taxonomic diversity and functional diversity simultaneously is fundamental to shed light on the drivers that shape communities [3]...

Aims Understanding fine-grain diversity patterns across large spatial extents is fundamental for macroecological research and biodiversity conservation. Using the GrassPlot database, we provide benchmarks of fine-grain richness values of Palaearctic open habitats for vascular plants, bryophytes, lichens and complete vegetation (i.e., the sum of the...

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...

Odoardo Beccari (1843–1920) is considered to be one of the more important Italian naturalists of the nineteenth century, in particular for his pioneering explorations of the Malaysian Archipelago. During this period, he collected many thousands of botanical, zoological and ethno-anthropological specimens which are now conserved in natural history m...

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.

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of native vascular flora in Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, exclusions, and status changes to the Italian administrative regions. A new combination in the genus Pilosella is proposed. Nomenclatural and distribution updates, published elsewhere, and corrigenda ar...

Odoardo Beccari was one of the most important Italian naturalists in the second half of the 19th century, and a pioneer in Southeast Asia wildlife exploration. His Malesian Herbarium, kept in Florence, with more than 16,000 of exsiccata and hundreds of type specimens, represents the main legacy of his travels and scientific activity. While the 100t...

The recent Landscape Plan of Tuscany Region pays particular attention towards the floodplain woods, for their conservation concern, landscape, and historical importance. The floodplain forest vegetation is defined as the natural and semi-natural wood vegetation located close to the rivers and submerged only during exceptional flooding. We gathered...

Several names belonging to the Sesleria sect. Argenteae (Poaceae) were discussed in this paper and, where necessary, typified. Lectotypes were designated for the names Sesleria nitida var. brevidentata, S. nitida var. intermedia, S. nitida var. tenoreana f. macrostachya, and S. nitida var. tenoreana f. visianii. Neotypes were designated for the nam...

Aims We investigated whether individuals of Silene paradoxa L., grown in serpentine and non-serpentine soils, displayed variation in functional traits and adaptive strategies together with a differentiation of the gene pool. We hypothesised that individuals growing in serpentine sites may be exposed to a higher degree of stress, resulting in measur...

We present an updated taxonomic study of Euphorbia sect. Anisophyllum (Euphorbiaceae) for Italy. A comprehensive body of knowledge has been developed thanks to the examination of about 1,250 herbarium specimens from 13 Italian herbaria, field surveys, and an extensive literature analysis. As a result, our revision included 10 species considered as...

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...

We investigated the distribution of the alien species Senecio inaequidens in Tuscany. We verified occurrence and extent of its populations, investigating sites with ecological conditions suitable for it. In particular, we surveyed a large portion of Tuscany’s railways, which proved to be effective dispersion corridors, due to the bio-ecological cha...

The contraction of lowland forests throughout Europe began in remote times and then intensified strongly with land reclamation by agriculture and urbanization during the first half of the last century. We present a map of the Floodplain Woods of Tuscany on a scale of 1:300,000 as a synthesis of that built at the scale of 1:10,000 and the methods us...

In Europe the genus Bolboschoenus has recently undergone many taxonomic revision studies, but in Italy a review of the materials conserved in herbaria, in accordance with the most recent taxonomic literature, was still missing. The aim of this study was therefore to review Bolboschoenus species from Italy, based on herbarium data. The specimens dep...

The present work is aimed at presenting the data, methods and criteria that are being used for the assessment of ecosystem collapse risk in Italy. ARTICLE HISTORY

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...

Aim Ecoinformatics offer new opportunity to test islands as biogeographic and ecological models. In this paper we predicted three hypotheses: (1) plot‐based data issuing from vegetation surveys can be used to predict Island Species‐Area Relationships (ISARs) or island similarity; (2) the habitat area is an independent predictor of species richness...