Gianmarco Tavilla

The genus Oenothera is extensively naturalized across Europe, owing to its high reproductive capacity, adaptability, and efficient seed dispersal mechanisms. This study reports the first documented occurrence of Oenothera rosea in the Maltese Islands, as well as the first record of the genus Oenothera in the territory. This finding represents a sig...

This paper presents a nomenclatural revision and validation of some Greek syntaxa. These syntaxa occur on the summits of the highest mountains in mainland Greece, as well as on several Ionian (Lefkas, Cephalonia) and Aegean islands (Euboea, Samos, Lesvos, Chios, and Thassos). This revision was performed in accordance with the articles of the 4th ed...

The Linnaean names have undergone significant changes over time, mainly in taxonomically complex aggregates where hybridisation or genetic introgression are frequent. A notable example is the name Centaurea phrygia, which Linnaeus applied in 1753 in a broad sense, including several taxa that are now recognised as distinct at the specific or subspec...

The Mediterranean Basin is known as a global biodiversity hotspot, featuring an impressive variety of plant species, with the Maltese Archipelago playing a significant role. This study assesses plant diversity within Malta’s rocky cliffs, focusing on changes over five decades (1973 and 2024). Using Hill numbers alongside coverage-based and size-bas...

The typification of the Linnaean name Allium fistulosum (Amaryllidaceae) is revised by superseding the previous proposal (neotype). Due to the existing original material (Dodoens’ illustration), the neotypification is not correct according to Art. 9.13 of the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (Shenzhen Code). In additi...

The typification of Salvia kurdica Boiss. & Hohen. ex Benth. and Salvia macrochlamys Boiss. & Kotschy ex Boiss. is discussed. Herbarium research was carried out at A, B, G, GH, GOET, HAL, JE, K, M, MEL, MO, P, S, and U. These two names were inadvertently lectotypified, and therefore, require second-step lectotypification. The designated lectotypes...

Although dune systems play a crucial ecological role and offer various ecosystem services, they are listed among the habitat types of community interest in the European Union that are undergoing the most severe conservation challenges. The subject of this study was the monitoring of habitat types protected under Directive 92/43/EEC (Habitats Direct...

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of native vascular flora in Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, and exclusions to the Italian administrative regions for taxa in the genera Alchemilla, Carex, Chenopodium, Cistus, Convolvulus, Erysimum, Euphorbia, Festuca, Klasea, Lotus, Orobanche, Poa, Stellaria, T...

This paper presents the results of a phytosociological study on the Afroalpine vegetation of the Ruwenzori Mountains, one of the most prominent mountain ranges in Africa. This study marks the pioneering comprehensive investigation into the plant communities of this region, which holds significant phytogeographic importance. Through statistical anal...

Rocky habitats are suitable refuges for numerous rare and endemic plants. Due to their inaccessibility and the unreliability of traditional survey methods, assessing the survival status of these plants is quite a hard task. In order to address this sampling issue, we employed the drones and carried several field activities to investigate the vascul...

The typification of the name Centaurea crassifolia Bertol. is discussed. The specimens of C. crassifolia collected by Bertoloni were lost during the Second World War and have never been found. Therefore, according to the article of ICN a neotype for this species is designated using a specimen kept in CAT herbarium.

A new species, Cyclamen brulloi, is described and illustrated from Sicily (Italy). This is an Autumn flowering species belonging to Cyclamen subg. Cyclamen and it is currently restricted to some localities of western Sicily, where it grows on carbonatic rocks and in rocky crevices. This taxon shows close relationships both with C. hederifolium and...

New Italian data on the distribution of the Annex I Habitats are reported in this contribution. Specifically, 9 new occurrences in Natura 2000 sites are presented and 34 new cells are added in the EEA 10 km × 10 km reference grid. The new data refer to the Italian administrative regions of Abruzzo, Apulia, Calabria, Latium, Lombardy, Marche, Sardin...

Given the high number of non-native plants that are being introduced worldwide and the time required to process formal pest risk analyses, a framework for the prioritization of management actions is urgently required. We therefore propose a framework for a replicable and standardized prioritization for management actions (eradication, control and m...

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, present a cost-effective solution for the swift collection of data from vast and remote areas that are otherwise difficult to access. The Mediterranean Basin, known for being a hotspot for plant biodiversity, hosts several habitats and taxa of significant naturalistic value. However, many o...

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, present a cost-effective solution for the swift collection of data from vast and remote areas that are otherwise difficult to access. The Mediterranean Basin, known for being a hot spot for plant biodiversity, hosts several habitats and taxa of significant naturalistic value. However, many...

The name Artemisia kabylica Chabert (Asteraceae) is lectotypified here. The lectotype of A. kabylica is stored in FI, and isolectotypes are deposited in FI, MPU, and P.

Despite the wide amount of scientific contributions published on alien plant species, their diffusion dynamics, and their interactions with native taxa, it is increasingly difficult to slow down their spreading and their negative impact on habitats. Last recent years, in fact, a sharp rise in the number of new alien plant taxa introduced in Italy a...

A single paragraph of about 200 words maximum. For research articles, abstracts should give a pertinent overview of the work. We strongly encourage authors to use the following style of structured abstracts, but without headings: (1) Background: Place the question addressed in a broad context and highlight the purpose of the study; (2) Methods: bri...

New Italian data on the distribution of 17 Annex I Habitats are reported in this contribution. Specifically, 11 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 Apulia, Campania, Calabria, Lazio, Sardinia, Sicily and Tus...

In this contribution, the conservation status assessment of three vascular plants according to IUCN categories and criteria are presented. It includes the assessment of Aubrieta columnae subsp. sicula, Calligonum zakirovii and Santolina decumbens subsp. tisoniana at global level.

This dataset represents the geographic distribution of wild orchids in the Maltese Islands, as recorded by the Wild For Orchids Citizen Science Initiative between January 2020 and December 2023. It includes data obtained through citizen science contributions and has undergone rigorous two-stage quality control for species identification and GPS acc...

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

Saxifraga callosa sensu amplo is a western Mediterranean orophilous taxon that is highly variable in morphology and whose populations tend toward isolation and diversification. according to the most followed treatment, it includes S. callosa subsp. callosa in SE France and Italy and subsp. catalaunica in Spain, often regarded as a distinct species....

The name Anthemis aetnensis Spreng. is lectotypified with a specimen from the personal collec tion of Sprengel kept in the Paris Herbarium (P), and its duplicates (isolectotypes) are traced at G and K.

During a fieldwork in Malta in 2023, we discovered two species of plant previously unknown to the Maltese flora, Lythrum tribracteatum Salzm. ex Spreng. and Poa maroccana Nannf. Specific information on their morphology and ecology is provided.

Pantelleria is a volcanic island located in the Sicily Channel (Italy), between Sicily and Tunisia. The island, designated a National Park in 2016, hosts an interesting vascular flora of over 600 species including 9 narrow endemics. The island's incredible biodiversity is, however, at risk due to anthropogenic influences, climate change, and, recen...

Climate change poses a fundamental threat to the wetlands. The Mediterranean basin is a biodiversity hotspot, and wetlands are important for maintaining this status. The current study evaluated the halophilous vegetation diversity of one of the most relevant Maltese wetlands, Il-Ballut ta’ Marsaxlokk Natura 2000 site, also identified under the Wate...

New Italian data on the distribution of the Annex I Habitats are reported in this contribution. Specifically, 8 new occurrences in Natura 2000 sites are presented and 49 new cells are added in the EEA 10 km × 10 km reference grid. The new data refer to the Italian administrative regions of Campania, Calabria, Marche, Piedmont, Sardinia, Sicily, Tus...

In this paper, based on fieldwork and herbaria surveys, new data concerning the presence of 32 native and alien vascular species for Sicily (Italy) are provided. Among the native species, the occurrence of the following taxa is reported for the first time or confirmed after many decades of non-observation: Aira multiculmis, Arum maculatum, Carex fl...

This study aims to clarify the taxonomic doubts, which have varied over the centuries, on the only two endemic species of the genus Pimpinella growing in Italy: P. anisoides and P. gussonei. For this purpose, the main carpological characters of the two species were examined, analyzing the external morphological traits and their cross-sections. Four...

Based on herbarium and field investigations, the taxonomic status of Solenopsis laurentia (Campanulaceae), hygrophilous species belonging to the subfam. Lobelioideae showing a Mediterranean distribution is here examined. According to literature, it can be considered as a species complex, within which several taxa at specific and infraspecific rank...

Human activities and climate change are the main factors causing habitat loss, jeopardising the survival of many species, especially those with limited range, such as endemic species. Recently, species distribution models (SDMs) have been used in conservation biology to assess their extinction risk, environmental dynamics, and potential distributio...

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...

The conservation actions of endangered plant species require a clear knowledge of their habitats. Urtica rupestris Guss. (Urticaceae) is a rare endemic plant species occurring on shady cliffs in the southern-eastern part of Sicily. In the last century, the extreme anthropogenic alterations of Hyblaean plateau have caused the continuous and unrestra...

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 phytosociological relevés were processed. For the definition of plant communities and alliances, hierarchical clustering was performed by using Bray-Curtis coe...

A new species of Solenopsis (Campanulaceae), S. bacchettae from Sardinia (Italy) is described and illustrated. Previously, it was misidentified as S. bivonae, due to its habit and corolla shape, but several relevant morphological features allow to distinguish it from the latter. Its morphology, seed coat and pollen micromorphology, ecology, distrib...

In this contribution, the conservation status assessment of three vascular plants according to IUCN categories and criteria are presented. It includes the assessment of Allium ravenii F.O.Khass., Shomuradov & Kadyrov and Centaurea seguenzae (Lacaita) Brullo, Marcenò & Siracusa at global level and Haloxylon persicum Bunge ex Boiss. & Buhse at region...

The detection and characterization of spectral signatures offer an efficient and cost-effective method for the assessment and monitoring of the distribution range of IAPs. The development of geospatial technology, specifically remote sensing, is no longer limited to satellite imagery. In fact, in the last decade, consumer-grade Unmanned Aerial V...

Poster presented at ECSA59 (Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain) about our contribution to project REST-COAST. The poster shows some preliminary results of a flooding model to assess the performance of dune revegetation to reduce hydraulic risk from extreme wave climate and sea level rise in a coastal-lagoon area in the South-East of Sicily.

The development of a common database of alien plant species present in Sicily and Malta is one important target of the FAST project funded under Interreg V-A Italia-Malta 2014-2020 call 2/2019. The project, in full coherence with European strategy for the protection of the biodiversity, will counteract the introduction, naturalization and spread of...

In this contribution, the conservation status assessment of two vascular plants according to IUCN categories and criteria are presented. It includes the global assessment of Isoëtes todaroana Troìa & Raimondo and Moluccella bucharica (B.Fedtsch.) Ryding.

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,...

Lablab purpureus (Fabaceae) is a species native to tropical Africa, but widely cultivated and naturalized in many tropical and subtropical countries. We report the occurrence of this species for the first time in Sicily, close to the town of Palermo. The population seems to be well established and takes part to a sub-nitrophilous vegetation dominat...

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.

This paper presents the results of an ethnobotanical survey carried out in the Peloritani Mounts (NE Sicily). This investigation aims to illustrate the first record known of the traditional uses of plants in this territory through the case study of a small rural suburb named Tipoldo (Messina). The data were collected from 20 informants over the age...

A syntaxonomical revision of the Isoëto-Nanojuncetea class for the Sicilian territory is provided. This syntaxon gathers the ephemeral herbaceous hygrophilous plant communities linked to periodically submerged soils, widely distributed in the European, circum-Mediterranean and Macaronesian territories. Within this class, two orders are recognized,...

Sida rhombifolia L. (Malvaceae) has been reported for the first time in Italy. This species with a Paleotropics geographic origin represents a new invasive alien species in the flora of Italy. It was already reported in several European countries as invasive species, but this plant is also known for its medicinal properties in many areas of the wor...

Morphological and nomenclatural investigations for two critical Mediterranean species of Elatine, i.e., E. macropoda and E. gussonei, as well as their correct distribution in Sicily, are discussed. These two names are lectotypified on herbarium specimens kept, respectively, at NAP and FI. The morphological investigations carried out on both the typ...

Ferula sommieriana, a new species occurring in Lampedusa and Linosa, islands of Pelagie Archipelago in the Sicilian Channel, is described and illustrated. Previously it was attributed to F. communis, from which it differs in several features regarding mainly the morphology and anatomy of terminal leaf lobes and mericarps, as well as the shape and s...

Thelypteris palustris Schott (Thelypteridaceae), known as “marsh fern”, is infrequent in the Mediterranean area. The occurrence of this species is known for almost all the Italian regions (except for Sardinia and Sicily), but with rare and declining populations. During floristic fieldwork on the Sicilian wetlands, a new unknown population was found...

A new subspecies of Epipactis microphylla, proposed as subsp. cossyrensis is described and illustrated from Pantelleria, a volcanic island near Sicily. It differs from subsp. microphylla mainly in the shape and size of leaves and bracts and several floral traits. This taxon, previously attributed to E. pollinensis, a species currently treated as a...

In this contribution, the conservation status assessment of three vascular plants according to IUCN categories and criteria is presented. It includes the global assessment of Limonium parvifolium Tineo and Viscaria alpina (L.) G.Don, and the regional assessment of Rhazya stricta Decne. (Iraq).

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.

A synthetic and updated overview about the vascular flora and vegetation of the Island of Capo Passero (SE-Sicily) is provided. These data issue from two series of field surveys—the first carried out between 1997 and 2000, and the second between 2005 and 2019 and mostly focused on refining and implementing vegetation data. The current islet’s flora...

In the course of a taxonomical revision of Centaurea aeolica and the closely related C. pandataria, species confined to the Aeolian Archipelago (N Sicily) and Ventotene island (Pontian Archipelago, Latium) respectively, we describe a new species, named C. phalacrica, occurring on coastal metamorphic rocks near Messina (NE Sicily). These three speci...

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.

Poa maroccana is an annual Mediterranean species, which is recorded for the first time from Sicily and for the whole Italian territory. It usually occurs in synanthopic habitats, represented mainly by urban and suburban roadsides, where it is quite sporadic. Based on current knowledge, it has been hitherto reported only in a few localities of the M...

In this contribution, the conservation status assessment of three vascular plants according to IUCN categories and criteria are presented. It includes the assessment of Soldanella calabrella Kress at global level, and the regional assessment of Luzula pindica (Hausskn.) Chrtek & Křísa and Romulea variicolor Mifsud (Italy).

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...

This paper reports the results of a floristic survey carried out in the area falling within the S.A.C. ITA020002 “Boschi di Gibilmanna e Cefalù” (Sicily, Italy), a site with a marked environmental heterogeneity lying from almost sea level to over 1000 meters of altitude. On the basis of our investigations, a total of 605 taxa has been detected, inc...

Lo studio condotto per oltre un anno ha permesso di ampliare le conoscenze sugli utilizzi delle specie vegetali nei diversi settori dell'etnobotanica. Tipoldo è una frazione collinare di Messina e conta ad oggi meno di 100 abitanti, nonostante ciò le interviste agli informatori hanno portato alla luce un gran numero di informazioni.