Mauro Fois

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Verified

Mauro verified their affiliation via an institutional email.

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• PhD
• Post Doc at University of Cagliari

Plants are key elements of wetlands due to their evolutionary strategies for coping with life in a water-saturated environment, providing the basis for supporting nearly all wetland biota and habitat structure for other taxonomic groups. Sardinia, the second largest island of the Mediterranean Basin, hosts a great variety of wetlands, of which 16 a...

• Wetlands are some of the most important ecosystems on Earth. They play a key role in mitigating climate change-related events and filtering polluted water, and provide habitats for a wide range of species. Despite their importance, and numerous regulations that support their conservation, wetlands continue to be destroyed. Recent reports have ind...

The 'metalliferous ring' of Iglesiente was for centuries the most important mining district of Italy. After a marked decline in mining activities, alternative management strategies were proposed to face issues mainly related to unemployment and environmental pollution. We focused on the coastal section of the mining district, in order to evaluate t...

This study investigates the distribution and conservation status of plant species in lentic wetlands of Mediterranean islands. Field data on vascular macrophytes were collected from the online national databases of the “Conservation of the island wetlands of the Mediterranean Basin” (MedIsWet). A comprehensive inventory of wetlands was conducted, a...

Thalassochory, the dispersal of propagules through marine currents, is a key long‐distance dispersal (LDD) mechanism with implications for global biogeography and particularly for island colonization. The propagules of coastal plant species are generally assumed to be better adapted for sea dispersal than those of inland plants, but this hypothesis...

Citation: Boi, M.E.; Sarigu, M.; Fois, M.; Casti, M.; Bacchetta, G. The First Inventory of Sardinian Mining Vascular Flora. Plants 2025, 14, 1225. Abstract: Mining activities and associated waste materials pose significant environmental challenges, including soil, water, and air contamination, along with health risks to nearby populations. Despite...

Islands are diversity hotspots and vulnerable to environmental degradation, climate variations, land use changes and societal crises. These factors can exhibit interactive impacts on ecosystem services. The study reviewed a large number of papers on the climate change-islands-ecosystem services topic worldwide. Potential inclusion of land use chang...

This chapter is a comprehensive exploration of the pivotal. Beginning with an emphasis on the significance of quantifying local floral resources, this chapter highlights the essential role of understanding their composition, distribution, and abundance in maintaining healthy ecosystems and supporting pollinators. The scope broadens as the chapter t...

Salt stress might be an important factor that decreases the emergence of seedlings and reduces plants’ growth, causing their endangered status. However, the effects of salt stress on the germination of the Mediterranean species are less concern. Limonium strictissimum (Salzm.) Arrigoni, part of the group related to Limonium articulatum (Loisel.) Ku...

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of vascular flora alien to Italy are presented. It includes new records, exclusions, and status changes from casual to naturalized or invasive for Italy or for Italian administrative regions for taxa in the genera Acacia, Akebia, Allocasuarina, Aloë, Brachychiton, Convolvulus, Freesia, Gled...

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of vascular flora alien to Italy are presented. It includes new records and status changes from casual to naturalized for Italy or for Italian administrative regions for taxa in the genera Callianthe, Chamaecyparis, Chamaeiris, Cotoneaster, Erigeron, Freesia, Hemerocallis, Juglans, Kalancho...

Motivation The intrinsic characteristics of islands make them a unique study system for the investigation of ecological and evolutionary dynamics. The Mediterranean Basin, an island‐rich biodiversity hotspot, still lacks a comprehensive spatial database for these geographic features. This study presents the first comprehensive spatial database of a...

Many Astragalus species exhibit seeds with physical dormancy (PY), but little is known about the ecological context of this dormancy. We focused on A. maritimus and A. verrucosus, two threatened Sardinian endemic species inside the subgenus Trimeniaeus Bunge. Fresh seeds collected from the only two respective known populations were used to investig...

The Montarbu (CE Sardinia) is the second highest carbonate massif of Sardinia. This area mainly consists of a group of limestone mountain outcrops named "tonneri" or "tacchi", with a great variety of micro-environmental and topographic conditions that host a high floristic richness. The main aim of this work is to present an updated checklist of th...

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

Mining exploitation in the Mediterranean Basin has left evident scars on the environment, and poses serious risks for human health and biodiversity, especially when mine wastes are left abandoned. This review analysed the main issues of metal(loid)s pollution related to mine exploitation in the Mediterranean Basin. Here, a list of Mediterranean nat...

The potential distribution of one the most venomous snake species of Iran, the endemic Macrovipera razii, has been studied. A total of 54 occurrence records with four informative environmental variables, including temperature seasonality (bio4), annual precipitation (bio12), precipitation seasonality (bio15), and precipitation of driest quarter (bi...

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...

MedIsWet (Conservation of the island wetlands of the Mediterranean Basin) is a MAVA funded project which aims at investigating all seasonal or permanent island wetlands both natural and artificial, with a minimum extent of 0.1 hectares. More than 16,000 wetlands from almost all the Mediterranean, including islands from France, Italy, Malta, Croatia...

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.

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

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.

Interspecific biotic interaction is believed to be a fundamental phenomenon in ecology. However, despite the increasing efforts, interaction mechanisms are still not clearly understood. We compiled a database of 323 birds and 844 vascular plants in 30 wetlands from Sardinia. This was complemented with seed dispersal features and plant structures (s...

The vascular flora of Sardinia has been investigated for more than 250 years, with particular attention to the endemic component due to their phylogeographic and conservation interest. However, continuous changes in the floristic composition through natural processes, anthropogenic drivers or modified taxonomical attributions require constant updat...

Sardinia is subject to many fire events each year. A visibility analysis of old-growth woods from the network of fire lookouts was performed; the visibility of fires from lookouts and the level of old-growthness of woods were then implemented to the common information of wildfire hazard maps to obtain a vulnerability map. The results show that 78%...

The ‘Habitats’ Directive (HD 92/43/EEC) is one of the primary legal tools aiming at conserving nature in Europe. Due to the complex iter to revise it, the habitats listed in the Annex I have been seldom updated after the HD adoption. Basing on already available information and expert knowledge, this paper presents a preliminary list of relevant hab...

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. Nomenclatural and distribution updates, published elsewhere, and corrigenda are provided as Suppl. material 1.

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.

Great longhorn beetles (GLBs) may affect forest structure, because their larvae colonize trees and create networks of cavities further exploited by other species, resulting in dead or broken branches and tree mortality. At the same time, tree size, condition and location are known to affect the likelihood of tree colonization by GLBs. Here, we stud...

Wetlands are critically important for biodiversity and human wellbeing, but face a range of challenges. This is especially true in the Mediterranean region, where wetlands support endemic and threatened species and remain integral to human societies, but have been severely degraded in recent decades. Here, in order to raise awareness of future chal...

The genus Microgecko Nikolsky 1907 belongs to the family Gekkonidae and contains eight species distributed in Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, northwestern India and, probably, in Iraq. Among them, the Latifi's dwarf gecko, Mi-crogecko latifi, is endemic to central and southwestern Iran. We used MaxEnt modeling approach to investigate the effects of cl...

Knowledge about population attributes, current geographic distribution, and changes over predicted climate change for many threatened endemic vascular plants is particularly limited in arid mountain environments. Primula boveana is one of the rarest and threatened plants worldwide, surviving exclusively in Saint Catherine Protectorate in the Sinaic...

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...

Biogeographical studies are considered effective for investigations on macroecology and evolution, as well as for delineating patterns of endemism and identifying the key drivers influencing the historical distribution of species. Clustering techniques, based on environmental datasets and distribution of endemic species, have been largely used in b...

Islands are of high interest for conservationists, due to their great biodiversity within discrete territories. Nonetheless, several mechanisms of plant diversity patterns are unknown, especially for continental islands. In this paper, we explored how endemic and alien vascular plant species richness and the compositional dissimilarity of small Med...

The Balkan Peninsula is recognized as an important centre of native and endemic plant species diversity as well as an important wildlife refuge area. However, although Croatia hosts more than half of plant species found on the Balkan Peninsula, the endemic taxa have never been evaluated or used to define conservation priorities. We analyzed the qua...

Mediterranean forests have been altered by several human activities. Consequently, relatively intact forests that have been unmodified by humans for a relatively long time (i.e., old-growth forests) are often reduced to isolated and fragmented stands. However, despite their high conservation value, little is known about their features and even pres...

Climate change poses negative impacts on plant species, particularly for those of restricted ecology and distribution range. Rosa arabica Crép., an exclusive endemic species to Saint Catherine Protectorate in Egypt, has severely declined and become critically endangered in the last years. In this paper, we applied the maximum-entropy algorithm (Max...

Most of the sand dunes close to the Mediterranean coast of Egypt have been destroyed due to human pressures. The remaining dunes are under extreme threat due to unplanned development. This study aims to explore the floristic patterns and detect which drivers threaten their conservation status. Eighty-five random plots of 100 m2 each along 12 transe...

Concluding messages 1. In order to halt and reverse the continuous decline of plant diversity, specific action plans and programmes addressing particular plant conservation challenges must be incorporated in regional and national conservation programmes and strategies. 2. Enhanced cooperation between botanists, practitioners and communities is esse...

In this contribution, the conservation status assessment of four vascular plants according to IUCN categories and criteria are presented. It includes the assessment of Epipactis maricae (Croce, Bongiorni, De Vivo & Fori) Presser & S.Hertel at global level, and the regional assessment of Cerinthe retorta Sm. (Italy), Platanthera kuenkelei H.Baumann...

Among specific applications of species distribution models (SDMs), the use of SDMs probabilistic maps for guiding field surveys is increasingly applied. This approach is particularly used for poorly known and/or cryptic species in order to better assess their distribution. One of the most interesting aspects of these applications is that prediction...

Knowledge of the levels of genetic diversity and of the spatial genetic structure of plant species is important to ensure their effective management and conservation, especially in the case of endangered species. Gentiana lutea L. subsp. lutea is a long-lived plant which occurs in central and southern European mountains. It has a long-standing hist...

After many recent findings regarding geographical distribution and nomenclatural changes, an updated and revised checklist of the Egyptian endemic flora was needed. This study provides an up to date checklist of vascular taxa exclusive to Egypt and their distribution within the administrative provinces. Egypt hosts 48 endemic taxa (including 35 spe...

While cost estimation is a very positive tool for spatial conservation prioritisation, there are few examples where costs (in monetary terms) are applied. We present a repeatable method to estimate and map field values in monetary terms using common correlative models. We modelled, with a resolution of 1 km2, the information obtained by several rea...

Background: For prioritising practical conservation measures in areas of high endemic plant diversity, a fine-scale hierarchy of sites needs to be established. In this context, conservation sites designed at local and regional levels are considered a network of interconnected areas. Aims: The main aim was to identify two hierarchical levels of a ne...

Gentiana lutea subsp. lutea, the only subspecies present in Sardinia, is restricted to the Gennargentu Massif (Central-Eastern part of the island). This massif represents an independent phytogeographical sector and consists of a system of summits with four peaks at more than 1,800 m. The Sardinian population, that represents a southern edge of it...

Increases in temperature have been predicted and reported for the Mediterranean mountain ranges due to global warming and this phenomenon is expected to have profound consequences on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. We hereby present the case of Gentiana lutea L. subsp. lutea, a rhizomatous long-lived plant living in Central-Southern Europe,...

Due to increasing human pressures, there is a need to understand how environmental and anthropogenic disturbances could affect the conservation status of endangered plant species. When information on distribution or population parameters is poor, Species Distribution Models (SDMs) may offer a valuable additional source to assess threats and to eval...

In this paper, we present a spatially explicit procedure for mapping and assessing coastal plant diversity value in the context of biodiversity monitoring and conservation planning. Our objective was to devise a replicable and easy to understand methodology framework, which can represent an expedient tool for coastal management and decision making...

Due to the impelling urgency of plant conservation and the increasing availability of high resolution spatially interpolated (e.g. climate variables) and categorical data (e.g. land cover and vegetation type), many recent studies have examined relationships among plant species distributions and a diversified set of explanatory factors; nevertheless...

Checklist of Endemic Vascular Plants (EVP) used for this study (DOCX)

Fractions of variation explained by climate, topography and human factors. (DOCX)

1-km resolution grid cells of exclusive EVPR, insular EVPR and total EVPR. (ZIP)

Bivariate correlation matrix of Endemic Vascular Plant Species Richness (EVPR) with all explanatory variables and of explanatory variables with each other. (DOCX)

Total and proportion of variance explained by each explanatory variable. (DOCX)

Sardinia hosts 186 endemic plant species and represents an important centre for Mediterranean biodiversity. In view of the threats facing its flora, 27 terrestrial vascular plants have been listed in international regulations and 124 sites designated for species and habitat conservation. This study analyses gaps in the Natura 2000 network and the c...

The Egyptian Mediterranean sand dunes are being lost due to recent excessive unplanned anthropogenic interventions that caused a modification in floristic composition. The present study provides a description of the floristic inventory and plant clusters in coastal dunes in relation to natural and human factors. Floristic sampling was carried out i...

Recent extinction rates suggest that humans are now causing the sixth mass extinction, and the Mediterranean islands are at the forefront of many of the environmental issues involved. This study provides an alternative approach for investigating documented local plant extinctions that occurred in Sardinia (western Mediterranean) during the last hal...

Scientists are typically responsible for greater greenhouse gas emissions than the general population. These ‘extra’ emissions are largely due to frequent travel, often by airplane, to professional and academic meetings. In the following commentary, we explore how employing mixed modes of transportation, particularly by prioritizing train travel, c...

In this contribution the conservation status assessment of six plant species according to IUCN categories and criteria are presented. It includes the assessment at global level of Charybdis glaucophylla Bacch., Brullo, D’Emerico, Pontec. & Salmeri, Euphorbia nicaeensis All. subsp. japygica (Ten.) Arcang., Hieracium australe Fr. subsp. australe, Lim...

Gentiana lutea L. subsp. lutea (Gentianaceae) is a perennial herbaceous plant which is widespread in Central-Southern Europe. It has a long-standing history of human roots exploitation, mainly for liqueurs preparation and in the pharmaceutical industry. It is a plant of community interest and currently listed in the EU Habitats Directive. In Sardin...

The X International Meeting Biodiversity Conservation and Management: Conservation studies on Mediterranean threatened flora and vegetation was held in Sardinia, Italy, at the University of Cagliari and Villacidro on June 13-17, 2016. One post-congress excursion to Sulcis-Iglesiente biogeographic sector, were carried out on June 18. This meeting fo...

Although many studies have addressed island biogeography, the biodiversity of very small islets has mostly been ignored due to the lack of high-resolution data. We analysed the vascular plant taxa distribution pattern of 81 satellite islets scattered around Sardinia, the second largest island in the Mediterranean Basin. Power models were used to de...

Regional assessments could be more reliable than global ones, especially for species in peripheral parts of their range. In this sense, distribution criteria proposed by the IUCN organization, expressed by the Extent of Occurrence (EOO) and the Area of Occupancy (AOO), are of critical importance to evaluate the risk category at any scale. Our study...

Conservation of Gentiana Lutea L. (Gentianaceae) in Sardinia through a multidisciplinary approach

Conservation of Gentiana Lutea L. (Gentianaceae) in Sardinia through a multidisciplinary approach

The Aichi Biodiversity Target 12 aims to prevent the extinction risk of known threatened species and to improve their conservation status by 2020. We present the integrated strategy implemented in the last 10 years for the keystone plant species of Sardinia (Italy, W. Mediterranean Basin), which includes the following activities: conservation statu...

The importance of robust systems for classifying biogeographical patterns has been emphasized for its usefulness in designing conservation strategies. For such purposes, the distribution patterns of the endemic flora have often been used. Several studies have identified phytogeographical units within Sardinia (western Mediterranean); however, the m...

Schede per una Lista Rossa della Flora vascolare e crittogamica Italiana