Dry grasslands of central-western Po Plain (Italy): implications under Council Directive 92/43/EEC

This paper provides an overall look on the diversity of lowland dry grasslands of the western Po Plain, useful to support their conservation and management. Specific aims were: 1) to identify lowland dry grassland-associated plant communities at alliance level, which is useful for their classification under the Council Directive 92/43/EEC, 2) to assess their synecological and synchorological differences, 3) to define the equivalent Directive habitats and their management implications. Seven subareas were analysed: Lomellina, Ticino River, Sesia River, Po River (North), Orba Stream, Scrivia Stream, and Serio River. Floristic-vegetational relevés were carried out considering vascular plant, moss and lichen species. Cluster analysis were performed to syntaxonomically classify them, while statistical tests were performed to characterize them by means of biological life forms, chorotypes and Ellenberg indicator values. Eight plant communities were classified at alliance level and three plant communities were classified at class level. The equivalence with three Natura 2000 Habitats (H2330, H6110* and H6210) was found. Of the 60 studied sites, the 68% are located inside the Natura 2000 Network, while the remnant 31% are located outside. Possible management actions include: cutting of woody species, mowing, sod-cutting, transplants of typical herbaceous species, and ex novo restoration using harvested seeds from donor grasslands

Notulae to the Italian native vascular flora: 16

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

Employing plant translocations to restore open dry acidic habitats in European Continental lowlands: A case study in northern Italy

Open dry acidic habitats protected under the Natura 2000 Network (Council Directive 92/43/EEC) occur in Italian Continental lowlands with an either poor or bad conservation status. The LIFE Drylands project was designed with the aim of restoring these habitats in the western Po Plain. In the context of this project, we translocated plants typical of habitat 4030 “European dry heaths” and of the acidophilous subtype of habitat 6210 “Semi-natural dry grasslands and scrubland facies on calcareous substrates (Festuco-Brometalia) (* important orchid sites)” in two sites hosting them. We assessed the outcome of the translocations by monitoring survival, flowering, and fruiting rates of the translocated plants during either the first or the second year following the translocation. We compared plants’ performances by a one-way analysis of variance and then cross-referenced them with literature data. Based on our results, we suggest that a mix of hemicryptophytes, such as Armeria arenaria, Betonica officinalis, Dianthus carthusianorum and Festuca filiformis, and geophytes, like Anthericum liliago and Limniris sibirca, with a density of about 34 plants/m2 could be used for other translocations in dry heathlands and dry grasslands in the European Continental biogeographical region, while the addition of therophytes needs further evaluation

Notulae to the Italian native vascular flora: 16

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