Abstract
Annex I habitat types are a key factor for biodiversity conservation in Europe and distribution maps are essential for assessing their conservation status.
We aim to increase the responsiveness to habitat knowledge needs and to propose the use of data collected at local scale for assessing a key indicator such as the Area of Occupancy (AOO) of habitats. In this paper, starting from the 4th Report of Habitats Directive data, we present a multi-source approach that allows national habitat distribution maps to be refined and their AOO estimated, by combining certified available information on habitat maps and vegetation databases.
For the first time a comprehensive up-to-date knowledge on habitat distribution at national scale is now available; our approach will be an essential tool for the implementation of the Habitats Directive and to achieve the goals of EU biodiversity strategy in Italy.
Graphic abstract
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
References
Balmford A (2005) ECOLOGY: The Convention on Biological Diversity’s 2010 Target. Science (80- ) 307:212–213. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1106281
Agrillo E, Alessi N, Massimi M et al (2017) Nationwide vegetation plot database: Sapienza university of Rome: state of the art, basic figures and future perspectives. Phytocoenologia 47:221–229. https://doi.org/10.1127/phyto/2017/0139
Agrillo E, Alessi N, Jiménez-Alfaro B, Casella L, Angelini P, Argagnon O, Crespo G, Fernández-González F, Monteiro-Henriques T, Neto CS, Attorre F (2018) The use of large databases to characterize habitat types: the case of Quercus suber woodlands in Europe. Rend Fis Acc Lincei. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-018-0703-x
Angelini P, Casella L, Grignetti A, Genovesi P (eds) (2016). Manuali per il monitoraggio di specie e habitat di interesse comunitario (Direttiva 92/43/CEE) in Italia: habitat. ISPRA Serie Manuali e Linee Guid 142/2016., Roma
Angelini P, Chiarucci A, Nascimbene J et al (2018) Plant assemblages and conservation status of habitats of community interest (Directive 92/43/EEC): definitions and concepts. Ecol Quest 29:87–97. https://doi.org/10.12775/EQ.2018.025
Bijlsma R-J, Agrillo E, Attorre F et al. (2018) Defining and applying the concept of favourable reference values for species and habitats under the eu birds and habitats directives. In: Examples of setting favourable reference values. Wageningen Environmental Research, Report 2929, Wageningen, p 220
Biondi E, Blasi C, Burrascano S, et al. (2009) Manuale Italiano di interpretazione degli habitat della Direttiva 92/43/CEE (Italian interpretation manual of the 92/43/EEC habitats directive). https://vnr.unipg.it/habitat/. Accessed 1 Dec 2016
Bunce RGH, Bogers MMB, Evans D, Jongman RHG (2013) Field identification of habitats directive Annex I habitats as a major European biodiversity indicator. Ecol Indic 33:105–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2012.10.004
Carli E, Frondoni R, Pinna MS et al (2018a) Spatially assessing plant diversity for conservation: a Mediterranean case study. J Nat Conserv 41:35–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2017.11.003
Carli E, Giarrizzo E, Burrascano S, Alós Ortí MM, Del Vico E, Di Marzio P, Facioni L, Giancola C, Mollo B, Paura B, Salerno G, Zavattero L, Blasi C (2018b) Using vegetation dynamics to face the challenge of the conservation status assessment in semi-natural habitats. Rend Fis Acc Lincei. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-018-0707-6
Chiarucci A (2007) To sample or not to sample? That is the question for the vegetation scientist. Folia Geobot 42:209–216. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02893887
Conti F, Abbate G, Alessandrini A, Blasi C (2005) An annotated checklist of the Italian vascular flora. Ministero, Palombi Editori, Roma
Conti F, Alessandrini A, Bacchetta G et al (2007) Integrazioni alla checklist della flora vascolare italiana. Nat Vicentina 10:5–74
EEA (2014) Terrestrial habitat mapping in Europe: an overview. Joint MNHNEEA Report. Technical Report 1/2014. European Environment Agency (EEA), Copenhagen, p 154
DG Environment (2017) Reporting under article 17 of the habitats directive: explanatory notes and guidelines for the period 2013–2018. Final version – May 2017. Brussels, pp 1–188
Evans D, Arvela M (eds) (2011) Assessment and reporting under Article 17 of the Habitats Directive—Explanatory Notes & Guidelines for the period 2007-2012. Final version, July 2011. European Topic Centre on Biological Diversity, Paris
Falcucci A, Maiorano L, Boitani L (2007) Changes in land-use/land-cover patterns in Italy and their implications for biodiversity conservation. Landsc Ecol 22:617–631. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-006-9056-4
Francini Corti E (1966) Aspetti della vegetazione pugliese e contingente paleogeico meridionale nella Puglia. Ann Accad Ital Sci For 15:137–193
Genovesi P, Angelini P, Bianchi E, et al. (eds) (2014) Specie e habitat di interesse comunitario in Italia: distribuzione, stato di conservazione e trend. ISPRA, Serie Rapporti, 194/2014
Gigante D, Acosta ATR, Agrillo E, Armiraglio S, Assini S, Attorre F, Bagella S, Buffa G, Casella L, Giancola C, Giusso del Galdo GP, Marcenò C, Pezzi G, Prisco I, Venanzoni R, Viciani D (2018) Habitat conservation in Italy: the state of the art in the light of the first European red list of terrestrial and freshwater habitats. Rend Fis Acc Lincei. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-018-0688-5
Hennekens SM, Schaminée JHJ (2001) TURBOVEG, a comprehensive data base management system for vegetation data. J Veg Sci 12:589–591. https://doi.org/10.2307/3237010
Janssen JAM, Rodwell JS, García Criado M et al. (2016) European red list of habitats. Part 2. Terrestrial and freshwater habitats European red list of habitats environment. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg
Jongman RHG (2013) Biodiversity observation from local to global. Ecol Indic 33:1–4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2013.03.012
Legg CJ, Nagy L (2006) Why most conservation monitoring is, but need not be, a waste of time. J Environ Manag 78:194–199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2005.04.016
Lelli C, Nascimbene J, Chiarucci A (2018) Are available vegetation data suitable for assessing plant diversity?. A study case in the Foreste Casentinesi National Park (Italy), Rend Fis Acc Lincei. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-018-0681-z
Marignani M, Bruschi D, Astiaso Garcia D et al (2017) Identification and prioritization of areas with high environmental risk in Mediterranean coastal areas: a flexible approach. Sci Total Environ 590–591:566–578. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.02.221
Plieninger T, Hui C, Gaertner M, Huntsinger L (2014) The impact of land abandonment on species richness and abundance in the Mediterranean basin: a meta-analysis. PLoS ONE 9:e98355. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0098355
Proença V, Martin LJ, Pereira HM et al (2017) Global biodiversity monitoring: from data sources to essential biodiversity variables. Biol Conserv 213:256–263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.07.014
QGIS Development Team (2018) QGIS geographic information system. Open source geospatial foundation project
Rodwell JS, Evans D, Schaminée JHJ (2018) Phytosociological relationships in European Union policy related habitat classifications. Rend Fis Acc Lincei. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-018-0690-y
Tsiripidis I, Xystrakis F, Kallimanis A et al (2018) A bottom–up approach for the conservation status assessment of structure and functions of habitat types. Rend Fis Acc Lincei 29:267–282. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-018-0691-x
Acknowledgements
This work was developed and realized within the project “Creation of a National database of the Habitat of Community Interest for the improvement of the Environmental Statistics for cohesion policies 2014–2020 CUP: I52E18000040002”, within the “NOP Governance and Institutional Capacity 2014–2020” CCI: 2014IT05M2OP002.
Funding
"CUP: I52E18000040002”, within the “NOP Governance and Institutional Capacity 2014–2020” CCI: 2014IT05M2OP002.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflicts of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Carli, E., Massimi, M., Angelini, P. et al. How to improve the distribution maps of habitat types at national scale. Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei 31, 881–888 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-020-00917-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-020-00917-7