Primula palinuriPetagna is a narrow endemic species confined to Tyrrhenian coastal cliff habitats in southern Italy and threatened by climate change and anthropogenic pressures. We assessed the current, past and future habitat suitability ofP. palinuriin Italy using a macroecological framework based on ecological niche modelling and GIS analyses. Furthermore, focusing on the present distribution, we conducted a conservation gap analysis to quantify the proportion of suitable habitat included within protected areas. Our models identified precipitation of the driest and wettest months, annual temperature range and distance from limestone substrates and grazing areas as the main contributors to model performance. The highest suitability values were concentrated around Palinuro (currently the area with the greatest population density) and along the southern Cilento region. Additionally, projections highlighted two geographically isolated areas outside the calibration range—Liguria and Tuscany—as potentially suitable for the occurrence ofP. palinuri. Conservation gap analysis revealed that 41

Coastal zone ecosystems’ global importance is the primary driver of the wide scientific efforts for their restoration and protection. Over the past three decades, there has been a growing global momentum in the pursuit of initiatives aimed at conserving nature. Regardless of the wide scientific interest, and despite the notable exposure of these ecosystems to degradation and deterioration, numerous habitats, and species, in Europe, have 'vulnerable', or 'near threatened' conservation status. Even in the most favourable circumstances, factors including strong human pressure, urbanization and agriculture, and climate change, exhilarate the current, already, negative trends indicators, related to biodiversity and their associated ecosystem functions and services provision. This project proposes a set of existing and emerging methodologies and solutions for the restoration, conservation, and management practices, which are crucial to improving these profoundly delicate ecosystems in the Mediterranean and similar environmental contexts. Traditional and innovative ecological restoration solutions have been designed and applied in two such areas along the Greek and Italian coasts, ‘Nestos Delta’ and ‘Bosco di Palo Laziale’, respectively, to improve the conservation status of 'Pannonian-Balkanic turkey oak-sessile oak forests' (habitat 91M0), ‘Alluvial forests with Alnus glutinosa and Fraxinus excelsior’ (habitat 91E0), and 'Mediterranean temporary ponds' (*3170) that have been increasingly exposed to climate change and inappropriate forest and water management. Analogous, ecological restoration practices include selective trimming of encroaching shrub vegetation (and alien invasive shrubs in the Nestos area), remote-controlled irrigation system, origin-controlled and pathogen-free forestry nursery, ex-situ micro-propagation and in-situ reinforcement of keystone plant populations. An in-depth assessment and quantification of abiotic and biotic factors of the sites' ecosystems were preliminarily conducted to tailor these interventions to the habitats' geo-morphological, climatic, pedological, and physiological conditions. The EU project LIFE PRIMED (LIFE17 NAT/GR/000511), operates at the Delta of River Nestos in Greece, and the Forest of Palo Laziale in Italy. The results in both areas, thus far, have demonstrated that the collaborative development of innovative water harvesting systems, coupled with adaptation measures, has the potential to enhance water resilience in already degraded forest ecosystems. To date, the project has successfully tackled the effects of escalating irregular rainfall patterns on Mediterranean coastal habitats by implementing a hydraulic system and a wellpoint-based water distribution network in Palo Laziale and Nestos Delta, respectively. Monospecific approaches for climate and human-related phenomena, such as extreme weather events and agriculture pressure, are disfavoured. Therefore, the LIFE PRIMED project, comprised of an interdisciplinary team of Botanists, Zoologists, Foresters, and Environmental Engineers, has developed and delivered Nature-based transnational, ecosystem-oriented holistic solutions that will have the potential to be replicable and transferable with the greatest aim to recover dysfunctional, poorly managed coastal forest areas, across the Mediterranean region.

Sorrento Peninsula and the Picentini Mountains are rich in local endemics and have been well studied taxonomically, but their vegetation, particularly cliff plant assemblages, remains poorly known. This paper presents phytosociological insights on cliff-dwelling communities in these areas. We conducted 28 relev & eacute;s (8 previously published) and used multivariate analyses to classify them. The bioclimatic context was analyzed using Rivas-Mart & iacute;nez indexes and compared with other Central Mediterranean rock vegetation. We identified three clusters classified into one association and two sub-associations: Globulario neapolitanae-Loniceretum stabianae typicum; Globulario neapolitanae-Loniceretum stabianae globularietosum neapolitanae subass. nova; and Diantho virginei-Seselietum polyphylli ass. nova. This vegetation is referred to a new alliance, Lonicerion stabianae all. nova, characterized by an intermediate Mediterranean, temperate, and weakly continental climate. The endemic cliff vegetation in these areas suggests a distinct phytogeographical sector within the Italian Peninsula.

In the framework of the NewLife4Drylands LIFE Preparatory project (LIFE20 PRE/IT/000007, 2021-2024) the estimation of SDG 15.3.1 indicator [1], adopted in the UNCCD’s Good Practice Guidance [2], was applied for evaluating Land Degradation (LD) in different Mediterranean Protected Areas (PA). To effectively support PAs managers, joint effort was made in the evaluation of SDG 15.3.1 indicator at the local scale by using satellite Remote Sensing data in the computation of the three main sub-indicators as trend in Land Cover (LC), Primary Production (PP) and Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) stock. Where feasible, local scale sub-indicators were not sourced from open-access global/European databases due to their lack of accuracy at the site scale [3]. LD was estimated not only for the whole PA but also for specific LC classes of interest, considering additional sub-indicators related to pressures and threats affecting the class. This study focuses on the dryland Alta Murgia (IT9120007) PA, in southern Italy, and the wetland Nestos River Delta (GR1150001) PA, in Greece. For Alta Murgia site, featuring semi-natural dry grassland habitats of community interest that are frequently subjected to fire events during the summer season, the Burn Severity (BS) index was included. BS trends were measured by assessing the difference in pre/post–fire Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) index from Landsat data during summer. Baseline data from 2004, coinciding with the establishment of a National Park within PA, was compared with 2018 for validating field data availability. Nestos River Delta hosts the largest natural riparian forest in Greece and is frequently subjected to hydrological cycle modifications, involving water scarcity due to both inappropriate river management and climate change, in turn hampering the transport of nutrient-rich sediments and the enrichment of soils being at risk of aridification. Within this framework, Hydroperiod and Soil Salinity indices were considered for LD and specific impacts on aquatic vegetation LC. Baseline data from 2017, after the dry climate conditions of 2016-2017, was compared with 2021 for validating field data availability. Both in Alta Murgia and Nestos, LC mappings were obtained by a data-driven pixel-based approach considering Landsat/Sentinel-2, respectively, multi-seasonal imagery and a multi-class Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier trained with data from in-field campaigns and historical orthophotos interpretation. Time series of MSAVI from Landsat (which replaced standard NDVI for its soil correction benefits [4]) and PPI from Sentinel-2 by Copernicus services, respectively, were used to track grassland PP trends. Lastly, for SOC stock trends, the open-source Trends.Earth QGIS plugin [5], incorporating customized LC data and global SoilGrids product, was adopted to supplement local data limitations. According to its specification, the SDG 15.3.1 indicator was computed by integrating all the sub-indicators according to the principle “one out, all out” obtaining the 3-classes output mapping (Degradation, Improvement, Stable). The findings can support the monitoring and evaluation of LD, guiding protective measures aligned with the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. They, also, highlight the importance of the integration of local scale data and sub-indicators within the UNCCD methodology. References [1] https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/files/Metadata-15-03-01.pdf [2]https://www.unccd.int/publications/good-practice-guidance-sdg-indicator-1531-proportion-land-degraded-over-total-land [3] https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13020277 [4] https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12010083 [5] http://trends.earth/docs/en

Primula palinuri, an endangered plant species strictly confined to the coastal limestone cliffs of southern Italy, represents a key Mediterranean endemic threatened by habitat loss and environmental stressors. This study investigated the effects of temperature, salinity, water stress, and burial depth on its seed germination. Germination was favoured by cool temperatures, with an optimum at 15 °C. Rates significantly declined at both 5 °C and 25 °C. Increasing salinity markedly inhibited germination, confirming the species’ sensitivity to salt stress. Water stress experiments demonstrated that P. palinuri requires high soil moisture for successful germination, with total inhibition under moderate (- 0.4 MPa) to severe drought conditions (- 1.5 MPa). Burial depth negatively affected seedling emergence, likely due to the small seed size and light-dependency. These results underline the species’ narrow ecological requirements, emphasising the need for careful habitat selection in conservation actions, favouring moist, shady, and salt-protected microsites with shallow seed placement.

This multidisciplinary study integrates geobotanical and geochemical analyses, employing a green protocol, to identify key factors influencing the presence of Eokochia saxicola and Primula palinuri, two endemic species of sensitive cliff microhabitats in southern Italy. The analysis of physicochemical anthropogenic pressures has been demonstrated to reveal distinct patterns in soil characteristics, which in turn correlate with species occurrence. It is vital for effective species conservation strategies that appropriate microsites for translocation and long-term preservation are identified. This research makes an integral contribution to the realm of ecological restoration, integrating principles of restoration ecology, and thereby provides practical guidelines for future conservation strategies aimed at the ecological rehabilitation of threatened habitats. Beyond the specific case study, this protocol represents a transferable tool for environmental management of coastal cliff ecosystems facing degradation, aligning with restoration ecology and biodiversity conservation goals.

Population genetics studies provide information regarding genetic diversity and genetic structure of populations. This information can in turn be used to inform conservation strategies. In view of programmed conservation efforts, we aimed at investigating the genetic composition of Primula palinuri Petagna, an endemic vulnerable species in Southern Italy. Ninety-one individuals of P. palinuri from seven populations were investigated using double digest Restriction Associated DNA sequencing (ddRAD-seq) and a total of 99,014 Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified. Low levels of heterozygosity (0.08-0.12) and high levels of kinship (0.20-0.30) and inbreeding (0.34-0.49) were detected in all study populations. Kinship computed irrespective of population was low, suggesting that the level of inter-population relatedness is low. Analysis of the genetic structure showed that the populations were differentiated from each other and formed three major clusters, broadly corresponding to the geographic sampling locations. We identified the SNPs mostly contributing to the separation in population clusters, and we identified a reduced set of 40 SNPs that can successfully discriminate between the three population clusters. In conclusion, our study shows that the sampled P. palinuri populations have low heterozygosity, low intra-population variability and high inter-population variability.

Plant translocation is a conservation technique increasingly used around the world. In Europe, numerous unpublished initiatives have resulted in scattered information in grey literature that is difficult to access. This represents a major obstacle to the exchange of information and experience among scientists, practitioners and competent authorities. To help filling this gap, we launched a large-scale questionnaire survey with 39 questions relating to methods, motivations, problems encountered and outcomes, supplemented by a screening of scientific publications, grey literature and national/regional databases. We gathered data on 3211 plant translocations across the European continent carried out on 1166 taxa in 28 countries, which represents the largest dataset of its kind in the world to date. Target translocated species were mainly forbs from grassland habitats and had a conservation status of greater concern nationally than globally. Practitioners mainly used plug plants originating from a single source (the geographically closest to the target site). Weather events and plant diseases were the most often unanticipated problems noticed by respondents. Through monitoring, it was found that most populations flowered but often did not reproduce and could not persist for more than five years, showcasing the challenge that translocations still present for conservationists. This work will be useful in linking conservationists and enabling them to save time and resources by more easily identifying the best practices suited to their target species, with the ultimate aim of improving the science and practice of plant translocations in Europe and beyond.

Ellenberg indicator values (EIV) are widely used in vegetation ecology, but the values for many species in Southeastern Europe are not available due to incomplete knowledge of their ecology: it is therefore of paramount importance to estimate missing values in existing databases. The entire EIV set for a single species can be missing or a single EIV can be missing for species for which other indicator values are available. Our aim here is to provide a simple method to impute missing values for species who have missing data in a single or multiple EIV. For this purpose, we adopt a multiple imputation procedure and compare a number of imputation methods on the basis of two datasets: i) “indices”, the set of 9 Ellenberg indicators taken from literature, available for 10,824 species and ii) “vegetation”, a set describing the physical and climatic characteristics (Light, Temperature, Continentality, Soil moisture, Nitrogen, Soil pH, Hemeroby index, Humidity, Organic_matter) of 29,935 relevés from Southeastern Europe where at least one tree species is present. The imputation methods we considered are: k-Nearest Neighbour, multiple linear regression (with or without collinearity correction), Reprediction Algorithm, Weighted Averaging (WA) and Weighted Averaging Partial Least Squares (WAPLS) regression. The different methods of imputation were compared by looking at the output produced and its deviation from the “true” observed values for a set of species with known EIVs. We have considered a set of species with known EIVs and proceeded to multiple imputation using the methods above; as a measure of performance we adopted the mean squared error (MSE) estimate, and expert judgement of ecological consistency. Models based on Regression and k-Nearest Neighbour seem to outperform the others. On the contrary, Reprediction algorithm in its different forms: produced less satisfactory results.Imputation of missing values is generally based on expert knowledge or on some variant of weighted averaging (also known as Hill’s method). Here we show that other methods may be more effective and should be appropriately considered by vegetation scientists, since those may allow the application of EIVs in other biogeographic regions.

The Miyawaki method, developed by Akira Miyawaki, restores natural forests by planting diverse native species in compact spaces, rapidly creating compact, resilient ecosystems. Initially successful in Japan, its global application bloomed but remains rare in Mediterranean urban areas despite benefits like biodiversity enhancement and climate change mitigation. This method's effectiveness in Mediterranean climates, which face unique challenges like urban heat islands and biodiversity loss, is underexplored in literature and practice. We are leading a project in Italy to identify optimal plant assemblages, addressing the method's documentation gap in urban settings. It explores the potential of Tiny Forests to provide ecosystem services and improve urban liveability against climatic extremes. This note paper details the methodological steps undertaken in this experimental application, offering a tailored approach to test the method's adaptability and impact in Mediterranean urban environments, suggesting a significant opportunity for urban greening and resilience.

Primula palinuri Petagna is a narrow-endemic plant species native to southern Italy, thriving along the Tyrrhenian coast. In this study, we compared various aspects of two populations of P. palinuri growing in different sites: one by the sea in the SAC Capo Palinuro (IT8050008) and the germination capability, and salt response were analysed. Seed counts and measurements were conducted using image analysis software. Germination responses were assessed at three at three alternating temperatures (6-15 degrees C, 10-20 degrees C, and 15-25 degrees C) in the first experiment. Subsequently, seeds from both sites were subjected to increasing NaCl concentrations (0mM, 50mM, 100mM, 200mM, and 300mM) at 6-15 degrees C and 10-20 degrees C. All germination experiments took place in Petri dishes containing filter paper and distilled water. No discernible differences in capsule and seed sizes were observed between the two sampling sites. However, the study revealed that higher temperatures and elevated salt concentrations negatively affected the germination rate in both populations, particularly in seeds from the innermost site. This suggests a preference for cooler regimes and higher tolerance to saline conditions in the sea-exposed population for optimal germination. This research delved into the physiological and ecological adaptations of P. palinuri to its current environmental envelope, investigating how seed properties, temperature, and salinity stress infl uence seed germination potential. The findings provide promising insights that could significantly enhance conservation and management strategies for this species. The study aimed to compare the germination characteristics of two populations of Primula palinuri along the Tyrrhenian coast of southern Italy.

The landscape, as a comprehensive entity encompassing diverse ecosystems, cultural values, aesthetic qualities, and geological features, is integral to the concept of natural heritage. Climate change poses a substantial threat to landscapes. The impacts are multifaceted, affecting not only the ecological integrity of these areas but also their cultural significance and the livelihoods of people who depend on them. Efforts to mitigate climate change and adapt to its effects are crucial to preserving valuable landscapes for future generations.TOPIO project aims to contribute to addressing these issues by developing a holistic methodology where Citizen Science, Policy Outreach, Artificial Intelligence and Public Participatory GIS approaches, with the aid of Earth Observation, Digital Twins and Geoinformatics, will find common ground in order to involve both scientists and citizens in a “bottom-up” participatory and creative initiative for the implementation of the European Landscape Convention (ELC) in different areas of Europe. In this framework, TOPIO will prepare a landscape guide inspired by the ELC, initially focused on seven study areas across Europe. The identified topics will address urgent issues impacting the evolution of landscapes, focusing, among others, on climate change mitigation and adaptation.A Landscape Character Assessment (LCA) covering the study areas will also be conducted based on public participation. The aim is to increase citizen awareness of landscape policies and involve society in safeguarding landscape heritage from the impacts of climate change. Furthermore, the LCA can serve as a tool for local and regional authorities to assess and manage climate-related risks.

Palo Laziale Wood is a relatively small biotope (129 ha) situated along the coast of the Metropolitan Area of Rome, Lazio region, Italy. Despite being one of the region's remaining patches of an ancient oak floodplain broad-leaved forest, it conserves numerous priority habitats and species of high conservation interest. The vegetation consists mainly of Turkey oak stands with small temporary ponds and flooded meadows. The forest underwent a dieback in 2003, triggered by a significantly hot and dry summer. In 2018, an ecological restoration project (LIFE PRIMED LIFE17 NAT/GR/000511) was initiated to restore Palo Laziale’s ecosystems. This paper presents the methodological approach employed to assess the vegetation ecology of a degraded forest ecosystem. Such an investigation was a key component of the Adaptative Restoration Plan of the Project. It provided the baseline necessary for designing and calibrating the planned direct conservation actions on the target habitat types (91M0: Pannonian-Balkanic turkey oak-sessile oak forests, 3170*: Mediterranean temporary ponds, 5230*: Arborescent matorral with Laurus nobilis, etc.) and establishing reference values to enable long-term monitoring. Plant taxa comparison from 1 ha square-grid sampling and multivariate analyses were carried out to group species and identify environmental and Ellenberg-based drivers. Six ecologically distinct units were found, eventually confirming the distinctive ecological heterogeneity of Mediterranean ecosystems. Amongst these, the hygrophilous vegetation has resulted to be the one mainly affected by the dieback outbreak. Due to the high heterogeneity, introduced by the massive tree mortality, the method of regular 1 ha squares turned out to be a reliable alternative to random vegetation sampling plots (e.g., phytosociological relevés) to disentangle ecological patterns of fragmented and disturbed habitats.

Lowland forests underwent a century long history of deforestation and degradation that left only few remnants of this forest type, especially in the Mediterranean region. These remnants have high conservation value but are threatened by tree diebacks related to different causes. Here we focused on the area of Palo Laziale (oak floodplain forest) and on the effects of the tree dieback following the summer drought of 2003. In the framework of an ecological restoration project (LIFE PRIMED LIFE17 NAT/GR/000511), we collected data on plant communities' species composition both in 2019/2020 and compared these data to those collected in 1990, also accounting for life forms, chorotypes and Ellenberg Indicator Values. This analysis was conducted to assess whether there was any change in the species composition following the forest dieback. The total flora of the site increased from 462 to 490 species. Moreover, there has been a turnover of species with the loss of some grassland and halophytic species and the entrance of allochthonous/ruderal and freshwater habitat species. Despite this, the plant diversity remained unchanged in bioindication terms, demonstrating a certain resilience of the ecosystem plant species, confirming the floristic re-survey approach to identify declining processes and support ecosystem-based restoration actions elsewhere.

We analysed the floristic subdivisions of Albania by hierarchical clustering of all the vascular plant species of Albania over a grid of 25 km cells, adapting data from the Vascular Species Distribution Atlas in Albania of ( Barina Z (ed.) (2017) Distribution atlas of vascular plants in Albania. Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest). We identified the principal axes of variation of the flora and the bioclimatic variables that explain it. We also analysed the bioclimate of Albania by means of a self-organizing map (SOM) of the main climatic variables and the application of the global bioclimatic model of Rivas-Martínez. We compared the analysis based on the flora with that based on the bioclimate. The results divided Albania into eight floristic units corresponding to the main vegetation types ( Carpinus orientalis woodlands, Quercus cerris woodlands, Quercus petraea and Fagus sylvatica woodlands, Quercus coccifera woodlands, Quercus coccifera and Quercus ithaburensis woodlands, Pinus heldreichii woodlands, alpine vegetation of North Albania, and alpine vegetation of eastern Albania). Two main trends of variation can be recognized: four elevational belts, strongly correlated with average July temperature, and a north–south subdivision, weakly correlated with annual rainfall and thermal excursion. The bioclimatic analysis (SOM and Rivas-Martínez model) resolves and adds detail to the axis of the elevational belts but cannot discern the north–south subdivision apart from the high mountains. We obtained a division into eight floristic units ordered according to two gradients: four elevational belts, each in turn subdivided into a north-central and a southern province. These two gradients seem to have a broader meaning in Southern Europe, particularly the north–south subdivision at about 30° latitude. The partial mismatch between the bioclimate and the flora indicates that bioclimatic models of Europe are in need of a revision and suggests that the history, in addition to the present-day climate (for instance, the vegetation of the last glacial maximum), can play a role in shaping the biogeography of Southern Europe.

Understanding and explaining the use of green spaces and forests is challenging for sustainable urban planning. In recent years there has been increasing demand for novel approaches to investigate urban green infrastructure by capitalizing on large databases from existing citizen science tools. In this study, we analyzed iNaturalist data to perform an assessment of the intentional use of these urban spaces for their value and to understand the main drivers. We retrieved the total number of observations obtained across a set of 672 European cities and focused on reporting from mapped green areas and forests. We used two separate multivariate explanatory models to investigate which factors explained variations in the number of observations for green areas and forests. We found a relatively heterogeneous use of these two urban green spaces. Gross domestic product was important in explaining the number of visits. Availability and accessibility also had positive relationships with the use of green areas and forests in cities, respectively. This study paves the way for better integration of citizen science data in assessing cultural services provided by urban green infrastructure and therefore in supporting the evaluation of spatial planning policies for the sustainable development of urban areas.

Aim: The aim of this study is to analyze the mesophilous forests of Albania including Fagus sylvatica and submontane Corylus avellana forests. Mesophilous Albanian forests are poorly known and were not included in the recent syntaxonomic revisions at the European scale. Study area: Albania. Methods: We used a dataset of 284 published and unpublished relevés. They were classified using the Ward’s minimum variance. NMDS ordination was conducted, with over-laying of climatic and geological variables, to analyze the ecological gradients along which these forests develop and segregate. Random Forest was used to define the potential distribution of the identified forest groups in Albania. Results: The study identified seven groups of forests in Albania: Corylus avellana forests, Ostrya carpinifolia-Fagus sylvatica forests, lower montane mesophytic Fagus sylvatica forests, middle montane mesophytic Fagus sylvatica forests, middle montane basiphytic Fagus sylvatica forests, upper montane basiphytic Fagus sylvatica forests, upper montane acidophytic Fagus sylvatica forests. These can be grouped into four main types: Corylus avellana and Ostrya carpinifolia-Fagus sylvatica forests, thermo-basiphytic Fagus sylvatica forest, meso-basiphytic Fagus sylvatica forest and acidophytic Fagus sylvatica forests. This scheme corresponds to the ecological classification recently proposed in a European revision for Fagus sylvatica forests Conclusion: Our study supports an ecological classification of mesophilous forests of Albania at the level of suballiance. Analysis is still preliminary at the level of association, but it shows a high diversity of forest types. Taxonomic reference: Euro+Med PlantBase (http://ww2.bgbm.org/EuroPlusMed/) [accessed 25 Novemeber 2019]. Syntaxonomic references: Mucina et al. (2016) for alliances, orders and classes; Willner et al. (2017) for suballiances.

According to projects and practices that the Italian botanists and ecologists are carrying out for bringing "more nature in the city", new insights for a factual integration between ecological perspectives and more consolidated aesthetic and agronomic approaches to the sustainable planning and management of urban green areas are provided.