Important Plant Areas in Italy

Abstract

Important Plant Areas in Italy project represents an important contribution to the planning of strategies designed to enhance biodiversity conservation. The national working group was composed of a network of 100 botanical in order to obtain original information and draw up a detailed, nationwide picture of the situation in Italy. IPAs were identified on the basis of a range of taxonomic groups (such as vascular plants, bryophytes, freshwater algae, lichens and fungi) and habitats in order to promote an integrated model of knowledge for the conservation of plant diversity. An approach based on the overlapping of the species and habitat maps was used to identify the most important areas for plant diversity and to pinpoint any "hotspots" of richness and diversity. A total of 320 IPAs were identified in Italy, covering approximately 15% of the country. Results highlighted the need for new basic research projects designed to integrate and update the information currently available on the distribution of plant species s.l. and habitats in our country. Nonetheless, the project represents an important contribution to respond to several targets defined by Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) and European Strategy for Plant Conservation (ESPC).