Sciandrello, S.; Ranno, V.; Tomaselli, V. The Role of Vegetation Monitoring in the Conservation of Coastal Habitats N2000: A Case Study of a Wetland Area in Southeast Sicily (Italy). Land2024, 13, 62.
Sciandrello, S.; Ranno, V.; Tomaselli, V. The Role of Vegetation Monitoring in the Conservation of Coastal Habitats N2000: A Case Study of a Wetland Area in Southeast Sicily (Italy). Land 2024, 13, 62.
Sciandrello, S.; Ranno, V.; Tomaselli, V. The Role of Vegetation Monitoring in the Conservation of Coastal Habitats N2000: A Case Study of a Wetland Area in Southeast Sicily (Italy). Land2024, 13, 62.
Sciandrello, S.; Ranno, V.; Tomaselli, V. The Role of Vegetation Monitoring in the Conservation of Coastal Habitats N2000: A Case Study of a Wetland Area in Southeast Sicily (Italy). Land 2024, 13, 62.
Abstract
The coastal wetlands of the Mediterranean area are among the most vulnerable and threatened environments due to human pressure and activities. Fragmentation is generally considered as one of the most driving factors in habitats loss. In this paper, we investigated the floristic composition, structure, conservation status, and trends of the habitat types sensu 92/43EEC Directive of a coastal wetland area in south-eastern Sicily (“Saline di Priolo” SAC). Based on 128 phytosociological surveys and several plant collections, a total of 304 taxa, 28 plant communities and 16 habitats have been identified. Furthermore, three new plant associations were described, including two in the wetland and one on the rocky coasts. For the classification of plant communities and habitats, a hierarchical clustering was performed by using Euclidean coefficient and beta-flexible algorithm. The life form spectrum of the current flora highlights the dominance of therophytes and hemicryptophytes. The Mediterranean species are largely prevailing with 123 taxa. The cartographic analysis performed with ArcGis 10.3 shows a radical reduction of the wetland habitats in the last 70 years, and a strong alteration of the ecological succession of the psammophilous-hygrophilous vegetation. Moreover, landscape configuration of the coastal vegetation and habitat types was well highlighted by a set of specific landscape metrics. In particular, our outcomes identify three habitats (2110, 2210, and 5220* EU code) with bad conservation status, among which one of priority conservation (Zyziphus arborescent matorral), that requires urgent restoration measures.
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
