Published June 30, 2021 | Version v1
Journal article Open

Shedding light on typical species: implications for habitat monitoring

Creators

  • 1. Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Piazza Università, 5, 39100, Bolzano, Italy
  • 2. Ca' Foscari University, Department of Environmental Science, Informatics and Statistics, Dorsoduro 3246, 30123 Venezia, Italy
  • 3. University of Florence, Department of Biology, Via La Pira 4, 5014, Firenze, Italy
  • 4. Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificación, Valencia, Spain|Roma Tre University, Viale G. Marconi 446, 00146 Roma, Italy
  • 5. University of Rome 3, Department of Sciences, Viale G. Marconi 446, 00146 Roma, Italy
  • 6. Marche Polytechnic University, Via Brecce Bianche, I–60131 Ancona, Italy
  • 7. University of Pavia, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, via S. Epifanio 14, Pavia, Italy
  • 8. University of Milan, Department of Biosciences, via Celoria 26, Milano, Italy
  • 9. University of L'Aquila, Department of Life, Health & Environmental Sciences, Via Vetoio, 67100 Coppito (L'Aquila), Italy
  • 10. University of Perugia, Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Borgo XX giugno, 74 - 06121 Perugia, Italy
  • 11. University of Sassari, Desertification Research Centre, Via de Nicola, I-07100, Sassari, Italy
  • 12. Marche Polytechnic University, Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Via Brecce Bianche, I–60131 Ancona, Italy
  • 13. University of Milan, Department of Biosciences, Via Celoria 26 - 20133 Milano, Italy
  • 14. University of Florence, Department of Biology, Via G. La Pira 4, I-50121 Firenze, Italy
  • 15. Roma Tre University, Department of Sciences, Viale G. Marconi 446, 00146 Roma, Italy
  • 16. University of Siena, Department of Life Sciences, via Aldo Moro – Siena, Italy
  • 17. University of Palermo, Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences, Viale delle Scienze 13, Palermo, Italy
  • 18. University of Turin, DISAFA Department, Largo P. Braccini 2, 10095, Grugliasco (Torino), Italy
  • 19. University of Pavia, Department of Earth and Environment Sciences, via S. Epifanio 14, Pavia, Italy
  • 20. University of Palermo, Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche Chimiche e Farmaceutiche (STEBICEF), Via Archirafi, 38, I 90123 – Palermo, Italy
  • 21. University of Pisa, Department of Agricultural, Food and Agro-Environmental Sciences, Via del Borghetto, 80, I- 56124 Pisa, Italy
  • 22. University of Parma, SCVSA Department, Parco Area delle Scienze 33/a, 43124 Parma, Italy
  • 23. University of Perugia, Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Perugia, Italy
  • 24. University of Camerino, School of Biosciences and Medicine Veterinary, Via Pontoni 5, I-62032, Camerino (MC), Italy
  • 25. University Ca' Foscari of Venice, Department of Environmental Science, Informatics and Statistics, Dorsoduro 3246, 30123 Venezia, Italy
  • 26. Strada Altichiari Cannuccio 14, Strada Altichiari Cannuccio 14, Monteriggioni (Siena), Italy
  • 27. University of Sassari, Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Via Vienna, 2, Sassari, Italy
  • 28. ISPRA (Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale) , via Vitaliano Brancati 48 - 00144 Roma, Italy
  • 29. none, -, Italy
  • 30. University of Insubria, Department of Biotechnologies and Life Sciences, via J.H. Dunant, 3 - I-21100 Varese, Italy
  • 31. Ente Parco Nazionale della Maiella, Ufficio Monitoraggio e Conservazione delle Biodiversità vegetale, Via Badia 28, Sulmona (L'Aquila), Italy
  • 32. Sapienza University of Rome, Department PDTA, Via Flaminia 72 I-00196 – Roma, Italy
  • 33. Iuav University of Venice, Dipartimento di Culture del progetto, Santa Croce 191 Tolentini 30135 Venezia, Italy
  • 34. Department of Biology, University of Florence, Via Madonna del Piano, 6 - 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Firenze), Italy
  • 35. University of Molise, Department Bioscience and Territory, Contrada Fonte Lappone, 86090 Pesche (Isernia), Italy
  • 36. ARPA Puglia, Lecce, Italy
  • 37. University of Bologna, Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Via Irnerio 42, 40126 Bologna, Italy
  • 38. University of Turin, Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, Largo Paolo Braccini 2, I-10095 Grugliasco (Torino), Italy
  • 39. Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Department of Spatial Sciences, Kamycka 129, 165 00 Prague 6, Czech Republic
  • 40. Masaryk University, Department of Botany and Zoology, Brno, Czech Republic
  • 41. ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development. Department of Energy Technologies and Renewable Sources, Casaccia, 2400/00123 Rome, Italy
  • 42. none, Regione Serramonte, 10, 10010 Andrate (TO), Italy
  • 43. Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, , Department of Agriculture; loc. Feo di Vito, I-89122 Reggio Calabria, Italy
  • 44. Sapienza University of Rome, Department of Environmental Biology, Roma, Italy
  • 45. University of Sassari, Department of Agriculture, Piazza Università 21 - 07100, Sassari, Italy
  • 46. Indipendent Researcher and ecologist for CEN, Auvergne 15300, France, Italy
  • 47. University of Perugia, Department of Chemistry, Biology and Biotechnology, via del Giochetto 16, Ed. A, 06122 Perugia, Italy
  • 48. Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Department of Science and Technology, Piazza Università, 5, 39100, Bolzano, Italy
  • 49. University of Siena, Department of Environment, Earth and Physical Sciences, Siena, Italy
  • 50. University of Siena, Department of Life Science, Via P.A. Mattioli 4, 53100, Siena, Italy
  • 51. IInstitute for Timber Plants and the Environment, Corso Casale 476, I-10132 Torino, Italy
  • 52. Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria, Department of Agriculture, Loc. Feo di Vito, I-89122 Reggio Calabria, Italy
  • 53. University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Department of Environmental, Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies, via Vivaldi 43, 81100 Caserta, Italy
  • 54. University of Molise, Department of Biosciences and Territory, C.da Fonte Lappone,86090 Pesche (Isernia), , Italy
  • 55. University of Padua, Botanical Garden of Padua, Via Orto Botanico 15, I-35121 Padova, Italy
  • 56. none, Giavera del Montello, I-31040 Treviso, Italy

Description

Habitat monitoring in Europe is regulated by Article 17 of the Habitats Directive, which suggests the use of typical species to assess habitat conservation status. Yet, the Directive uses the term "typical" species but does not provide a definition, either for its use in reporting or for its use in impact assessments. To address the issue, an online workshop was organized by the Italian Society for Vegetation Science (SISV) to shed light on the diversity of perspectives regarding the different concepts of typical species, and to discuss the possible implications for habitat monitoring. To this aim, we inquired 73 people with a very different degree of expertise in the field of vegetation science by means of a tailored survey composed of six questions. We analysed the data using Pearson's Chi-squared test to verify that the answers diverged from a random distribution and checked the effect of the degree of experience of the surveyees on the results. We found that most of the surveyees agreed on the use of the phytosociological method for habitat monitoring and of the diagnostic and characteristic species to evaluate the structural and functional conservation status of habitats. With this contribution, we shed light on the meaning of "typical" species in the context of habitat monitoring.

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Figure: 10.3897/pls2020581/08.figure1 (DOI)
Figure: 10.3897/pls2020581/08.figure2 (DOI)