New Alien Plant Taxa for Italy and Europe: An Update.

Despite the wide amount of scientific contributions published on alien plant species, their diffusion dynamics, and their interactions with native taxa, it is increasingly difficult to slow down their spreading and their negative impact on habitats. Last recent years, in fact, a sharp rise in the number of new alien plant taxa introduced in Italy and Europe has been recorded. The aim of this work is to investigate most of the Italian territory in order to verify whether this alarming trend is still underway. Specimen collections and/or observations of alien plants have been performed in as many as 12 Italian regions. All the collected specimens are stored in public or private herbaria. Taxa have been identified according to the literature from the countries of origin of the investigated taxa, while the nomenclature followed the current international references. Updates on 106 taxa are reported. In particular, among 117 new records, 89 are first records, 27 are changes to status and there is 1 extinction. Seven new taxa for Italian alien flora are reported, two of which are new to Europe. The administrative regions with the highest number of records are Calabria (48), Sardegna (17) and Sicilia (15). Five of the surveyed taxa, for the first time, have been considered invasive aliens to Italian territory. The unfrequent amount of original results provided by this work, over the simple importance of data itself, proves how floristic investigation, still today, represents one of the most effective tools in broadening the current knowledge about alien taxa and their dynamics.

Floristic Richness in a Mediterranean Hotspot: A Journey across Italy.

Species richness is a fundamental property of biodiversity patterns and is properly expressed by the species-area relationship (SAR), namely the increase in the number of species with the area. Here, we studied and explored the species-area relationship with respect to vascular plant species in Italy and compared vascular plant richness among Italian administrative regions. Concerning the entire vascular flora (native and alien), the best-performing formula is the Arrhenius' Power function: S = c Az. The constants of this function are c = 241.2 and z = 0.281. The best-performing formula concerning just native (c = 245.2 and z = 0.263) and alien (c = 10.1 and z = 0.404) richness is the Power function as well. The floristically richest Italian regions considering the entire flora are Liguria, Friuli Venezia Giulia, and Trentino-Alto Adige, which are also the regions that are richest in alien flora unfortunately. Regions of particular naturalistic interest are Abruzzo, Valle d'Aosta, and Molise, because only these three regions exhibit native floristic richness that is higher than expected, and this is coupled with an alien floristic richness that is lower than expected. On the contrary, four regions (Lombardia, Veneto, Toscana, and Emilia-Romagna) show potentially severe conservation problems due to biological invasions since they experience native floristic richness that is lower than expected, with an alien floristic richness that is higher than expected. This study offers for the first time the 'c' and 'z' constants specifically calibrated at the national level for Italian vascular flora. The availability of such constants allows the calculation of the number of expected species for a given area to be investigated, providing a robust starting hypothesis for floristic studies.

Monitoring the composition, sources and spatial distribution of seafloor litter in the Adriatic Sea (Mediterranean Sea) through Fishing for Litter initiatives.

Although the seafloor is an important sink for marine litter, its less accessible environment makes seafloor litter the least studied component. Nevertheless, detailed monitoring of its composition and spatial distribution is urgently needed to develop appropriate mitigation strategies in areas exposed to multiple anthropogenic pressures, such as the Adriatic Sea. Commercial fisheries such as bottom trawls can serve as an opportunistic platform for collecting data on seafloor litter and help researchers in addressing the lack of data through Fishing for Litter initiatives. In this study, the crews of twelve trawlers from two Italian Adriatic ports collected seafloor litter as part of their Fishing for Litter initiatives. In addition to the classical scheme, the collected litter was sorted on board into different bags, and speed, duration and geographical coordinates of each haul were recorded to allow an assessment of both densities and spatial distribution. More than 600 kg of litter was removed from the seafloor by the fishers in approximately 1 month and characterised by the researchers on the docks. Most of the found items were made of synthetic polymers and related to packaging, fisheries and aquaculture activities. Abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear and mussel nets were identified as of particular concern in the maritime compartment of Chioggia and Civitanova Marche, respectively. Three hotspots for marine litter were identified: near the Venice lagoon, in the centre of the northern basin and at greater depth in the central Adriatic. This study provides a detailed picture of the spatial distribution and composition of seafloor litter in the areas studied and highlights the importance of increased cooperation between fishermen and scientists to improve the identification of hotspots and sources while removing marine litter from the seafloor and raising awareness of the problem.

A Nomenclatural and Taxonomic Revision of the Senecio squalidus Group (Asteraceae).

Senecio squalidus (Asteraceae) currently includes nine subspecies distributed in North and Central Europe and in the Mediterranean basin. Within this taxonomic aggregate, many species have been described, but research on their nomenclatural types is incomplete. A complete nomenclatural survey of 19 names belonging to this taxonomically critical group was carried out. Fourteen lectotypes are here designated. The nomenclatural analysis, complemented by field investigations in the type localities of the taxa described in the Central Mediterranean, allowed us to accept 10 species. Accordingly, we proposed here a new name and a new missing combination at a specific level: S. aknoulensis and S. calabrus.

Identification of poisonous plants by DNA barcoding approach.

The plant exposures are one of the most frequent poisonings reported to poison control centres. The diagnosis of intoxicated patients is usually based on the morphological analysis of ingested plant portions; this procedure requires experience in systematic botany, because the plant identification is based on few evident traits. The objective of this research is to test DNA barcoding approach as a new universal tool to identify toxic plants univocally and rapidly. Five DNA barcode regions were evaluated: three cpDNA sequences (trnH-psbA, rpoB and matK) and two nuclear regions (At103 and sqd1). The performance of these markers was evaluated in three plant groups: (1) a large collection of angiosperms containing different toxic substances, (2) congeneric species showing different degrees of toxicity and (3) congeneric edible and poisonous plants. Based on assessments of PCR, sequence quality and resolution power in species discrimination, we recommend the combination of plastidial and nuclear markers to identify toxic plants. Concerning plastidial markers, matK and trnH-psbA showed consistent genetic variability. However, in agreement with CBOL Plant Working Group, we selected matK as the best marker, because trnH-psbA showed some problems in sequences sizes and alignments. As a final and relevant observation, we also propose the combination of matK with a nuclear marker such as At103 to distinguish toxic hybrids form parental species. In conclusion, our data support the claim that DNA barcoding is a powerful tool for poisonous plant identifications.

Typification and taxonomic remarks on five species names in Cytisus (Fabaceae).

This paper deals with the typification and taxonomy of five Mediterranean Cytisus species. Cytisus affinis, C. candidus, and C. spinescens nom. illeg., non Sieber ex Spreng. were described from Sicily by Karel Borivoj Presl, Cytisus spinescens was described from Apulia (southern Italy) by Curt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel, and C. villosus was described from southern France by Pierre André Pourret (1788). Lectotypes are here designated for Presl and Sprengel's names. A neotype is designated for C. villosus. The taxonomic revision of these five names confirmed that C. villosus Pourr. (= Cytisus affinis C.Presl) is the name to be used for the species occurring in the large part of the Mediterranean countries. Cytisus spinescens Sieber ex Spreng. (≡ C. candidus C.Presl = C. spinescens C.Presl, nom. illeg.) is the correct name for the amphi-adriatic species occurring in peninsular Italy, and along the NE coast of the Adriatic Sea. This species does not occur in Sicily and reference to this latter region in the protologues of both C. spinescens C.Presl and C. candidus C.Presl is a misinterpretation due, possibly, to exchange of labels.

FlorItaly - the portal to the Flora of Italy.

Digital data concerning the flora of Italy are largely fragmented among different resources hosted on different platforms, and often with different data standards, which are neither connected by a common access point, nor by web services, thus constituting a relevant obstacle to data access and usage. Taxonomic incongruences add a further complication. This paper describes "FlorItaly", an online information system which allows to access and query updated information on the checklist of the flora of Italy, aiming at becoming an aggregator for Italian botanical resources. "FlorItaly" was developed in a collaborative effort by more than 50 taxonomists, with the support of the Italian Botanical Society, and of Project "Dryades" (University of Trieste), to provide a better and reliable organization of botanical knowledge in Italy, as well as a relevant simplification for data retrieval, and a further stimulus towards a more collaborative approach in botanical research.