Ricerc@Sapienza

Traditional farming, where livestock is seasonally managed as free-ranging and the use of drugs is reduced or absent, may prove beneficial to biodiversity by fostering the occurrence of spatial heterogeneity, and increasing the availability of trophic resources to wildlife. Previous work indicates that the presence of cattle in lowlands leads to an increase in bat foraging activity, yet no study has addressed this topic in mountainous regions, where free-ranging livestock is still common.

An original method for the identification of High Natural Value farmlands is presented. Gathering information about land use (CORINE Land Cover), geomorphology (elevation and Terrain Ruggedness Index) and remote sensing data in a GIS environment we were able to develop a new detection process; its application to a wide sector of central Italy, in areas characterized by high biodiversity and relevant agronomic and cultural value, is presented. Thus, a new tool for diminishing sampling efforts and economic and time wastes in territorial studies is provided.

An assessment of the natural value of some extensively managed agroecosystems in Latium region (central Italy) has been made, through the collection of floristic and phytosociological data and the development of new indices (Floristic Naturalness Index – FNI and a set of synthetic indices). The survey allowed the evaluation of the study areas as High Natural Value Farmland areas. In a GIS environment, a mapping of the naturalness levels was then carried out.

The interest in the ecological role of weed communities within arable fields has increased greatly in recent years. The aim of this work was to provide an original tool for arable land naturalness estimation, based on the many features of plants that colonize crops. Taking account of taxonomic, structural, chorological and ecological features of weed taxa as exoticism, Raunkier life-form and edaphic preference, a new index (Arable Land Naturalness Index – ALNI) was developed, which allowed for an evaluation score to be obtained for a given field.

Detecting patterns of species co-occurrence is among the main tasks of plant community ecology. Arable plant communities are important elements of agroecosystems, because they support plant and animal biodiversity and provide ecosystem services. These plant communities are shaped by both agricultural and environmental drivers. The pressure of intensive agriculture worldwide has caused the decline of many characteristic arable species and communities. Italy is the European country where arable plant biodiversity is the best preserved.

The weed vegetation of the bean “Fagiolo Cannellino di Atina” (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and the red pepper “Peperone di Pontecorvo”
(Capsicum annuum L.) PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) crops was surveyed by means of 16 relevés, sampled in four farms of
southern Latium during July 2019. The relevés were subjected to multivariate analysis, which revealed that the two crops are weeded
by vegetation types referable to two different subassociations of Panico-Polygonetum persicariae (Spergulo-Erodion, Eragrostietalia,

We present the first inventory of the segetal flora of Italian winter cereal crops and allied crop types. The database consists of over 30,000 records, derived from different sources. We provide information and analyses on life forms, chorotypes, Ellenberg indicator values and preferential habitats of the flora. The inventory includes 987 vascular taxa and nothotaxa (868 species, 118 subspecies and 1 nothosubspecies), belonging to 354 genera and 55 families. Characteristic segetal species are 128, while 740 are generalist or accidental species from other habitats.