Implementation of IUCN criteria for the definition of the Red List of Ecosystems in Italy
The present work is aimed at presenting the data, methods and criteria that are being used for the assessment of ecosystem collapse risk in Italy.
potential natural vegetation
Ecosystem mapping for the implementation of the European biodiversity strategy at the national level. The case of Italy
Several international initiatives, including the European Biodiversity Strategy to 2020, promote the identification and mapping of ecosystems as basic tools for the conservation of biodiversity and related services. On coarse scales, the spatial representation of ecosystems is usually based on broad land cover categories that largely overlook important ecological and biogeographic features of the biotic communities they are meant to exemplify.