Contribution to the knowledge of aquatic vegetation of montane and submontane areas of Northern Apennines (Italy)

By

Viciani, Daniele
Angiolini, Claudia
Bonari, Gianmaria
Bottacci, Alessandro
Dell’olmo, Lorella
Gonnelli, Vincenzo
Zoccola, Antonio
Lastrucci, Lorenzo

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2022-6-20

Original Publication

Plant sociology

Volume

59

Series / Issue

Issue: 1

Pages

25--35

Subjects

Conservation , freshwater ecosystem , Habitat , hydrophyte , Phytosociology , Syntaxonomy , Vegetation

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Pavia Società italiana di scienza della vegetazione 2012-2019

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/pls2022591/03

 

Abstract

The importance of wetlands for biodiversity conservation is widely recognized. Their relevance is crucial in the identification of habitat types included in the Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC and in the application of the following conservation measures. Yet, several montane and submontane areas are poorly investigated from the phytosociological point of view. Here we studied aquatic communities of the Tuscan-Romagna Apennines in Italy using 52 vegetation plots dominated by hydrophytes collected in wetlands of natural and artificial origin. We analysed our data using a cluster analysis and identified 12 vegetation types that we classified as three vegetation classes Charetea intermediae, Lemnetea and Potamogetonetea, and two habitat types of conservation importance, as the hard oligo-mesotrophic waters with benthic vegetation of Chara spp. (Natura 2000 code 3140) and the natural eutrophic lakes with Magnopotamion or Hydrocharition (Natura 2000 code 3150). Our study highlights the diversity of aquatic habitats in montane and submontane areas of the Northern Apennines where water bodies are generally small and scattered. This study further highlights the important role of natural freshwater ecosystems for vegetation, but also the notable role of partly or entirely artificial water bodies in maintaining aquatic communities.