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A methodological approach to assessing the conservation status of coastal habitats: the case study of Calabria (Southern Italy)

  • Antonio Morabito
  • Carmelo Musarella
  • Giuseppe Caruso
  • Giovanni Spampinato

The Mediterranean coasts are threatened by human activities that cause changes and alterations in the vegetation. This study aims to assess the impact of urbanisation on the conservation status of EEC Directive 43/92 habitats. We used all polygons in the range 0-200 m above sea level. Using QGIS, we calculated the distance in metres between the vegetation relevés of the habitats and the centre of the polygons coded as urban. A total of 73 vegetation relevés were carried out, which allowed us to recognise 13 revealing habitats. The total diversity of plant species per habitat was measured with the H-index used to assess naturalness (N), considering native, alien and disturbance species differently. The analysis showed that the highest values of H⁺ were found in habitats 1430, 2110 and 2240 while lower values were observed in habitats 2270*, 2250*,2210. The results showed that habitats 2270* and 2250*, which are closer to urban centres, show a lower naturalness value than habitats 1210, 1240, 2110 and 2240, with higher naturalness values and therefore a low disturbance. This methodology can be used by managers to identify the most sensitive coastal dunes and implement a conservation strategy.

  • Keywords:
  • Diversity; Naturalness; Calabria Region; Habitat; alien and disturbing species.,
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Antonio Morabito

Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, Italy - ORCID: 0009-0002-2087-6731

Carmelo Musarella

Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-0120-190X

Giuseppe Caruso

Agricultural Technical Institute "V. Emanuele II", Italy - ORCID: 0009-0006-4370-0375

Giovanni Spampinato

Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-7700-841X

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Chapter Information

Chapter Title

A methodological approach to assessing the conservation status of coastal habitats: the case study of Calabria (Southern Italy)

Authors

Antonio Morabito, Carmelo Musarella, Giuseppe Caruso, Giovanni Spampinato

Language

Italian

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0556-6.23

Peer Reviewed

Publication Year

2024

Copyright Information

© 2024 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Bibliographic Information

Book Title

Tenth International Symposium Monitoring of Mediterranean Coastal Areas: Problems and Measurement Techniques

Book Subtitle

Livorno (Italy) 11th-13th June 2024

Editors

Laura Bonora, Marcantonio Catelani, Matteo De Vincenzi, Giorgio Matteucci

Peer Reviewed

Publication Year

2024

Copyright Information

© 2024 Author(s)

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CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

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Firenze University Press

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0556-6

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979-12-215-0556-6

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979-12-215-0557-3

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Monitoring of Mediterranean Coastal Areas: Problems and Measurement Techniques

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2975-0288

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