Long-term monitoring of plant diversity data in the “Montagna di Torricchio” strict Nature Reserve, Italy

The plant diversity monitoring is based on a probabilistic sampling scheme providing a final design with multiple scale sampling units: 1 mq (subplot), 100 mq (the main unit, plot). This approach has a solid theoretical background that permits statistically valid inference on plant species richness at different spatial scales [6] and has been applied in the Torricchio nature reserve for monitoring purposes [1] as well as in other protected areas for relating plant diversity data to remotely sensed information [7, 8] or even to analyse cross-taxon congruency [9, 10]. The Regional Technical Maps 325010 (Marche Region - 1:10,000) was originally georeferenced through the UTM (ED50) coordinates. The map was divided into 500 m × 500 m cells covering the entire Nature Reserve, and one macroplot of 100 m × 100 m was randomly selected on each cell. Each macroplot was divided in four quadrants of 2500 m2, for each quadrant a point was randomly selected. A final cluster of four random points, identified as the SW vertex of the corresponding 10 m × 10 m plots, was generated within each single macroplot. Only the nine clusters fully included in the Nature Reserve were considered, resulting in 35 plots. During field activities of the first survey, the SW corner of each plot (or macroplot) was localised with GPS (error ± 10 m) and materialised with a wooden pole. The subsequent surveys were based on this materialised position, permitting almost perfect relocalisation of sampling units and removing site location errors. Species were identified using the taxonomy of [11]. Additionally, we also provided an additional column with standardised species names using the updated list of vascular flora of Italy [12].

[1] Chelli, S.; Simonetti, E.; Campetella, G.; Chiarucci, A.; Cervellini, M.; Tardella, F.M.; Tomasella, M.; Canullo, R., ‘Plant diversity changes in a nature reserve: a probabilistic sampling method for quantitative assessments’, NC, vol. 34, pp. 145–161, May 2019, doi: 10.3897/natureconservation.34.30043.

[6] Baffetta, F., Bacaro, G., Fattorini, L., Rocchini, D., & Chiarucci, A. (2007). Multi-stage cluster sampling for estimating average species richness at different spatial grains. Community Ecology, 8(1), 119–127. https://doi.org/10.1556/ComEc.8.2007.1.14

[7] Rocchini, D., Andreini Butini, S., & Chiarucci, A. (2005). Maximizing plant species inventory efficiency by means of remotely sensed spectral distances. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 14(5), 431–437. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-822x.2005.00169.x

[8] Rocchini, D., Ricotta, C., & Chiarucci, A. (2007). Using satellite imagery to assess plant species richness: The role of multispectral systems. Applied Vegetation Science, 10(2002), 325–331. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1654-109X.2007.tb00431.x

[9] Santi, E., Maccherini, S., Rocchini, D., Bonini, I., Brunialti, G., Favilli, L., Perini, C., Pezzo, F., Piazzini, S., Rota, E., Salerni, E., & Chiarucci, A. (2010). Simple to sample: Vascular plants as surrogate group in a nature reserve. Journal for Nature Conservation, 18(1), 2–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2009.02.003

[10] Santi, E., Bacaro, G., Rocchini, D., Chiarucci, A., Bonini, I., Brunialti, G., Muggia, L., & Maccherini, S. (2016). Methodological issues in exploring cross-taxon congruence across vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens. Folia Geobotanica, 51(4), 297–304. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12224-016-9265-9

[11] Pignatti, S., Flora d’Italia 1982. Edagricole, Bologna.

[12] Bartolucci F, Peruzzi L, Galasso G, Alessandrini A, Ardenghi NMG, Bacchetta G, Banfi E, Barberis G, Bernardo L, Bouvet D, Bovio M, Calvia G, Castello M, Cecchi L, Del Guacchio E, Domina G, Fascetti S, Gallo L, Gottschlich G, Guarino R, Gubellini L, Hofmann N, Iberite M, Jiménez-Melías P, Longo D, Marchetti D, Martini F, Masin RR, Medagli P, Peccenini S, Prosser F, Roma-Marzio F, Rosati L, Santangelo A, Scoppola A, Selvaggi A, Selvi F, Soldano A, Stinca A, Wagensommer RP, Wilhalm T, Conti F (2024). A second update to the checklist of the vascular flora native to Italy. Plant Biosystems, 158(2): 219–296. https://doi.org/10.1080/11263504.2024.2320126