Biological Conservation 1993, 64, 11-18
RARE PLANTS OF THE EMILIA-ROMAGNA REGION
(NORTHERN ITALY): A DATA BANK A N D COMPUTER-
MAPPED ATLAS FOR CONSERVATION PURPOSES
C. Ferrari
Institute of Botany, University of Pavia, via S. Epifanio 14, 1--27100 Pavia, Italy
F. Bonafede
WWF, Italian Appeal, Emilia-Romagna Delegation, via Savenella 13, 1-40124 Bologna, Italy
&
A. Alessandrini
Emilia-Romagna Region, Department of the Environment, via dei Mille 21, 1-40121 Bologna, Italy
(Received 18 October 1991; revised version received 5 April 1992; accepted 13 April 1992)
Abstract based on studies that are long Out of date (Filipello,
The creation of a DataBank and computer-mapped atlas 1981). The situation in the Emilia-Romagna region is a
jor the rare plant taxa of Emilia-Romagna region is re- good example: the current knowledge of its flora (2377
ported, more than 20,000 records providing detailed species according to Pignatti & Pignatti, 1990) mainly
information on 170 taxa. For each taxon a computerized dates from the late 19th and the early decades of the
geographical distribution map can be readily plotted on the 20th century and concerns areas that are often
grid of the Atlas of the Central European Flora. Its main provinces or subregions (Nocca & Balbis, 1816-1821;
findings include a list of taxa which are becoming rare or Cocconi, 1883; Gibelli & Pirotta, 1883; Casali, 1899;
extinct and the identification of areas with a wealth of rare Revedin, 1909; Bolzon, 1920; Zangheri, 1936-1966). For
,species, whose conservation is recommended. The Data- a detailed bibliography see Alessandrini and Ferrari
Bank will be employed by the Regional Authority as a plan- (1983). It follows that what is known is inadequate for
ning and monitoring tool for environmental conservation. a regional conservation programme.
To fill this gap a Programme for a Flora DataBank
Key words: Emilia-Romagna, Italy, rare plants, data
of the Emilia-Romagna region was started in 1985. The
bank, atlas.
Emilia-Romagna region is of special interest in Italy's
phytogeography because it is a transition area between
INTRODUCTION the Central European and the Mediterranean regions
(Pignatti, 1979). It includes almost all of the northern
The flora of a given region is an important indicator of
Apennines, most of the southern Po valley and a stretch
~:he state of its environment, as a result of the region's
of the northern Adriatic coastline (Fig. 1). Extensive
rlatural history as well as of the land changes caused by
alterations caused by agriculture date back to the
~nan. The latter generally result in the expansion of taxa
Roman Conquest (about 200 BC). Today the altera-
associated with man (emerophilous plants--Linkola,
tions due to agriculture and other industries restrict the
1919; Jalas, 1955) and in the decline of negatively
natural and subnatural vegetation to small and scattered
affected taxa (emerophobous plants), most of which
areas mainly along the coast and in the Apennines.
become rare or extinct. Rare species are usually associ-
ated with sporadically occurring environments, of limited
geographic extent, which at times take on the character MATERIALS AND METHODS
of an ecotone. The destruction of these environments
The Emilia-Romagna regions, situated between
results in a marked impoverishment in the plant diver-
43°44'45°8 ' Latitude North and 9°12'-12°45' Longitude
sity of an area--a fact that has long been documented
East (Fig. 1), includes eight provinces; Piacenza (PC),
in central and northern Europe (Lawalr6e, 1971;
Parma (PR), Reggio Emilia (RE), Modena (MO),
Sukopp, 1974; Fukarek, 1980).
Bologna (BO), Forli (FO), Ravenna (RA), Ferrara
In Italy, whose flora comprises 5599 species (Pignatti,
(FE), and the Rimini district (RM). The region covers
1982), our knowledge of taxa distribution is often
an area of 22,124 km 2. The Via Emilia--a road whose
Biological Conservation 0006-3207/93/$06.00 © 1993 Elsevier construction dates back to the Roman times--links the
Science Publishers Ltd, England. Printed in Great Britain chief towns of the first six provinces and Rimini. This
11
, 12 C FerrarL F. Bonafede, A. Alessandrini
Sel: Gentiana kochiana Pres: 77 RIV.: 88.8'I Jan. 91
J..~...tL.~.~?..2.~"....~.?)'~.......2.~.~.~..2..s~......~L6.~..~.~.~.?z~
....2o, .. 2s, "~o, I~l, 1~2, 3.3.L.....I.3.~......13S.L.IL6.,......!..32L .13..8.L...I..3..&.....l~q'.....•l%t'.. .•.!~t.....L--
~2 ,......... ~ l
~i
i l
i . . . . .
l
[ ........................................ ...............
L8
....................... i .................................................................
) ) . ) Ls
i / i ip~ ! i ~ ! ..+ .............
/ ) i ) : ~ i i i
i FE 1 ~ !
--."' ............ ! ............ ~ ............ i ............
12~ mi m)m .m L.
[7 .~2
i ,4i mi" mi-- "'L. i :
~ji i ¢ ' " " i i ..........7 i . i : .....
-m.mimm mmimm-mmi i
• ............(,
t~j ~ m m , m m( i mmi
i mimm m l m i iN mi
'+ ........... B O
~.~.......................+ii.....T...._~i
............ i ......... ......
...... +..~,:.+
! i
...-2 ............ + ............ • ............ ;, ............ ~. ......
m i m m:
j'-"- ~ ;' i ....
..". . k~im lil~l ..+ .............
7
13,2 Nr.',
"-J~'i"I "'"'1~I "'""1~I "'"'l~t~I """l ~ I "'""126I ' l ~ l ~ i ~ I '129 I '1~0I """1~i"I '13~ I ' 1 ~ I """l~tiI '1~5 I '13~ I "'""I~ I "'"1~ I '1~§ I "'"lt;0 I """lt~iI " 1 ~ I 'T--
Fig. 1. The distribution map of Gentiana kochiana in the Emilia-Romagna region• An example of a map generated by GMAP.
capital letters: chief towns of provinces and of the Rimini district (RM). For explanation see text. Inset shows location of Emilia-
Romagna Region.
road can be taken as an approximate boundary between coasts; euri-Mediterranean: centred on the Mediter-
the two main parts of the region: that to the north ranean basin; montane-Mediterranean: on the moun-
corresponds to most of the southern Po plain, while tains of the Mediterranean basin; orophytes: usually
that to the south includes almost all the northern slope from the montane to the alpine belt of the south
of the northern Apennines. The higher mountains lie European mountains; Subatlantic: in the European
along the southern border of the region. Its eastern regions with a suboceanic climate; boreal: mainly in the
border corresponds to a stretch of the northern Adriatic northern (boreal) region of the northern hemisphere,
coasts. including taxa distributed both in the arctic region and
For the computer-mapped atlas the grid of the Atlas in the alpine belt of the higher European mountains
of the Central European Flora (Ehrendorfer & Hamann, (arctic-alpine taxa); Eurasian: species belonging to the
1965; Niklfeld, 1971; Pignatti, 1978) was adopted. In Eurasian flora; widespread taxa: cosmopolitan species
this Atlas each sector of the grid (6' Latitude and 10' and species whose distribution area is not centred on
Longitude) is termed Base Area. As in a matrix, each Eurasia.
Base Area is identified by its row and column numbers. The field data were collected from 1985 to 1990 by a
Rows are numbered from north to south and columns team of volunteers coordinated by the authors. The data
from west to east. Each Base Area is divided into four filing and handling programs were L u c y (Input Base
Quadrants (1, 2, 3, 4) of 3' Latitude and 5' Longitude Archive), DOCTOR (handling of other archives), and
each. In each map, their arrangement is shown in the FASTGRI and G M A P (for distribution-map generation,
top left Base Area. developed by A. Cellini). The L u c y and DOCTOR soft-
As its first step the Programme for the Flora Data- ware were written in DBIII, FASTGRI in MICROSOFT®
Bank of the Emilia-Romagna region considered QUICK BASIC 4.00 and GMAP, which is for the
170 taxa (about the 7% of the regional flora). These moment linked to the Olivetti M24 hardware system, in
include most of the rare plant taxa at a regional level G W basic. Maps of other geographical areas can be
as well as all the taxa protected by law (Regional Act generated with slight modifications. DBIII Plus, an
No. 2 of 1977). Table 1 provides a list of the taxa Ashton-Tate Ltd, Natick MA, USA, software product,
surveyed. Except for the Orchidaceae (Sundermann, was used to generate tables and to support the input
1980), taxa names and phytogeographic elements software.
follow Pignatti (1982). The phytogeographic elements The collected data were filed as follows: (a) taxon name;
considered (Table 1) are listed according to their (b) province; (c) quadrant number; (d) commune; (e)
decreasing local rarity and are defined as follows: site name; (f) minimum elevation; (g) maximum eleva-
endemic: species belonging entirely or mainly to Italy; tion; (h) collector's name; (i) habitat code; (j) date; (k)
steno-Mediterranean: chiefly along the Mediterranean record number.
