N. 1 - Caves and karst phenomenon. Life in the underground world

The caves: kingdom of absolute darkness and silence, broken only by dripping and by the flow of water. Darkness, silence, but not only: a multitude of blind and colorless organisms - from small crustaceans and insects to the mythical proteus - wander in darkness. This is not a rare and curious phenomenon: Italy, with 27% of the territory made up of karst rocks, has over 33,000 caves. Evolution has transformed every karst massif into a unique and unrepeatable world, where we can find numerous endemic species, which do not exist anywhere else on Earth. It is precisely the presence of endemic species that is one of the criteria that the European Community Habitats Directive uses for the choice of natural areas that we have a duty to protect. This volume aims to be a guide to the world of caves and its inhabitants, and wants to make accessible to all the most relevant aspects of a scientific knowledge hitherto contained only in difficult specialized publications.

N. 2 - Resurgences and fountains. Plain springs in northern Italy

Resurgences, fountains: these are the different names with which the people of northern Italy know, for centuries, those that have come to day waters from the underground aquifer that characterize the border between the High and the Low Plain, from Piedmont to Friuli. The phenomenon of resurgences has played an important economic role in the past: providing water for irrigation, encouraging the development of rice fields, transforming into a source of energy by feeding the mills. They are environments unfortunately reduced today to small but precious residual flaps that host, in almost always precarious conditions, precious floristic and faunal emergencies. The rivers that originate from the resurgence waters are home to a very varied fauna, alongside the fish - today threatened by the ingress of alien ichthyo fauna - the ideal habitat is the crayfish, protected by current legislation. The flora represents a unicum, with relict forms, such as drosera or butterwort, or endemic such as the Friulian erucastro and the calamaria of Malinverni. Defending these last strips of landscape, now almost disappeared, is the only way to preserve the species that live in it.

N. 3 - The forests of the Po Valley. A labyrinth dissolved

The Po plain forests represent what remains of the forest that once covered the Po Valley-Veneto, now almost completely disappeared due to centuries-old human activity. These witnesses of ancient natural and human events host faunal populations sometimes unique in the world, such as the Lataste frog or the shrew of the Arvonchi forest, recently described as a new species for science. The Po Valley forests also offer shelter to many species of insects such as the imposing flying deer, recently included in the list of species of Community interest in the Habitats Directive. This forest "labyrinth" Padano today dissolved is what remains of the large forests of oaks, elms and lime trees of the pre-Roman era, forest formation today described as Asparagus tenuifolii-Quercetum roboris. Knowing the environmental heritage of these formations is, on the other hand, the irreplaceable basis for the conservation in time of these woodlands, to enjoy them in the knowledge of their intrinsic qualities, to educate the new generations to respect the world in which we live.

N. 4 - Dunes and sandy beaches. Environment between land and sea

Long sandy stretches or small beaches set among rocky bays: of the 7000 km of coastline that surround our peninsula, deeply wedged into the Mediterranean Sea, over 3000 are made up of these bands of border between land and sea. The beaches are the result of the continuous modelling operated by the sea and the wind, dynamic systems in continuous change, fed by the great amounts of sediment that the rivers bring to the sea in equilibrium with what the sea removes from the shores. A complex relationship in which plays a fundamental role the development of the pioneer vegetation on the dunes that can allow its consolidation. Many are the endemic plants of these difficult environments, conditioned by strong thermal changes, high dryness and presence of salt. Due to their peculiarity, some plants, such as the splendid Matthiola sinuata, are protected by European legislation. Some small sandy bays of the islands are the last place where the sea turtle (Caretta caretta) lays its eggs in spring. Alone these treasures of nature would justify the protection of these areas, strongly threatened by the intense tourist exploitation.

N. 5 - Mountain streams. Life in running waters

The rushing waters that flow along the sides of the mountains have always been a source of attraction for man. We see in the mountain streams uncontaminated environments but they constitute a severe and selective habitat for the organisms that populate it. Nevertheless, numerous animal and plant species specialized in living in streams. But to be specialized also means to be vulnerable: the meteoric events, that shape in continuity the torrential auctions, and the human interventions, even modest, can disturb the delicate ecological balances of these environments. The traditional activities of mountain people (sheep farming, forestry) have had limited consequences on the ecosystem of the stream and have declined sharply in recent years. But in concomitance have been built works of strong environmental impact (bridles, canalizations, derivations, embankments), aimed at bending the stream to the will of man. The present volume, dedicated to mountain streams, deals with all this: it examines in detail the geological, botanical and faunal aspects of the Italian high altitude running waters, but not only.

N. 6 - The Mediterranean scrub. Coastal evergreen formations

A green strip that covers the hilly slopes near the sea, which in spring is enriched with yellow blooms of broom, white or pink cysts or blue rosemary: here is the Mediterranean scrub. More closely, it translates into a dense tangle of branches of holm oak, strawberry tree, alaterno and lilac, when it is not dominated by the size of the old cork oaks or does not resolve in the myriad of needle-like leaves of heathers and junipers. From the point of view of the fauna, the maquis is the meeting point of species typical of different environments, but finds its most characteristic connotation in other elements, of steppe or subdesertic origin. Distributed above all along the coastal belt, over the centuries the maquis has been largely destroyed by fires, pasture or anthropization. This volume presents, in an accessible but rigorous form, the aspects of the plant and animal population of the scrub, in the various forms that it takes along the Italian coasts, and highlights the problems of management and protection.

N. 8 - Coastal lakes and brackish ponds. A delicate balance between fresh and salt waters

Near the apparatuses of the waterways, the force of the sea, counteracting the transport of fine materials by the rivers, promotes the deposition of a large amount of sediments that create long tongues of sand and mud parallel to the coastline. It is these precarious coastal cords that allow the formation of coastal lakes and ponds; this is how those barriers that create, maintain or make disappear the coastal wetlands, real environments "hovering" between land and sea. It is their complex nature that gives these environments a high landscape and naturalistic value, but for the animals and plants that populate them they are severe habitats, selective, sometimes "extreme": only species with special physiological adaptations can complete their entire life cycle. Other species, however, are attracted by the food resources that these environments offer: we speak above all of the birds, which constitute the most showy, known and appreciated element of these environments. The beginning of the great reclamations, aimed at tearing land from the waters to cultivate them and combating the plague of malaria, has marked a drastic change in the Italian coastal landscape; Even after their cessation, however, coastal wetlands continue to be destroyed by the expansion of urban and industrial areas and the recent tourist exploitation of the coasts: they are now very small flaps, at high risk of extinction on Italian territory.

N. 9 - Mountain peat bogs. Biodiversity wrecks in acidic waters

The mountain peat bogs represent one of the most peculiar and, at the same time, most fragile aspects of the Alpine landscape and - to a lesser extent - the Apennines. Linked to a precise combination of soil conditions, climate and water availability, they constitute small and sometimes tiny islands, in a mosaic dominated by coniferous forests and other more showy and extensive mountain vegetation. The peat bogs are environments with rather low biodiversity, whose dominant component is represented by large aquatic mosses, the sphagnums, but they are the exclusive habitat of numerous floristic elements of great value, including some small rare carnivorous plants. A centuries-old exploitation of the precious layers of peat, formed in these environments by the progressive accumulation of the remains of sphagnum, has led to the degradation or the complete cancellation of many peat bogs, leaving only a small sample to survive to which the most vigilant conservation measures must now be addressed.

N. 10 - Nival environments. Life in an extreme environment

The snow environment is characterized by the presence of snow on the ground for a long time of the year so as to condition not only the life of animals and plants, but also some morphogenetic processes typical of the high mountains. The biodiversity of the long or perennially snowy environments is low mainly due to the values of the average temperature, but the organisms living in this habitat have exceptional adaptations to withstand the cold, or to camouflage themselves in a white environment without natural hiding places. Unfortunately, the most recent climate models envisage considerable changes for the future, both on a planetary and regional scale: these will involve snow cover in the alpine areas located beyond the tree line. The prediction that these environments will meet, in the future, a reduction in snow cover makes them particularly interesting as they can serve as authentic natural laboratories, in which to experiment "live" the effects of climate change on the distribution of living organisms. The idea of writing a book on nival environments also stems from these considerations of scientific relevance, not separated from an instance of a conservation type: As global warming progresses, the unique biological heritage of the nival environment will inevitably be at risk of extinction.

N. 11 - Puddles, ponds and swamps. Small waters, oasis of biodiversity

Konrad Lorenz wrote: 'Go with a jar and a butterfly catcher to the nearest pond, dip your net a few times, and you will collect a myriad of living organisms'; and again 'After the net came the magnifying glass, after that a modest microscope, and with that my fate was irrevocably sealed'.  The pond, the puddle and the marsh are indeed the natural environments that contain everything one can learn about ecology. But the interest and fascination of these environments are not limited to science or didactics; ponds are part of peasant traditions, whether they have been drinking or irrigation water reservoirs, watering holes for livestock or wildlife, and have never been absent from small rural villages.  As the traditional economic activities linked to these environments have disappeared, and man's need to expand urban and industrial areas or extensive agricultural activities have increased at the expense of wetlands, ponds, pools and marshes have undergone an inexorable and rapid process of decline and are now considered among the most threatened environments in Europe.  These considerations gave rise to the idea, dare we say the need, to write this Habitat Notebook, which has the ambitious aim of bringing the value of these 'small waters' to the attention of the general public: small in size, but of great value for nature conservation.

N. 12 - Dry meadows. Herbaceous covers in critical conditions

Dry grasslands, which may look like pastures or pastures, are widespread plant formations characterized by a prolonged shortage of water that can be used by plants, in a situation halfway between the forest and the desert.  These environments are characterized by a rich herbaceous vegetation, in which plants with a short vegetative cycle prevail and that bloom early in spring, before the summer drought excessively withers the soil.  For the fauna, rich in insects, reptiles and small mammals, stands out the abundance of species of birds that gravitate around the arid meadows: among them, many birds of prey such as the Egyptian vulture, the hawk cricket and the lanner in particular, three species closely related to these environments: the big eye, the grille and, above all, the prataiola hen, now very rare in Italy.  In many cases, dry meadows represent semi-natural habitats of secondary origin. They deserve, however, careful conservative management and a defense from the risk of fire and the excessive spread of adventitious plant species, both for the remarkable biological richness they host, both for the important cultural and landscape meanings that are often linked to them. 

N. 13 - Screes and mountain cliffs. A pioneering life among the rocks

Cliffs and screes of the mountain and sub-mountain belt are environments of high landscape value, but difficult to colonize, both for plants and animals. The soils are everywhere poor and superficial, and the compact structure of the rocky walls are contrasted by the instability and the continuous dynamism of the screes.  Specialized plants, many of which have a very limited geographical range and are therefore among the most significant elements of the Italian flora, are however able to fix on the vertical walls or to survive the unstable conditions of the mobile stonies.  The fauna is mainly represented by vertebrates and, among these, by the birds, which, due to the inaccessibility of the places chosen for nesting, put themselves safe from the attacks of predators. Reptiles and invertebrates, on the other hand, exploit the favourable conditions of exposure to light and heat of the sun’s rays.  Despite their poor accessibility, these environments, unfortunately, are often affected by a heavy human impact, which results in road excavations, opening of quarries and landfills, intense attendance of rocky walls where the cumbersome human presence competes with that of nesting birds, but also in alterations of the delicate balance that characterizes the complex ecosystem of scree.

No. 14 - High altitude lakes. Pearls in the mountain landscape

Anyone thinking of a high altitude lake will materialize in his mind the classic image of a small basin set in a green coniferous forest or lying in a sunny basin between debris and looming peaks. Beyond this cliché, the concept of a high-altitude pond embodies a complex set of geomorphological and biological characteristics.  Animal and plant species have colonized high-altitude lakes following the retreat of quaternary glaciers and have remained in some cases trapped in them as "wrecks". These organisms then had to deal with the severe environmental conditions of the high altitudes: harsh climate, high ultraviolet radiation and scarcity of nutrients. Only a few species have the necessary adaptations to survive: the result is the great scientific and conservation interest of glacial relics.  But those who imagine to discover from reading this volume that the high-altitude lakes are remote and uncontaminated environments will unfortunately be surprised: mass tourism, use for hydroelectric and drinking purposes, indiscriminate feeding of fish, Acidification and the contribution of pollutants through precipitation, the increase in ultraviolet radiation caused by ozone depletion in the atmosphere, the rise in temperature caused by global climate change threaten the survival of these environments.  It is an S.O.S. that this volume of the Quaderni Habitat Series wants to launch in defense of some of the most fascinating and the rarest beauty of our country.

N. 15 - The Apennine beech forests. Vanguards and wrecks of continental forest

The beech is the dominant hardwood forest along all the Apennines and in northeastern Sicily, in the altitudinal range between 900 and 1900 meters. Over the centuries, however, the felling of trees, fires and the advance of pastures have significantly reduced their spread.  Different soil and exposure conditions determine a great diversity of physiognomy within the Apennine beech forests, and this results in the diversity of plant species that accompany it.  Also the fauna closely rotates around the dominant tree species, with showy numerical fluctuations in the populations of birds and mammals that depend on the abundance of the fruits of the beech, much variable from year to year. Of great naturalistic interest is the fauna that settles in the dead wood, in the best preserved beech woods.  Beech woods are environments of great naturalistic value, but they are also woods exploited by man for the production of wood. The future of these environments, as discussed in this Habitat Journal, is therefore linked to the delicate balance between responsible forest management and a prudent policy of conservation of the entire forest ecosystem.

N. 16 - Pelagic domain. The Cetacean Sanctuary "Pelagos"

The mass of water above the seabed constitutes the pelagic domain, a vast and constantly changing marine environment that, at first glance, may seem rather homogeneous.  Most of its living components are small, short-lived elements. The changes in their composition, both for the plant and the animal part, in a certain place, can be considerable and sudden and affect the other links of the trophic chain. The modification of the masses of water is the main cause of the changes in the composition of the stands, capable of performing also remarkable vertical migrations both for the planktonic and for the nectonic component.  To describe the pelagic domain, this book takes as an example the Sanctuary for Marine Mammals in the Mediterranean, "Pelagos", built thanks to an agreement between France, Italy and the Principality of Monaco. It is a large area of the Provençal Corsican basin, one of the best known areas of the Mare Nostrum, which extends for more than 87000 km2.  In this area, due to the peculiar oceanographic and trophic characteristics, there is a remarkable concentration of large pelagics, in particular cetaceans, but also cephalopods, tuna, swordfish and pelagic sharks, of great attraction for an increasingly large audience.  In a high biodiversity system, the krill of the Ligurian Sea, Norvegian Meganyctiphanes, takes on the role of keystone.

N. 17 - Volcanic lakes. Fire, water and life

Flying over our peninsula, rounded pools of water of the color of the sky, surrounded by steep banks, inevitably attract the attention of even the most distracted traveller.  These are the volcanic lakes, unique environments for their genesis in our country, which have always accompanied man in his socio-cultural development in a natural context of high beauty, witnessed by Neolithic settlements, Roman aqueducts, from the small medieval villages.  Results of years of research have highlighted the elements that make the volcanic lakes environments of great interest to Science. In the first place their origin, fruit of the quaternary volcanism that has generated the craters and the calderas that host today these basins.  To the geological peculiarities, these lakes flank a valuable nature, consisting of animal and plant communities that represent a reservoir of biodiversity of inestimable natural value. For these reasons, all of these environments are placed in protected areas.  Unfortunately, however, many human activities, such as the modification of the coastline, intensive agriculture, over-grazing, tourism, water abstraction, as well as the introduction of alien species have caused in recent decades a deterioration in water quality and damage to flora and fauna.  This new volume of Habitat Notebooks was created to contribute to the knowledge and protection of these lakes, with which man has been able to live for millennia, but which is currently deteriorating irreversibly.

N. 18 - The coniferous mountain forests. A mantle of thin green needles

In the mountain forest landscape - in the Alps in particular - the role of conifers is dominant and in the communities that for centuries have settled in these areas fir and pine trees are considered family elements, often protagonists in everyday culture.  The low vegetation that develops at the foot of these trees is strongly conditioned by the acidic nature of the soils and is often dominated by extensive carpets of moss, but also houses valuable herbaceous plants that represent, in our country, as many relics of the Ice Age.  Inside the coniferous woods, the conditions of existence are less easy than their evergreen foliage might suggest (only the larch loses its leaves every year). Pine cones and pollen offer little food and coniferous wood is protected by resins, which do not prevent the development of an interesting specialized fauna. Characteristic and widespread are the large nests of red ants.  For centuries the forest vegetation of the mountain areas has been the subject of interventions, uses and treatments that have largely changed the original layout, guiding its evolution.  A solid cultural commitment, even more than economic, is necessary today to preserve and improve this heritage that deserves to be known and valued.

No. 19 - Seagrass grasslands. Plants with flowers in the Mediterranean

Marine phanerogams are habitats of great value in marine and brackish coastal environments, both in terms of the submerged landscape and for their ecological role. It is a group of monocotyledonous angiosperms, plants with grain-like flowers, which returned to the sea around twenty million years ago.  The presence of flowers and therefore of fruits and seeds, allows us to distinguish, unequivocally, these plants from the algae with which they are commonly confused. In addition to Posidonia oceanica and Cymodocea nodosa, in the Italian sea waters are found Zostera marina and Nasnozostera noltii rather rare, and an allochthonous species, Halophila stipulacea.  These prairies are a refuge for many animals, for some they represent an exclusive environment of life. The prairie of Posidonia oceanica is considered priority habitat for Directive 92/43/EEC and has an important role of bioindicator: its state is a general indication of the quality of the environment better and more complete than any other parameter, be it microbiological, chemical and physical.  Unfortunately, nowadays, along most of the Italian coasts, there is a substantial reduction in the area of posidonieti.

N. 20 - Groundwater. Hidden biodiversity

In the depths of the world there are underwater and boundless worlds, but unknown to most. A water lung, perfused and widespread, from which Humanity all depends essential for survival: groundwater. A hidden world that contains, as in a casket, hidden truths.  An ecokingdom rich in life forms, from the simplest to the most complex, where there are no green plants and animal organisms dominate. A biodiversity that few know, simply because it is not seen: obscure as dark is the world that hosts it.  Research has recently opened the coffer in this hidden world, has discovered this biological reality and is still studying it. Not a day goes by without a new discovery: species, genera, families, whole classes unknown to Science.  However, the organisms that live there, the stigobi, are not protected, as is the entire underground ecosystem, just because its ecological dimension is not yet recognized, except in the case of the proteus, by current legislation, both nationally and internationally.  The stigobia fauna, together with bacteria and fungi, assures the self-purification and is therefore essential to the maintenance of the quality of the groundwater that, we remember, constitute the most important hydropotable reserve for Humanity.  Uncontrolled emulation, pollution, climate change have activated a mechanism that is leading not only to the deterioration of the quality and quantity of groundwater, but also to the decline of their extraordinary biodiversity. This volume aims to raise awareness of this scientific and economic heritage among the general public and stakeholders.

N. 21 - Rivers and woods shelters. Calm waterways and their shady margins

Even if the fresh waters are only a very small fraction of the entire hydrosphere, and only a part of them flows on the surface in a riverbed, the rivers are perhaps the most active and powerful of all the modelling agents of the landscape. The aquatic vegetation resists the current, even strong, rooting well on the bottom. It becomes thicker along the banks, where soon the sedges and reeds leave room for a woody vegetation dominated by willows, alders or sea buckthorn.    The river and its banks are the living environment of many animal species - aquatic, amphibious or terrestrial - but they are also the way that follow the eel and the lampreys, when they migrate from the sea and towards the sea, and the preferred track in the movements by the birds that frequent banks and groves along the rivers. Embankments, dams, canalizations, riverbed displacements, basin diversions and, finally, the most diverse pollutants - urban, agricultural and industrial - poured into the waters have profoundly altered the rivers and their floodplains, by reducing the self-repurative capacity of their waters and also affecting the recharge capacity of the aquifers.  The fauna and flora of rivers and banks are also threatened by the incessant introduction of exotic species, which are often very competitive.

No. 22 - Marine bioconstructions. Elements of natural architecture

The ability of some organisms to build permanent structures (biocobstructions) by increasing the volume, complexity and heterogeneity of the habitat, thus characterizing the underwater landscape, is a phenomenon of considerable scientific and practical importance: bioconstructions involve in fact, multiple aspects, from biological and ecological to environmental and climate. There are two fundamental strategies on which a bioconstruction is based: gregarism and coloniality. Among the bioconstructions the coralligenous is undoubtedly among the most interesting and complex: it is not a real community but a set of communities, result of the dynamic balance between the building organisms, among which the calcareous algae are fundamental, and the destructive ones.  The coralligeno, as well as in its primary appearance with a dominance of calcareous algae, can present facies with animal dominance: large branched bryozoans, colonial majedrporari, gorgonaceae. In this volume, in addition to the coralligenous, the corallinaceous and vermetid platforms are treated, the banks of Cladocora caespitosa and polychetes (Sabellaria and Ficopomatus), the facies with red coral and bryozoans, the rhotholic associations, the biocenoses of deep corals.  There are many types of bio-structures present in the Italian seas, all subject to strong pressure especially anthropic, just think of the indiscriminate collection of the precious red coral or some fishing methods. They are habitats that characterize the marine landscape and require great attention and protection, to avoid the disappearance of precious hot spots of biodiversity.

N. 23 - Lagoons, estuaries and delta. A border between sea and rivers

Delta, lagoons, estuaries: three environments produced by the close interactions between rivers and the sea. Environments that require organisms to realize the difficult adaptation to the incessant alternation of conditions partly continental and partly marine.  In this unique zone of transition between land and sea, flowering plants compete with green algae for the role of dominatrix of submerged vegetation. The population of these environments is composite, both in its aquatic component and in the one that colonizes its shores.  There are species of marine origin, but capable of tolerating water with low and variable salinity. Few species, such as eel and sturgeon, alternate their life between sea and river, crossing lagoons and delta during their migrations. The most striking aspect of the fauna of these environments is constituted by the water birds, very numerous especially during the winter period, when the water mirrors are populated by migrants who stop here before moving to their reproductive quarters.  Fragile as is typical of transition environments, deltas, estuaries and lagoons have deeply affected the massive urbanization of the coasts, which has led to a drastic reduction of the characteristic barena formations. How much of the original population survives has to contend with an increasing number of alien species competing for living space.

N. 24 - Italian habitats. Expression of biodiversity

Stretched for a thousand kilometers from North to South, between the high Alpine chain that separates it from central Europe and the waters of the Mediterranean, Italy has a wealth of environmental situations that has no comparison in the entire European continent.  If we add to this wealth of habitats the more than 57,000 animal species, the approximately 6,700 vascular plant species and the many thousands of species attributable to other large groups of living organisms, such as fungi and algae, we can understand the extraordinary value of biodiversity in Italy, further enhanced by the high number of endemic species, whose distribution range does not exceed the borders of our country.  Habitats and plant and animal populations have, however, had to deal with a human presence that has often let go, especially in the recent past, to a destructive action that has dramatically affected fragile ecosystems such as coastal environments, the peatlands, the resurgences.  The series "Quaderni Habitat" ends with this volume, which summarizes the main features of the environmental diversity of Italy. The reader is invited to immerse himself in this reality so rich in unique situations and precious plant and animal presences, to share also the responsibility for its sensitive and conscious management.