Research activities are based on the principles and methods of vegetation and landscape ecology.
A) Analysis of plant biodiversity in semi-natural habitats as a function of environmental gradients and management in a spatially explicit context
Aims: Habitat management and biodiversity conservation. Knowledge transfer to owners/managers. Habitats currently considered: traditionally managed chestnut groves, meadows (“Habitat Directive” habitats)
Keywords: Castanea sativa, Habitat Directive, meadows, vegetation monitoring, traditionally managed chestnut orchards
B) The historical landscape: habitat, biodiversity, ecosystem services
The reconstruction of the historical landscape is achieved through the following methodologies: study of the current landscape and the persistent elements of the historical landscape in the current landscapes; analysis of historical cartographic sources (cabrei, cadastres, topographical maps), textual sources (statistics, chorographic dictionaries, travel narratives, historical Floras), and herbarium data etc. appropriately georeferenced; evaluation of the potential and limitations of each source. The selected study areas will include landscapes that have been subject to abandonment phenomena, intensification of land uses, and those of historical and cultural interest. The overarching aims of this study are twofold: firstly, to evaluate the legacies left behind in the contemporary landscape, and secondly, to understand the dynamics and drivers that have led to the current landscape structure.
Keywords: historical ecology, historical records, vegetation history, retrogressive method
