Biodiversity Seminar: Ecology, Classification and Conservation of Mediterranean Pine Forests

The talk foresees an overview of the studies on Mediterranean pine forests. After a brief introduction to their ecology and habitat classification (syntaxonomic, N2000 and EUNIS), I will then explain why we need a formal classification of Mediterranean pine forests and the recent methods to achieve this. In this context, a new vegetation class of Mediterranean pine forests will be presented based on a formalized classification study. Furthermore, I will show the usefulness of the continental scale CircumMed Forest Database which was developed for broad-scale studies on vegetation classification, plant invasion ecology, macroecology, biological conservation and sustainable management of pine forests. Then, I will present several examples of ecological studies on pine forests at local and large scales. They include cross-taxon, restoration, temporal and distribution studies. Finally, I will present a European scale study in preparation about old-established black pine plantations and their impact on local biodiversity.

Keywords: Classification; Conservation; Databases; Distribution; Ecoinformatics; Habitat; Management; Protected areas; Vegetation survey

I am a senior researcher at the Department of Life Sciences of University of Siena from October 2023. I consider myself a vegetation ecologist. My research revolves around plants and involves a thorough understanding of natural and semi-natural plant communities and habitats at different spatial scales. My academic training includes ecoinformatics, vegetation classification, management and conservation. I am interested in vegetation databases and classification, protected areas, plant invasion ecology, macroecology and biological conservation, especially in relation to pine forests. I am part of the Editorial Board of Biodiversity and Conservation and Applied Vegetation Science.

Twitter: @GianmariaBonari

Personal website: www.gianmariabonari.com

Our seminars are hybrid. Please send an email to events-biodiversity(at)wsl.ch if you would like to get access to the live stream.

The Biodiversity Seminar Series are organized by the WSL Biodiversity Center. Every two weeks, we aim to host a seminar speaker that presents research or outreach on topics relevant to the biodiversity community at WSL. The seminars are public and are usually broadcasted online.

Find out more about the WSL Biodiversity Center and a complete list of events here.

Please send an email to events-biodiversity(at)wsl.ch if you would like to be updated on the activities of the WSL Biodiversity Center.