Influence of natural and anthropogenic factors on plant diversity in Mediterranean coastal landscapes: the case of Tuscany.

By combining field-collected vegetation data (336 random plots) and remote sensing imagery, we analysed the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors on the coastal dune vegetation along the Tyrrhenian coasts (Tuscany, Italy). We used linear and generalized linear regression to model plant diversity (i.e. native species richness, Shannon and Simpson diversity of dune communities) as a function of the landscape variables. Also, we included the distance between each vegetation plot and the closest bathhouse in the models as a proxy of tourism intensity. Our preliminary results evidence that bathhouse negatively affected species richness.