Relationships among vascular plants, mosses and lichens in grasslands communities along elevational gradients.

We surveyed grassland communities along the elevation gradient (the last 800 m of elevation) of two study areas in Tuscany (Pania della Croce and Monte Prado). A total of 80 randomly placed quadrat plots of 2 x 2 m were used to assess vascular plants, mosses and lichens species abundance and sample their functional traits. A set of environmental variables were measured at plot level in order to characterize sites’ microtopography and soil. Preliminary analyses showed that the increase of species richness of mosses and lichens with elevation is mainly due to a decrease of vascular plants community (in particular coverage and height of vegetation) and not directly to altitude.