Resurvey of vegetation across a network of Italian protected areas, The Ecological Dinamycs in Italian protected areas Network (ECODIPA-net) vegetation resurvey project.

In Italy, resurvey studies have been carried out on a local scale investigating different ecosystems, without efforts towards a national harmonization and a lack of focus on PAs. To address this issue, we launched the collaborative network Ecological Dynamics of Italian Protected Areas (ECODIPA-net), to build a nationwide database of vegetation plot resurvey in Italian National and Regional Parks (NRP). The database includes 1376 resurvey plots across 29 Italian NRP with historical information dating as back as 1934 but is mostly concentrated during the 70s and 80s. Preliminary results show that, across all habitats, species richness increases, particularly at high altitudes. These trends reflect both ongoing climatic change and land use change and are important for management decisions in the PAs.