A Preliminary Overview of Habitat Patterns in Italy.

In this contribution, leveraging on habitat occurrence data, we aim to provide a preliminary overview of the patterns of habitat richness and diversity. A dedicated working group of thematic and territorial experts of the Italian Association of Vegetation Science (SISV) collected and validated the habitat distribution data provided by the Administrative Italian Regions and Autonomous Provinces, provided by the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA) as part of the work for the V report of the Habitats Directive, covering the period 2019-2024. Data consist of a 3725-cell grid of 10 km × 10 km concerning 124 types of terrestrial and inland water habitats. We mapped the habitat richness per cell for all habitats and for nine macrohabitats, according to the first hierarchy level of Natura 2000 habitat classification. Furthermore, we tried to divide Italy into ecologically uniform regions, to identify key areas of high heterogeneity, and to inform future conservation efforts towards territories that are more diverse in terms of habitats co-occurrence.