Mapping alien-dominated vegetation in Italy: towards a national vegetation framework.

Biological invasions are an increasingly relevant global phenomenon resulting from human-driven environmental change, but only a few studies have focused specifically on alien-dominated plant communities. In Italy, the local distribution of these communities remains largely unknown to researchers and policymakers. To this end, the Italian Society of Vegetation Science (SISV) has launched a cartographic project, which has two aims: (i) to update and critically revise the checklist of alien-dominated and co-dominated vegetation types, and (ii) to produce the first georeferenced distribution maps of these syntaxa across Italy. The data were derived from an extensive review of the literature and a critical reassessment of the phytosociological sources. This was followed by the georeferencing and standardisation of the records within the EEA's 10 km × 10 km reference grid. The preliminary results of this work are presented in this contribution.