The state of Ionian-Adriatic coastal habitats: the database of “Carta della Natura” System of Italy (original) (raw)

Aim of this work is to provide a national scale synthesis of useful data for conservation status assessment of Italian Adriatic - Ionian coastal habitats. Basing on the data provided by the Carta della Natura information system it has been possible to consider about 70% of the Ionian and Adriatic coastlines. Initially all the patches included in a buffer of 500 meters from the coastline has been extracted from regional habitat maps and for each habitat type has been calculated: total and mean surface area, number of biotopes. After that the study focus on threatened coastal habitats, considering the classification used by the Carta della Natura system. Taking into account the Ecological Value index, about 90% of Natural habitat biotopes fall into “high” and “very high” classes. Comparing these data with "Environmental Fragility" classes distribution it is possible to highlight a set of habitat types at higher risk of degradation. Representative coastal habitats are include...