Preliminary results of floristic and vegetational surveys in three coastal humid areas in Puglia region (southern Italy)

In this paper the preliminary results of an INTERREG project (III A Italy-Greece 2000-2006) concerning the amelioration and management of common ecosystems is presented. This project includes several humid areas located within the NW regions of Greece and the Italian region of Apulia. Owing to their similar paleogeographical and paleoclimatical vicissitudes these areas exhibits several floristic and coenological peculiarities which are testified by the common inclusion in the “Adriatic Province” of the eastern Mediterranean biogeographical Subregion. The project concerns the constitution of a GIS allowing to acquire, process, analyze, store and to feedback in graphic and alphanumeric form the ecological data collected in three of the most significant coastal humid protected areas of Apulia region, namely “Torre Guaceto”, “Le Cesine”, and “Saline di Punta della Contessa”. The importance of these humid areas can be inferred just observing the high number of Dir. 92/43 EEC habitats occurring in them. It is well-known that there are many negative factors which are currently threatening the Mediterranean retro-dunal ecosystems such as air and water pollution, urbanization, excessive tourism impact, coastal erosion, lowering of the ground water table (etc.). For this reason a constant monitoring urges and, where necessary, restoration ecology actions which require a background of landscape knowledge concerning the small scale vegetation pattern (actual heterogeneity) and the potential vegetation types (potential heterogeneity) as well. The three Apulian areas object of the present study are easily distinguishable each other from a floristic and coenological point of view. In addition to the slight (but probably crucial) differences in their physical environments, the existing vegetational diversity is to be related to minor “unofficial” biogeographical boundaries which run across that portion of the Apulian regional territory and which are related to the variation of the ecological optimum of several diagnostic species (Quercus ilex, Quercus calliprinos, Erica forskalii, Cladium mariscus, Plantago albicans, Limonium apulum....) more than to the effective interruption of their distribution areas.