ICP-Forests (International Co-operative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests) plant diversity monitoring
Still today, several forest ecosystem compartments (from trees to ground vegetation, soil and soil solution) and processes (tree nutrition, tree growth, species diversity, and soil acidification) are affected by air pollution, namely by N deposition, ground-level ozone, and heavy metals. The need for continuous long-term monitoring remains. This research line focuses on monitoring activity that our group has been performing since 1996 on ground vegetation in Level I and Level II plots of the Italian network (CONECOFOR) to respond to The International Co-operative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests (ICP Forests). Vegetation is a major component of forest ecosystems. We monitored the composition, diversity, and structure of vegetation as important factors for assessing the biological diversity of forest ecosystems. Vegetation influences soil characteristics, and interacts strongly with other biotic components (insects, wild game, etc.), as it is a determinant habitat for many species. It has also been identified as a specific target for calculating critical loads/levels (e.g., air and soil pollution). The species composition and vegetation structure can serve as bio-indicators for environmental ecosystem changes. Changes in vegetation and underlying environmental factors can serve as indicators of the status of other organisms based on our current knowledge of the ecological niches of numerous plant species.
Keywords - ENGLISH
forest ecosystem, Permanent Monitoring Plots, species composition, plant diversity, changes over time
Active participants in the research line (PI last author or *)
Giandiego Campetella; Stefano Chelli; Marco Cervellini; James Lee Tsakalos; Roberto Canullo
External Collaborations
Prof. František Máliš, Technical University in Zvolen, SLovacchia.
Prof. Janusz Czerepko, Forest Research Institute, Sękocin Stary, 3 Braci Leśnej Street, 05-090 Raszyn, Poland.
Prof. Sandor Bartha, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Centre for Ecological Research, Vácrátót, Hungary;
Prof. Paolo Giordani, Difar, Università di Genova.
Prof. Federico Selvi, Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agrarie, Alimentari, Ambientali e Forestali (DAGRI), Università di Firenze.
Pillar
Environmental Sustainability
Macroareas in Environmental Sustainability
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function
Relevant research grants (national/international) funding specifically this Research Line
2003- 2007 Pilot Projects under UN\ECE “Forest Focus”: "Bio-valuation of heavy metals deposition" and "BIOSOIL-BIODIVERSITY: vascular vegetation" for Italian forests.
2009-2011 International Action C1-GV "Quality and expertise within ground vegetation assessments" (FUTMON project, LIFE+ subcontractor).
2011-2014 ENVEUROPE "Pollution pressures vs. forest plant diversity”.
2012-2016 “Level I Biodiversity Data Base set-up and preliminary analysis: implementation phases”(UNICAM - von Thünen-Institute, Hamburg).
2015-2018 LIFE+ SMART4Action, Action B.1 “Analysis, evaluation and testing of forest ecosystems biological response - Plant diversity”.
2016-2019 INFRAIA project “eLTER” (European Long-Term Ecosystem and socio-ecological Research Infrastructure). Since 2019 WG Member for NEC Italia Network (Carabinieri Forest Corp CUFA - MATTM “Monitoring of the impacts of air pollution on ecosystems”), and Project Leader for Plant Biodiversity.
2020- project LIFE+ MODERn (NEC) related to the impacts of air pollution on biodiversity to contribute to fulfilling the needs of the "NEC" EU-Directive.
Email Address
giandiego.campetella@unicam.it
Link to Relevant Publications