Employing plant translocations to restore open dry acidic habitats in European Continental lowlands: A case study in northern Italy

Abstract

Open dry acidic habitats protected under the Natura 2000 Network (Council Directive 92/43/EEC) occur in Italian Continental lowlands with an either poor or bad conservation status. The LIFE Drylands project was designed with the aim of restoring these habitats in the western Po Plain. In the context of this project, we translocated plants typical of habitat 4030 “European dry heaths” and of the acidophilous subtype of habitat 6210 “Semi-natural dry grasslands and scrubland facies on calcareous substrates (Festuco-Brometalia) (* important orchid sites)” in two sites hosting them. We assessed the outcome of the translocations by monitoring survival, flowering, and fruiting rates of the translocated plants during either the first or the second year following the translocation. We compared plants’ performances by a one-way analysis of variance and then cross-referenced them with literature data. Based on our results, we suggest that a mix of hemicryptophytes, such as Armeria arenaria, Betonica officinalis, Dianthus carthusianorum and Festuca filiformis, and geophytes, like Anthericum liliago and Limniris sibirca, with a density of about 34 plants/m² could be used for other translocations in dry heathlands and dry grasslands in the European Continental biogeographical region, while the addition of therophytes needs further evaluation.