Dune habitats of the Migliarino – San Rossore – Massaciuccoli Regional Park (Tuscany – Italy)

Abstract

Here we present a map of dune habitats (in accordance with Directive 92/43/EEC, MD 20 January 1999) developed from a long-term survey of dune vegetation in the Migliarino San Rossore Massaciuccoli Regional Park, northern Tuscany, Italy. The 1:7500 map covers a total area of about 394 ha, was created in the geographical information system environment for print and digital versions. The aim of this work, in addition to outlining the current vegetation landscape in the printable map, is to monitor changes in dune habitats on the digital version. Phenomena such as coastal erosion and human pressure can be monitored in order to identify appropriate management tools for mitigating or eliminating disturbance factors. The shape and spatial coverage of habitats, identified by previous vegetation surveys in the field, were drawn on the basis of orthophotos using MapInfo®. The study reveals numerous highly significant habitats in terms of conservation, which are often significantly altered in terms of their distribution and surface area due to human activities and coastal erosion.

Keywords

• Dune habitats
• vegetation map
• anthropogenic pressure
• coastal erosion
• protected areas
• Tuscany