Ecological classification of land and conservation of biodiversity at the national level: The case of Italy

The aims of this study are to describe the ecological classification of land in Italy and to show how the resulting land units can act as reliable frameworks for coarse scale environmental analyses that can be used to implement national conservation strategies. We first collected, homogenised and drew physical thematic maps, which were then linked to biological and human features. We then performed a gap analysis of land heterogeneity compared with Natural Protected Areas and Natura2000 network on the basis of three categories: Total gaps, Partial gaps, and Protected. Moreover, we assessed the conservation status of the land units by summarising the environmental quality using the Index of Landscape Conservation. We identified and mapped 3 Land Regions, 24 Land Systems, and 149 Land Facets. Total gaps account for 28% of the country, Partial gaps for 38% and Protected for 34%. The Natura2000 network is more representative than the system of National Protected Areas of the overall land heterogeneity as regards both the types (18 out of 24) and extent (72%) of the Land Systems. Low conservation status prevails in the Land Facets of the Mediterranean Region located along the coasts and plains on sedimentary deposits, whereas high and very high conservation status is found along the higher belts of the Alpine and Apennine chains. These results highlight the potential use of ecological land classification for biodiversity monitoring and conservation purposes, e.g. when identifying land units that need to be recovered or targeted for enhanced biodiversity and ecosystem services protection.

► We made an ecological classification of land units of Italy.
► We performed a gap analysis of land units compared with protected areas.
► Conservation status of land units was assessed by the Index of Landscape Conservation.
► Gap analysis highlighted land units that lack protection and those over-represented.
► The ILC yields land units from very low to very high values of conservation status.