Palaeobotanical and palynological records from Italy

The state of the art of Pliocene to Pleistocene palaeobotanical and palynological research in Italy has been updated, thanks to a series of 10 papers. The major conclusions are summarized, and can be used for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions and stratigraphical inferences. This issue also illustrates the practical consequences of the recent IUGS ratification of the definition of the base of Quaternary, and the redefinition of the base of the Pleistocene.