Plants and Vegetation in the Archaeological Park of Neapolis of Syracuse (Sicily, Italy): A Management Effort and also an Opportunity for Better Enjoyment of the Site

Vegetation Analysis in the Archaeological Area of Pasargadae WHS (Iran) Enhancing the Naturalistic Value of the Site within the Occurring Environmental Changes

“…Additionally, the plant diversity of the site [6] and the distribution of the endemic species with conservation interest emphasized the importance of conservation strategies that consider both the natural and cultural values of the site [5,18,24,33,84]. This is particularly important in the context of plant diversity, as the conservation of these sites can help to ensure the protection of plant diversity [39,85].…”

“…Analyzing plant communities in archaeological areas, such as their distribution and bioindication values, can greatly enhance the efficiency of site management and enrichment activities [18,20]. In fact, understanding how plant species are spatially and numerically distributed within the archaeological areas can facilitate management planning and activities, minimizing their negative impacts and promoting the benefits that plant communities can provide in these contexts [11,38,39]. Conversely, the vegetation growing on archaeological sites is influenced not only by human activities, but also by environmental and climatic conditions, as well as their ecological characteristics can serve as a bioindicator of these changes [40,41].…”

“…Due to severe climatic conditions, vegetation in arid or semi-arid environments shows a relative adaptive capacity, which becomes more significant considering current climate changes [42,43]. Vegetation maps of archaeological sites are useful tools for management planning, providing insight into the reading of the site characteristics, both for precise location of the various types of plant communities and contribution to the conservation of monuments [39].…”

“…The findings will be useful for both the enhancement of natural values and the protection of monuments on the site, thus ensuring a balance between the need to preserve natural and cultural values, which is an aspect that should be better considered in the management plan of archeological sites [5,10,24,39,49,50].…”

Ecological Features and Conservation of Urtica rupestris Guss. (Urticaceae): A Narrow Endemic Species of Sicily

“…Water courses flowing in the “Cave” usually have temporary arrangements or a permanent regime. Furthermore, the Hyblean territory is characterized by the presence of very important coastal wetlands [ 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 ], as well as several rocky pools and temporary ponds that host very specialized vascular flora [ 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 ]. Blasi et al [ 70 ] identified six important plant areas (IPAs) for the Hyblaean territory, which are essential for the conservation of plant biodiversity.…”