# An Overview of Upland Peatlands’ Vegetation of Apennines, Sicily, and Sardinia (Italy)

## TL;DR

This paper reviews the current state of upland peatlands in Italy's Apennines, Sicily, and Sardinia, highlighting outdated knowledge and the need for new research.

## Contribution

The study compiles and analyzes historical data to reveal gaps in knowledge and threats to upland peatlands in southern Italy.

## Key findings

- Most peatland sites in Italy's uplands have not been resurveyed in recent decades.
- Uncontrolled grazing and infrastructure development are major threats to these ecosystems.
- The Scheuchzerio palustris-Caricetea fuscae class is the most common vegetation type.

## Abstract

Upland mires in Italy, excluding the Alps, have a fragmentary distribution, and most of them persist in climatically optimal mountain refugia. Based on the literature data, we assessed that the state of knowledge of Italian upland mires distributed in the Apennines, Sicily, and Sardinia is outdated. We analyzed 54 publications, and 220 peatland sites were found. Only a few publications were published in the last ten years, and most of the peat bogs described in the past have not been resurveyed. The largest number of sites is concentrated in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines (60), followed by Sicily (51 sites) and Calabria (42). The vegetation belongs to 38 phytosociological associations, 19 sub-associations and variants, and 54 communities of 6 different classes; the most represented class is Scheuchzerio palustris-Caricetea fuscae. The most widespread disturbances are uncontrolled grazing by domestic livestock and wild fauna, groundwater extraction, and road construction. New investigations are urgently needed to update the state of Italian upland mires knowledge, which is the basis for all conservation strategies prescribed by national, European, and international policies.