We present ReSurveyDunes — the first database of Italian coastal dune vegetation plots, developed through a collaborative network of Italian vegetation scientists. This paper describes the scope of the initiative, provides an overview of the available data, and highlights its key features, research applications, and future potential.

ReSurveyDunes currently comprises 972 vegetation plots distributed across 11 Italian regions (Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Lazio, Molise, Sardinia, Sicily, Tuscany, and Veneto). The original plots were surveyed between 1974 and 2009, with a primary focus on herbaceous psammophilous coastal zonation (habitats 1210, 2110, 2120, 2130*, 2210, 2230, and 2240, as defined by the 92/43/EEC Habitats Directive). Resurveys were conducted in 2023 and 2024. Each plot dataset includes (i) a complete list of vascular plant species with cover estimates; (ii) geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude); (iii) sampling dates; and (iv) plot size.

Designed to analyze fine-scale temporal trends in Italian coastal vegetation, ReSurveyDunes is a versatile tool for diverse ecological studies. It represents a valuable resource for evidence-based decision-making, enabling targeted conservation and management actions informed by up-to-date ecological data.

Coastal dune habitats, Habitats Directive, psammophilous vegetation, resurvey, temporal trends, vegetation database

According to the 4^th Report under article 17 of the EU Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC (EEC 1992), the conservation status of Italian coastal sand dunes habitats is worryingly bad: the overall assessment reports 89% of habitats in Unfavorable Bad conservation status while the remaining 11% is reported as Unfavorable Inadequate (Prisco et al. 2020; Ercole et al. 2021). This critically poor conservation state has been assessed across all criteria and Biogeographical Regions, and it is particularly serious for key dune habitats that provide essential ecosystem services, such as “Shifting dunes with Ammophila arenaria”, which are considered crucial for dune formation and protection against coastal erosion (La Bella et al. 2024). Even more alarmingly, the conservation status of Italian coastal dune habitats mirrors that of the broader Mediterranean biogeographical region (Janssen et al. 2016). Main pressures and threats stem from increasing human activities, including the development of residential, commercial, and industrial areas, as well as the expansion of alien and ruderal species (Géhu and Biondi 1994; Janssen et al. 2016; Gao et al. 2020; Prisco et al. 2020; Singh et al. 2021).

Plot-based vegetation samples, known as vegetation plots, document plant species diversity and community composition at specific locations and times. Resurveying studies, which involve re-sampling historically surveyed vegetation plots, are increasingly being used to detect temporal changes in the vegetation of various ecosystems (Knollová et al. 2024). These studies predominantly rely on phytosociological data due to the long tradition of phytosociological relevés and the recent compilation of large repositories that provide invaluable data across a variety of habitats (Dengler et al. 2011; Chytrý et al. 2016; Sabatini et al. 2021). Despite some degree of relocation error, revisitation studies are considered a valid and cost-effective tool for analysing temporal dynamics in plant communities (Hédl et al. 2017; Kapfer et al. 2017).

In Italy, resurveying coastal dune habitats has proven highly effective for identifying major temporal trends at both community and species levels. Del Vecchio et al. (2015a, 2015b) focused on resurveying phytosociological relevés, while Sperandii et al. (2019, 2021) based their resurveying on georeferenced random plots. However, all these studies have been conducted in relatively restricted areas or regions, and thus, no temporal trends on coastal dune vegetation at a wide-scale are currently available.

The great diversity of Italian coastal dune habitats has been widely recognized (Brullo et al. 2001; Biondi et al. 2009; Prisco et al. 2013). This relevant diversity, coupled with the undoubtedly poor conservation status of these fragile but resilient habitats (Santoro et al. 2012), underscores the need for more effective conservation measures. Such measures should be supported by detailed knowledge of biodiversity temporal trends preferentially derived from wide-scale monitoring activities, both inside and outside protected areas. Therefore, reliable estimates of long-term vegetation changes in these threatened habitats are urgently needed at the national level.

In this context, we introduce ReSurveyDunes — a new data resource of resurveyed coastal dune vegetation plots in Italy, compiled by a collaborative network of Italian vegetation scientists. This is the first database of Italian coastal dune resurveyed vegetation, collecting historical phytosociological information revisited during 2023/2024. Here, we provide an overview of the currently available data, illustrating the main characteristics of the database and its potential future uses.

In 2023, a call for collaboration was sent to vegetation experts of the Italian Society of Vegetation Science (SISV) to join the ReSurveyDune project, aiming to resurvey Italian coastal dune areas as comprehensively as possible. To be included in ReSurveyDune, all datasets needed to meet the following minimum requirements: (i) a complete list of vascular plants within defined plots, including information on species cover; (ii) plot location data, including longitude and latitude, along with information on the precision of the coordinates (specified geographic accuracy level); (iii) sampling date; and (iv) plot size.

Overall, ReSurveyDune currently includes 972 vegetation plots located in 11 Italian administrative regions Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Lazio, Molise, Sardinia, Sicily, Tuscany, and Veneto (Fig. 1). The historical dataset includes a total of 495 plots, comprising both published phytosociological vegetation records and additional unpublished data, all of which were revisited (Suppl. materials 1, 2 for detailed references and for the distribution of each habitat). Therefore, for each plot, the outcome of the revisitation is provided, and the plots that could not be located or that disappeared were marked as such. Sampling size varied from 1 to 450 m², but was relatively homogeneous within each habitat type. Resurveying was performed in 2023 and 2024 with the same approach as for the historical plots, during the same season and with the same plot size. The occurrence of all vascular plant species was recorded, and species abundance was visually estimated using the Braun-Blanquet percentage cover scale (Braun-Blanquet 1964), as in historical plots. Taxonomic nomenclature was standardised according to Euro+Med 2006 database.

At this stage, we have included only herbaceous-chamephytic coastal dune habitats, although we plan to incorporate woody dune habitats in future updates. Each relevé has been assigned to a specific EU habitat type (as defined by the 92/43/EEC Habitats Directive; EEC 1992). Seven habitats were considered (Table 1): 1210, 2110, 2120, 2130* (priority habitat), 2210, 2230, and 2240 (Biondi et al. 2009), corresponding to three EUNIS habitat types N12, N14, N16 (https://eunis.eea.europa.eu/habitats). The number of vegetation plots per habitat is shown in Fig. 2. The oldest historical plot dates to 1974, while the most recent one was recorded in 2009. As the original data (historical plots) were sampled for various purposes using the phytosociological approach, despite harmonisation of basic attributes upon integrating the datasets into ReSurveyDunes, there remains variation in relevant features such as plot location accuracy and plot size.

Figure 1. 

Distribution of resurveyed historical vegetation plots across 11 Italian administrative regions. Each green dot represents plot location. Black dots represent major cities with their names labelled.

Figure 2. 

Number of historical vegetation plots originally surveyed across different time periods, grouped in 5-year intervals (except the last interval, which spans 6 years), and categorized by habitat type (as defined by the 92/43/EEC Directive).

ReSurveyDunes is an independent resurvey database, with data ownership retained by the contributors. Decisions on data sharing will be made individually for each data request. By the end of the ReSurveyDune project, we plan to integrate this database into larger data repositories to ensure easy access and interoperability of the data. One such repository is ReSurveyEurope, which is currently being developed and is closely connected to the European Vegetation Archive, EVA (Knollová et al. 2024).

In this article, we introduced ReSurveyDunes, the first Italian dataset of fine-scale resurveyed coastal dune vegetation habitats. This dataset provides a comprehensive overview of the diversity of Italian coastal dune habitats and serves as a crucial tool for analysing temporal changes in these fragile ecosystems at a national scale.

Because the vegetation plots are georeferenced, they can be integrated with additional information (i.e. remote sensing data), facilitating the analysis of a wide range of impacts, including human pressure, coastal erosion, alien species invasion, or climatic changes. Additionally, the plot records can be overlaid with protected area boundaries to identify major conservation gaps. They can also be used to pinpoint priority areas for future surveys. Moreover, the information in this dataset can support the evaluation of changes in the conservation status of Annex I habitats, as required by the Habitats Directive.

Overall, ReSurveyDunes not only offers a valuable resource for studying coastal dune vegetation dynamics and their responses to environmental changes, enhancing our understanding of these highly threatened habitats, but also contributes to informed decision-making for habitat conservation and management.

The authors acknowledge the support of NBFC, funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research, PNRR, Missione 4 Componente 2, “Dalla ricerca all’impresa”, Investimento 1.4, Project CN00000033. This work was supported by the Grant of Excellence Departments 2023–2026, MIUR Italy.