EU priority habitats: rethinking Mediterranean coastal pine forests

EU habitats knowledge is essential to better protect nature and to yield well-aimed management decisions. In this study, we analysed a debated habitat influenced by past human planting activities. We compared the Pinus halepensis and the P. pinea forests, belonging to the priority EU habitat 2270*, by means of ecological features provided by the Ellenberg indicator values and diagnostic species selected from "Vegetation of Europe" classes and the "Italian Interpretation Manual of the Dir. 92/43/EEC". We used 159 vegetation plots in the Italian Peninsula, covering a wide range of this habitat in Italy. We found consistent ecological dissimilarities between Pinus halepensis and P. pinea forests and different diagnostic species. Moreover, P. halepensis forests hosted more diagnostic species of foredune habitats. Finally, we suggest that diagnostic species are a good indicator for studying EU habitat types resemblance, and we highlight the importance of the EU habitat 2270* in Italy, proposing two different subtypes.