Areas of high conservation value in Georgia: present and future threats by invasive alien plants

Georgia is known for its extraordinary rich biodiversity of plants, which may now be threatened due to the spread of invasive alien plants (IAP). We aimed to identify (i) the most prominent IAP out of 9 selected potentially invasive and harmful IAP IAP by predicting thetheir distribution of 9 selected IAP under current and future climate conditions in Georgia as well as in its 43 Protected Areas, as a proxy for areas of high conservation value and (ii) the Protected Areas most at risk due to these IAP. We used species distribution models based on 6 climate variables and then filtered the obtained distributions based on maps of soil and vegetation types, and on recorded occurrences, resulting into the predicted ecological distribution of the 9 IAP's at a resolution of 1km2. We foundOur habitat suitability analysis showed that Ambrosia artemisiifolia, (24% and 40%) Robinia pseudoacaia (14% and 19%) and Ailanthus altissima (9% and 11%) have the largest potential distribution are the most abundant (predicted % area covered)d) IAP, with Ailanthus altissima the potentially most increasing one over the next fifty years (from 9% to 13% and from 11% to 25%), for Georgia and the Protected Areas, respectively. Furthermore, our results show indicate two areas in Georgia that are under specifically high threat, i.e. the area around Tbilisi and an area in the western part of Georgia (Adjara), both at lower altitudes. Our procedure to identify areas of high conservation value most at risk by IAP has been applied for the first time. It will help national authorities in prioritizing their measures to protect Georgia's outstanding biodiversity from the negative impact of IAP.

La prima redazione della «Orazione scritta a Carlo V» di Giovanni della Casa

Nel contributo è pubblicata la prima redazione conosciuta dell'Orazione con cui Giovanni della Casa nel 1549 chiese all'imperatore Carlo V la restituzione di Piacenza ai Farnese, loro sottratta dopo l'uccisione di Pier Luigi nel 1547. L'edizione documenta l'elaborazione d'autore con un apparato evolutivo del testo trasmesso dal manoscritto Vaticano Chigiano O vi 80. This article provides an edition of the first known version of Giovanni della Casa's request to the Emperor Charles V (1549) for the restitution of Piacenza to the Farnese family after Pier Luigi's murder in 1547. This edition documents the Author's working out with an evolutional apparatus of the text transmitted by the manuscript Chigiano O vi 80.