When plants establish outside their native range, their ability to adapt to the new environment is influenced by both demography and dispersal. However, the relative importance of these two factors is poorly understood. To quantify the influence of demography and dispersal on patterns of genetic diversity underlying adaptation, we used data from a globally distributed demographic research network comprising 35 native and 18 nonnative populations of Plantago lanceolata . Species-specific simulation experiments showed that dispersal would dilute demographic influences on genetic diversity at local scales. Populations in the native European range had strong spatial genetic structure associated with geographic distance and precipitation seasonality. In contrast, nonnative populations had weaker spatial genetic structure that was not associated with environmental gradients but with higher within-population genetic diversity. Our findings show that dispersal caused by repeated, long-distance, human-mediated introductions has allowed invasive plant populations to overcome environmental constraints on genetic diversity, even without strong demographic changes. The impact of invasive plants may, therefore, increase with repeated introductions, highlighting the need to constrain future introductions of species even if they already exist in an area.

The increasing interest in healthy and natural foods has raised the attention towards uncommon or unexplored ingredients, such as edible flowers. These products are proven to be a rich source of bioactive compounds, for example, vitamins or polyphenols that play an important role in health promotion and disease prevention. However, plant species with edible flowers are numerous and most of them still need to be studied with this aim. The high species richness of North-Western Italy provides interesting perspectives in the use of wild edible flowers, which are currently underutilized, but can be a valuable food source or food supplement for healthy diets. In this framework, the phytochemical composition of 22 wild edible flowers was analysed and compared with that of four cultivated species ( Borago officinalis L., Calendula officinalis L., Tagetes patula L. and Tropaeolum majus L.) to evaluate their potentiality as sources of bioactive compounds. The total polyphenol content (TPC) and antioxidant activity of the fresh flowers were assessed, together with their phenolic profiles and vitamin C content, through spectrophotometric and chromatographic analyses. The evaluated parameters varied widely among species, with Paeonia officinalis L. and Rosa pendulina L. showing the highest values of polyphenols (1,930 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE) · 100 g ⁻¹ and 1,774 mg GAE · 100 g ⁻¹ , respectively), followed by Rosa canina L. (1,397 mg GAE · 100 g ⁻¹ ) and Geranium sylvaticum L. (1,268 mg GAE · 100 g ⁻¹ ). The same species also showed the highest antioxidant activity, measured with three different assays [ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2′-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS)]. The phenolic profile differed among the studied species, with Dianthus pavonius Tausch and R. pendulina having the highest sum of detected polyphenols (2,522 mg · 100 g ⁻¹ and 2,366 mg · 100 g ⁻¹ , respectively). Vitamin C was identified in all but two flowers ( Allium ursinum L. and B. officinalis ) and Primula veris L. had the highest amount (45 mg · 100 g ⁻¹ ). The study showed that wild edible flowers outperformed the cultivated species, except for T. majus , providing new insights for the use of wild edible flowers as sources of bioactive compounds.

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of vascular flora alien to Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, exclusions, and status changes for Italy or for Italian administrative regions of taxa in the generaAcalypha,Acer,Canna,Cardamine,Cedrus,Chlorophytum,Citrus,Cyperus,Epilobium,Eucalyptus,Euphorbia,Gamochaeta,Hesperocyparis,Heteranthera,Lemna,Ligustrum,Lycium,Nassella,Nothoscordum,Oenothera,Osteospermum,Paspalum,Pontederia,Romulea,Rudbeckia,Salvia,Sesbania,Setaria,Sicyos,Styphnolobium,Symphyotrichum, andTradescantia. Nomenclature and distribution updates, published elsewhere, and corrigenda are provided as supplementary material.

Grasslands are at risk of degradation due to unsustainable management practices and climate change. Here, we review the principal soil quality indicators (SQIs) to evaluate the sustainability of different grassland management practices globally. We discuss the importance of SQI assessment and the Soil Quality Minimum Dataset (MDS) specifically in the context of grasslands. We then review two potential solutions, the first of which is adopting grazing management, whereby sustainable grazing management plans (GMPs) offer great potential. The other solution is the development and adoption of novel grassland species, which may improve either drought resistance or infiltration rates, erosion and flooding. Sustainable grassland soil management can promote ecosystem service delivery and improve the resilience of the entire grassland ecosystem to anthropogenic change.