Open data for assessing habitats degree of conservation at plot level. An example dataset of forest structural attributes in Val d'Agri (Basilicata, Southern Italy).

Forests supply multiple ecosystem services and host a large proportion of the Earth's terrestrial biodiversity. In particular, they provide habitats for many taxonomic groups which can be threatened by forest unsustainable management practices. Type and intensity of forest management are widely recognized as the main drivers of structure and functions in forests ecosystems. However, to better understand the impacts and the benefits deriving from forest management, there is a big need to standardize procedures of field data collection and data analysis. Here, we provide a georeferenced dataset of vertical and horizontal structure of forest types belonging to 4 habitat types, sensu Council Directive 92/43/EEC. The dataset includes structural indicators commonly linked to old-growth forests in Europe, in particular the amount of standing and lying deadwood. We collected data on 32 plots (24 of 225 m2, and 8 of 100 m2, according to different forests type) during spring and summer of 2022, in Val d'Agri (Basilicata, Southern Italy). The dataset we provide follows the common national standard for field data collection in forest habitat types, published by ISPRA in 2016 with the aim to promote a greater homogeneity in assessment of habitat conservation status at Country and biogeographical level, as requested by the Habitats Directive.

Somatic embryogenesis and plant recovery from mature tissues of olive cultivars (Olea europaea L.) "canino" and "moraiolo".

A cyclic system of somatic embryogenesis from mature tissues of olive (Olea europaea L.) and subsequent plant recovery were developed. The primary embryos originated from morphogenetic masses derived from petioles of shoots regenerated from tissues of two micropropagated cultivars: Canino and Moraiolo. The rejuvenation acquired by the shoots by regeneration, directly from petiole tissues or indirectly from petiole callus, seems to be essential for the subsequent somatic embryogenesis induction. Cyclic embryogenesis, both from normal embryos or teratoma, was obtained on modified olive medium (OMe) plus 0.5 µM; 6dimethylaminopurine, 0.44 µM 6-benzylaminopurine, 0.25 µM 3-indolebutyric acid and 0.42 mM cefotaxime. The production of normal embryos was higher, faster and often more clustered on a filter paper liquid medium or on a media solidified with phytagel than with agar. The capacity to produce continuous cycles of successive embryos has been maintained for over two years only in the dark, since the light inhibited embryo induction. The embryogenetic capacity was qualitatively and quantitatively enhanced by adding 0.42 mM cefotaxime. Mature embryos germinated easily by increasing the amount of liquid medium with shake culture. Although the majority of embryos appeared vitrified when transplanted to Jiffy-7 pots, they subsequently grew normally and were similar to those derived from nonvitrified embryos. The plantlets obtained from somatic embryos appeared to be morphologically similar to those produced from axillary buds.