Trying to Link Vegetation Units with Biomass Data: The Case Study of Italian Shrublands

Although their carbon stock is relevant in assessing the baseline for the
negotiation of future agreements with respect to carbon balance, there still are few
available studies concerning the biomass and the net ecosystem exchange capacity
of Mediterranean shrublands. In this chapter a preliminary overview on the
biomass values concerning Italian shrubland communities and/or their dominant/
characteristic woody species is provided. Many useful data on above- and belowground
biomass issued from investigations carried out in other Mediterranean
countries and concerning plant communities, which share the same ecological,
floristic and structural traits of Italian shrublands. A preliminary finding of this
research is the uneven degree of knowledge concerning the different non-forest
woody communities. For example, there is still no literature on the biomass of
some 2/3 of all the considered phytosociological units. Besides, both the above
and the below-ground biomass of many Mediterranean shrubs show a very wide
range of variation as they are strongly influenced by progressive succession
processes
and by the nature, the intensity and the frequency of disturbance factors.
Thus, direct measuring of these values for each vegetation unit and dominant
woody species should be encouraged and intensified. Monitoring activities concerning
biomass increase are recommended as well: as a matter of fact, at present reference data on this topic are so limited and variable that it is not possible to
confidently estimate the annual growth of shrubland communities.