Integrating phytosociological and agronomic analysis to support the sustainable management of Mediterranean grasslands

The paper analyses the integration of different methodologies for assessing the grazing value of grasslands, aimed at supporting decisions for their
sustainable management, that is, the long term preservation of their productive potenti al. The attribution of an agronomie value (specific index) to
each species can be used for a preliminary evaluation of their productive potential. It can be also considered a first step in the exploitation of data
already available from studies made on grasslands using a range of approaches, among them phytosociological tables. A data base file containing a
collection of Specific indices for 1796 taxa, based on evaluations made by different authors, who applied the Grazing Value method in a range of
environments in the Mediterranean area, has been made available on the web site http://www.agr.unian.it/(download area, ricerca).