Zona costiera del Salento: cambiamenti degli habitat prioritari, d’interesse comunitario e d’interesse regionale negli ultimi 50 anni. Il tratto di costa ionica di Porto Cesareo come caso di studio [Salento coastal zone: Changes in priority habitat, community and regional interests in the last 50 years. The coastal trait of the territory of Porto Cesareo as a case study]

This research has been carried out in three phases: 1) definition of Salento coastal zone; 2) analysis of the vegetational trasformations in the coastal trait of the territory of Porto Cesareo; 3) interpretation of the results in a conservation point of view. At first, the delimitation of territorial neighbourhood in order to define the coastal zone was conducted. This was made considering the anthropic and vegetational characteristics of the landscape. This zone was delimitated throught a spatial analysis based on the vegetation and land-use maps, at the 1:10000 scale, referred to five coastal sites. So the coastal zone is rapresented by a 500 m buffer from the coastal line. Second, the typification of actual vegetation in this trait of coast was made throught sampling and analysis of phytosociological reléve. The spatialization of point data was made throught the photointerpretation of orthorectyfied aereal photos; in this way a choroplate vegetation map was produced at the 1:10000 scale. The vegetation maps since 1943 were made throught visual interpretation of hystorical aerial photos. Throught the overlay of themes the vegetational trasformation map and the inerent trasformation matrix were produced. Third, the vegetation maps related to each year were reclassified in according to habitat categories refered to CEE/92/43 Habitat Directive and P.U.T.T./p of Apulia Region (L.R. 5/95). 1) Priority habitat, 2) habitat of comunity interest, 3) of regional interest and 4) without environmental value were identified. Thought the map overlay the habitat trasformation map and the related trasformation matrix were producted. As results, after the laws of environmental conservations in this region, an increase of coverage of habitat of regional interest was registered. This represents a transition from priority habitat to habitat of regional interest, so to a fewer naturalistic value habitat.