Modern perspectives for plant sociology: The case of ecological land classification and the ecoregions of Italy

In this article, we discuss the relationships between plant sociology and ecology and highlight the potential of plant sociology for ecological modelling and environmental assessment. The classification criteria for plant communities (characteristic combination of species, specific relationships with the physical environment, particular chorological and dynamical features) assign strong indicator value to phytosociological units. Moreover, the modern approach of plant sociology, which spans from individual communities to vegetation series and geosigmeta, offers the opportunity to interact under a landscape ecological perspective. Within this general context, we particularly refer to the field of ecological land classification and present a research project on the ecoregions of Italy, which is based on the National Map of Vegetation Series and on bioclimatic, biogeographical, lithological, and geomorphological data.