Preliminary data on climate change and its effect on some Romulea Maratti species present in Italy

Italian territory, with its singular geographical position between the Alps in the North and the Mediterrean sea on the other three sides, shows high plant diversity also at intraspecific and intrapopulational level and is rich in endemisms. In recent years, the impact of global and local climate change (pollution, high CO2 level, temperature change, etc) on the plants present in Italy is object of detailed observations in all its complexity and levels. In the context of the changes in density and location of the World’s biodiversity and of impacts of speciation/extinction rates, we present some preliminary data collected during the last three years and regarding Romulea Maratti species present in Italy. They show the influence of climate changes in relation to the modality of reproduction and some possible effects at species and subspecies level of Romuleas. These results highlight the necessity of more detailed investigations of the species and populations of this genus as important source of climate change information.