What can historical floristic data tell us? A case study from Sardinia (Italy)

AbstractThe interest in historical floristic data has been increasing during recent years because of their potential to give insight covering historical periods for which few other data are available. The recent discovery of a historical flora referred to an area of Sardinia (Italy) named Sassarese, for which a relatively updated flora was known, was an opportunity to verify the potentiality of historical data and to provide information for interpreting biodiversity history identifying possible shifts in the flora related to land use changes. Comparing the two floras, we found that 60% of segetal/crop relative species and 20% of freshwater habitat species disappeared and that the introduction of seven alien species has to be dated back. The trends detected may be helpful for future management choices, which should consider the possibility of recovering habitats and activities that encourage the return of disappeared species, perhaps even thinking about restoration projects.Keywords: alien invasive speciescrop wild relative speciesflorafreshwater habitatshistory of botanyland use changessegetal speciesshift of the floraDisclaimerAs a service to authors and researchers we are providing this version of an accepted manuscript (AM). Copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proofs will be undertaken on this manuscript before final publication of the Version of Record (VoR). During production and pre-press, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal relate to these versions also.