TURFGRASSES: INVASIVE ALIEN SPECIES (IAS) AS EN EMERGING PROBLEM IN ITALY 1University of Basilicata, Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Environment, Viale dell’Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100 Potenza, Italy 2University of Basilicata, Department of Biology, Biotechnology and Agro-Forestry Protection, Viale dell’Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100 Potenza, Italy Potenza Giovanna 2 , Castronuovo D. 1 ,Fascetti S. 2 , Perniola M. 1 , Miccolis V. 1 , Lovelli S. 1 , Candido V. 1 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS The research is organized in two phases: the first one involves screening of the study area (Central and Southern Italy) to find suitable turfgrass species caracteristic of the Mediterranean Bioclimate; the second one focuses on innovative propagation and cultivation techniques, including hydroponic to optimize the 'mother plants' growth. During summer 2011 and winter 2012 samples of different macrotherm native species were collected in coastal and hilly especially on sandy substrates dry and/or salty (Tabb.1,2) Now there are being studied 29 monocots and 5 dicots and for each ecotypes some morphometrical aspects were mesured (Tab. 3). Medicago sp. Lotu sp. Potentilla reptans L. Trifolium repens L. Cynodon dactylon L. Paspalum paspaloides (Michx.) Scribner 3. RESULTS and CONCLUSIONS 4501305 640701 200 MATERA BASILICATA 4491214 650379 200 MONTESCAGLIOSO BASILICATA 4484012 666275 0 GINOSA PUGLIA 4461467 656509 0 PISTICCI BASILICATA 4441331 642234 0 POLICORO BASILICATA 4376962 578877 0 DIAMANTE CALABRIA 4438447 515761 0 ASCEA CAMPANIA 4661223 478443 0 VASTO MOLISE 4668620 301916 400 FERONIA LAZIO Coord WGS 84 NORTH Coord WGS 84 EAST ALTITUDE m a.s.l. LOCALITY REGION 1.INTRODUCTION In Italy, many species from foreign countries were introduced by some public and private institutions for economic development, recreational uses, or environmental improvements, such as erosion control, restoration and beautification of landscaping along the highways. In Italy as a result of a national research program supported by Ministry of Environment (MATTM) 1023 non native species (IAS) have been identified. Among them, turfgrasses species can be considered some of the most easily spread. The production and planting of turfgrasses are a fast developing business with a growing demand for easy to use materials that is often set up using non native species. This paper reports the first results of an Italian research project, financed by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, named Mi.T.E.A.Med 'Miglioramento dei tappeti erbosi in ambiente mediterraneo: impiego di specie endemiche e ottimizzazione delle tecniche di impianto' (Improved turfgrass in Mediterranean environment: use of endemic species of plant and optimization techniques ). Mediterranean Study Area and Sites in Italy The Mi.T.E.A.Med research results suggest that Mediterranean adapted native grass species are worth investigating for turfgrass making as mono [e.g. Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.] and polycultures (e.g. Potentilla reptans L., Trifolium repens L., Lotus corniculatus L.) for their performance advantages and low resource use (especially water requirement). These species can be used as promising alternatives to conventional non-native turfgrasses. Tab. 2 List of ecotypes collected Tab. 1 List of sites collected 15 16 1 80 0 5,2 8,6 A5 Mp 12 23 1 80 0 10,53 12,1 A4 Mg 11 37,9 0 0 0 6,2 14,6 AZ_P3 12 18 1,5 70 0 4,5 7,61 AZ_P2 0 0 1 50 27 2,6 7,49 AZ_P1 11 21,7 2 80 29,4 3,8 72,6 A7 10 28,8 2 92 25,2 1,5 35,2 A6 12 18,8 1 30 16,9 1,9 32 A3 11 22,4 3 40 44,2 2,4 75 A2 11 25,2 2 50 23,3 2,6 46,5 A1 14 38,6 2 120 15 2,7 69,8 Pa4 10 19,5 1,5 19,8 15 3,8 60 Pa3 0 0 0,5 65 9 2,9 85 Pa1 10 34,7 2 37 10,6 3 39 AZ_P5 16 17 1 180 14 3,6 45 C_O1bis 12 22 2 34 23 2,8 56 C_O1 5 59 1 60 35 1,3 42 5 4 62 0,5 62 20 3 130 4 5 59 1 60 35 1,3 42 3 10 33,2 2 30 0 0 0 G3 8 37 1 80 22 3 110 G2 8 43 0,5 45 20 2,9 120 G1 6 54 2 38 15 1,7 64 8R 5 50 0,5 50 20 4,1 125 5R 6 47,6 0,5 50 20 4,1 125 2R 7 59,7 2 40 16 1,7 67 1R 18 20,36 1 30 0 0 0 Vg 19 32 0,5 14 7 3,6 31 Vf 11 30 1 70 13,3 2,5 27,7 Ve 15 15 0,5 22 15 3,9 18,6 Vd 18 34,8 1 57 15 3,2 42 Vc 10 28,7 0 0 16 1,5 14 Vb 7 28,7 0 0 32 0,9 42,6 Va 16 31,5 2 35 15 1,7 52 P_P2 average of stolones rooted stolon length mm root width mm root length internodes length width leaf mm length leaf mm Cod Tab.3 Database reporting plant morphological aspects At this stage biometric data (Tab. 4) on the Cynodon spp. characteristics have been used in PCA (Fig.2) in which the first dimension absorbs 56% of the total variability while the second 35%. 2 Medicago sp. 1 Lotus sp. 1 Potentilla reptans 1 natural Poa pratensis 1 natural Trifolium repens 3 natural Paspalum paspaloides 25 natural Cynodon dactylon NUMBER OF ACCESSIONS ECOTYPES l_root w_root l_stolon n_internodes w_leaf l_leaf average_internodes Vb Vc Ve Vf Vg P_P2 Pa4 1R 2R 8R G1 G2 G3 C_O1 C_O1bis 3 4 5 A1 A2 A3 A6 A7 AZ_P5 30 -60 -40 -20 20 40 60 80 100 Component 1 (56% l_root) -100 -80 -60 -40 -20 20 40 60 Component 2 (35% l_leaf) 10 45 2,6 16,9 30 1 40 Median 4,0104 36,0377 1,16548 10,3825 14,9253 0,778353 38,7558 Stand. dev 16,0833 1298,71 1,35833 107,796 222,764 0,605833 1502,01 Variance 0,802081 7,20753 0,233095 2,07649 2,98506 0,155671 7,75117 Std. error 10,2 54,6 2,38 19,316 34,4144 1,28 51,352 Mean 255 1365 59,5 482,9 860,36 32 1283,8 Sum 19 130 4,1 44,2 62 3 180 Max 4 0 0 0 15 0 0 Min 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 N average_internodes l_leaf w_leaf n_interno des l_stolon w_root l_root Tab. 4 Univariate statistic on biometric measure of Cynodon spp. Fig. 2 PCA on Cynodon spp. ecotypes The next phase of the project expects to make growing tests in a controlled environmental conditions to confirm the biometric and morphological characteristics of the samples collected and carry out stress tests to identify ecotypes with low water requirements and salinity resistence. The PCA therefore allows to discriminate the different Cynodon ecotypes primarily in function of root length (l_root) and leaf lenght (l_leaf). w_leaf l_intern l_root w_root l_stolon n_stolon l_leaf 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 Y Fig. 1 Distribution of morphologigal aspects