A new pine forest to save biodiversity

Over time, due to their intrinsic habitat characteristics and the extraordinary position between protected sites and wet areas, the pine forest communities have taken on important functions ranging from the more strictly ecological-environmental to the social and economic one. In Italy, for some years, stone pine (Pinus pinea L.) coastal forests have been at risk of conservation due to biological adversities [1]. In particular, in 2014, the presence of the cochinealToumeyella parvicornis (Cockerell, 1897) within some urban areas [2] and in various stone pine forests of Campania Region, was ascertained. The invasion by alien species is the primary factors leading to biodiversity loss [3]. Monitoring the state of the vegetation using remote sensing has highlighted the usefulness of this technique for preserving the biodiversity of the pine forest ecosystems, peculiar resource of the Mediterranean coastal belts.