Combining land cover mapping of coastal dunes with vegetation analysis

Question: Coastal dune systems are characterized by a natural mosaic that promotes species diversity. This heterogeneity often represents a severe problem for traditional mapping or ground survey techniques. The work presented here proposes to apply a very detailed CORINE land cover map as baseline information for plant community sampling and analyses in a coastal dune landscape. Location: Molise coast, Central Italy. Method: We analyse through an error matrix the coherence between land cover classes and vegetation types identified through field survey. The CORINE land cover map (scale 1:5,000) of the Molise coast was used with the CORINE legend expanded to a fourth level of detail for natural and semi-natural areas. Vegetation data were collected following a random stratified sampling design using the CORINE land cover classes as strata. An error matrix was used to compare, on a category-by-category basis, the relationship between vegetation types (obtained by cluster analyses of sampling plots) and land cover classes of the same area. Results: The coincidence between both classification approaches is quite good. Only one land cover class presents a very weak agreement with its corresponding vegetation type, and this result was interpreted as being related to antropic disturbance. Conclusions: Since it is based on a standard land cover classification, the proposal has a potential for application to most European coastal systems. This method could represent a first step in planning issues regarding coastal systems.