The Role of Stone Materials, Environmental Factors, and Management Practices in Vascular Plant-Induced Deterioration: Case Studies from Pompeii, Herculaneum, Paestum, and Velia Archaeological Parks (Italy)

Vascular plant-induced biodeterioration significantly varies across Italian archaeological sites, with substrate type playing a crucial role in determining the hazard index (HI) while exposure has minimal impact. The study identified 117 species across Pompeii, Herculaneum, Paestum, and Velia, revealing distinct ecological patterns: Pompeii's urban setting fosters cosmopolitan and widely distributed taxa due to high anthropogenic disturbance, whereas Paestum and Herculaneum exhibit dominance of Mediterranean species under more stable conditions. These findings underscore the need for site-specific conservation strategies that account for substrate properties, vegetation impact, and human activity to mitigate biodeterioration risks effectively.

Cozzolino, A., Bonanomi, G., & Motti, R. (2025). The Role of Stone Materials, Environmental Factors, and Management Practices in Vascular Plant-Induced Deterioration: Case Studies from Pompeii, Herculaneum, Paestum, and Velia Archaeological Parks (Italy). Plants, 14(4), 514. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14040514