Biodiversity as a Tool in the Assessment of the Conservation Status of Coastal Habitats: A Case Study from Calabria (Southern Italy)

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Major revisiting of the text:

The term ‘naturalistic’ has a slightly different meaning;

The enumeration of multiple references should follow the editorial requirements, i.e., [X-Z], instead of [X, Y,Z]; T

Ruderal? ruderal and synanthropic species, line 38;

Relevé – this pivotal term needs explanation;

In lines 81 and 84, does the number 36 indicate the same reference

Discussion: what specific novelty of the research results was revealed by the survey? What new research avenues does it open?

I suggest splitting the Discussion from the Conclusions. This will help highlight the study's main new results in the Conclusions section and their statistical (quantitative) and heuristic (qualitative) significance.

Author Response

Reviewer 1

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

 

The term ‘naturalistic’ has a slightly different meaning;

Thank you for the suggestion, we have amended the text to avoid inconsistencies.

 

The enumeration of multiple references should follow the editorial requirements, i.e., [X-Z], instead of [X, Y,Z]; T

Thanks for the suggestion, we have changed the numbering.

 

Ruderal? ruderal and synanthropic species, line 38;

We believe that the spread of ruderal and synanthropic species along the coast has been  favoured by urbanisation and the use of of coastal tourism. By ruderal, we mean species that occur in environments that are heavily disturbed by urban area, roads,  rubble etc. They belong to the synanthropic species, which refers to the large category of plants that are category of plants whose spread has been favoured by the transformation of natural habitats as a result of anthropogenic activity. Synanthropic species can also include crop weed species.

 

Relevé – this pivotal term needs explanation;

Thanks for the suggestion, we have given an explanation of the meaning Relevé (....consist in a list of plants in a given homogeneus area, including the degree of coverage for each species expressed either using the scale provided by Braun-Blanquet)

 

In lines 81 and 84, does the number 36 indicate the same reference

We modified the reference

 

Discussion: what specific novelty of the research results was revealed by the survey? What new research avenues does it open?

Thank you for your suggestion, we have modified the discussion.

 

I suggest splitting the Discussion from the Conclusions. This will help highlight the study's main new results in the Conclusions section and their statistical (quantitative) and heuristic (qualitative) significance.

Thank you for your suggestion, we have revised the text by dividing and expanding both discussions and conclusion

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Dear Editors and Authors

the work is quite interesting and quite original (not so much in its methods as in its application to the case study). The quality of the images is poor. The bibliographical references can be implemented.

The supplementary materials are sufficient.

My specific notes are indicated in the attached file.

Although I am not a native English speaker, the language appears fluent but not very academic. It should be revised.

Kind regards

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Author Response

Reviewer 2

The introduction is somewhat too brief, the bibliographical references are barely sufficient. The concept of biodiversity and naturalness, and the impact of exotic and ruderal species could be better explained

Thanks for the suggestion, we have included new bibliographic references and explained the concept of diversity and synanthropic and ruderal species in more detail

 

Although it is not the focus of the work, please add a description of the associations identified, including the phytosociological tables and syntaxonomic scheme in the supplementary materials.

Thanks to this suggestion, we have added the table of habitats, containing a short description, the key species and syntaxonomical references, and the "Supplementary Materials. Appendix 2" with the syntaxonomic scheme of the different plant community cited .

 

The graphic quality of the image is low and unclear. Represent the study areas more clearly, insert scale and North.

We modified the figure by inserting the scale and North.

 

Biodiversity and Naturalness are two distinct and different concepts, explain the concept better.

thank you for your suggestion, we have amended the text with more explanation

 

Turn the list into a more easily readable table. Add a column with a very short description of each habitat and/or guide species.

Thanks for the suggestion, we added Supplementary Materials. Appendix 2,  containing a table were for each coastal Directive Habitats, short description, typical species and syntaxonomic references are reported.

 

The table legend is different from the entries in the table.

thanks for the suggestion we have modified the legend

 

The table legend is different from the table items.

thanks for the suggestion we have modified the legend

 

Translate and explain in the legend.

Thanks for the suggestion, we have translated and edited the legend

 

The table legend is different from the entries in the table.

thanks for the suggestion we have modified the legend

 

The table legend is different from the entries in the table.

thanks for the suggestion we have modified the legend

 

Why the plural if only one bibliographic work is cited?

thanks for the suggestion, the text has been edited

 

Conclusions are a bit weak, better clarify the impact of this work.

Thank you for your suggestion, we have amended the conclusions to make the objective of this work more concrete

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The manuscript is suitable for publication.