Plant Toponyms as a Tool in Investigating Possible Links Between Cultural and Biological Diversity. The Case of Tuscany

Abstract

Tuscan toponyms and their relations with forest vegetation were investigated, also with the aim of testing whether toponyms can be used as a source of information on vegetation changes. Main forest species growing in Tuscany were selected and referred to expressly defined topo-species (corresponding either to botanical species or to groups of species), according to their vernacular names. Tuscan toponyms were related to topo-species thanks to an expressly developed computer program. Over 2400 toponyms related with forest topo-species were identified, 1048 of which meaning plant communities. Each toponym was located by a GIS software. Distribution maps of toponyms were generated and compared with actual Tuscan forest vegetation. Only 249 cases (10.3 %) showed a perfect correspondence between topo-species and current vegetation; some of these inconsistencies are discussed.