Foreword: Effects of abiotic components on the environment of the Castelporziano nature reserve

Abiotic components, including climate, water resources, soil structure, air composition, geographical features, anthropogenic factors, play a fundamental role in shaping plant and animal conservation status, ecosystems functions and the services that they underpin, landscapes composition; basically, they are conditioning factors overall biodiversity and its longer-term resilience. The present research activities clarify the effects of these components on the Natural Reserve of Castelporziano ecosystems which as a whole represent an irreplaceable relic of the Mediterranean coastal lowland forests.