Editing Italy (section)

=== Biodiversity ===
{{Main|Fauna of Italy|Flora of Italy}}
{{Further|Italian garden}}
Italy's varied geography, including the [[Alps]], [[Apennines]], central Italian woodlands, and southern Italian [[Garigue]] and [[Maquis shrubland]], contribute to habitat diversity. As the peninsula is in the centre of the Mediterranean, forming a corridor between Central Europe and North Africa, and having {{Cvt|8,000|km}} of coastline, Italy has received species from the [[Balkans]], Eurasia, and the Middle East. Italy has probably the highest level of [[fauna]]l [[biodiversity]] in Europe, with over 57,000 species recorded, representing more than a third of all European fauna,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Italy's Fifth National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity|url=http://www.minambiente.it/sites/default/files/archivio/allegati/biodiversita/italian_fifth_report_cbd.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518094031/http://www.minambiente.it/sites/default/files/archivio/allegati/biodiversita/italian_fifth_report_cbd.pdf|archive-date=18 May 2015|access-date=17 May 2015|publisher=Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea|page=7}}</ref> and the highest level of biodiversity of animal and plant species within the EU.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Italy – Main Details|url=https://www.cbd.int/countries/profile/?country=it|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512013114/http://www.cbd.int/countries/profile.shtml?country=it|archive-date=12 May 2012|access-date=10 September 2023|publisher=Convention on Biological Diversity}}</ref>

[[File:C. l. italicus in MNP.jpg|thumb|upright=.7|The [[Italian wolf]], the national animal of Italy]]
The fauna of Italy includes 4,777 [[Endemism|endemic]] animal species,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Checklist E Distribuzione Della Fauna Italiana|url=https://faunaitalia.it/documents/CKmap_ITA.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109172951/https://faunaitalia.it/documents/CKmap_ITA.pdf|archive-date=9 January 2023|access-date=10 March 2022|page=29|language=it}}</ref> which include the [[Sardinian long-eared bat]], [[Corsican red deer|Sardinian red deer]], [[spectacled salamander]], [[brown cave salamander]], [[Italian newt]], [[Italian stream frog|Italian frog]], [[Apennine yellow-bellied toad]], [[Italian wall lizard]], and [[Sicilian pond turtle]]. There are 119 [[List of mammals of Italy|mammals species]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mammiferi d'Italia – Ministero della Transizione Ecologica|url=https://www.mite.gov.it/sites/default/files/archivio/biblioteca/qcn_14.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220529064555/https://www.mite.gov.it/sites/default/files/archivio/biblioteca/qcn_14.pdf|archive-date=29 May 2022|access-date=11 March 2022|page=7|language=it}}</ref> 550 [[List of birds of Italy|bird species]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Uccelli|url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/uccelli|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220311153732/https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/uccelli|archive-date=11 March 2022|access-date=11 March 2022|language=it}}</ref> 69 [[List of reptiles of Italy|reptile species]],<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Peter Uetz|last2=Jakob Hallermann|last3=Jiri Hosek|title=Distribution: italy|url=https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/advanced_search?location=italy&submit=Search|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109172951/https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/advanced_search?location=italy&submit=Search|archive-date=9 January 2023|access-date=22 June 2021|website=The Reptile Database}}</ref> 39 [[List of amphibians of Italy|amphibian species]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Quali sono gli anfibi autoctoni?|url=http://www.legambienteanimalhelp.it/anfibi-autoctoni|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319075835/http://www.legambienteanimalhelp.it/anfibi-autoctoni|archive-date=19 March 2022|access-date=11 March 2022|language=it}}</ref> 623 fish species,<ref>{{Cite web|title=All fishes reported from Italy|url=http://www.fishbase.us/country/CountryChecklist.php?what=list&trpp=50&c_code=380&csub_code=&cpresence=present&sortby=alpha2&vhabitat=all2|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240116110724/http://www.fishbase.us/country/CountryChecklist.php?what=list&trpp=50&c_code=380&csub_code=&cpresence=present&sortby=alpha2&vhabitat=all2|archive-date=16 January 2024|access-date=10 March 2022}}</ref> and 56,213 invertebrate species, of which 37,303 are insect species.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dove operiamo|url=https://www.cittametropolitana.mi.it/gev/dove_operiamo/index.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109172951/https://www.cittametropolitana.mi.it/gev/dove_operiamo/index.html|archive-date=9 January 2023|access-date=11 March 2022|language=it}}</ref>

The flora of Italy was traditionally estimated to comprise about 5,500 [[vascular plant]] species.<ref>Pignatti, S. (1982). ''Flora d'Italia''. Edagricole, Bologna, vol. 1–3, 1982</ref> However, {{As of|2005|lc=y}}, 6,759 species are recorded in the ''Data bank of Italian vascular flora''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Riccardo Guarino, Sabina Addamiano, Marco La Rosa, Sandro Pignatti ''Flora Italiana Digitale'':an interactive identification tool for the Flora of Italy|url=http://www.openstarts.units.it/dspace/bitstream/10077/3767/1/Guarino%20et%20al,%20bioidentify.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226162840/https://www.openstarts.units.it/dspace/bitstream/10077/3767/1/Guarino%20et%20al%2C%20bioidentify.pdf|archive-date=26 December 2016}}</ref> Italy has 1,371 endemic plant species and subspecies,<ref>{{Cite web|title=An inventory of vascular plants endemic to Italy|url=http://biotaxa.org/Phytotaxa/article/view/phytotaxa.168.1.1|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200624045915/https://www.biotaxa.org/Phytotaxa/article/view/phytotaxa.168.1.1|archive-date=24 June 2020|access-date=12 March 2022}}</ref> which include [[Abies nebrodensis|Sicilian fir]], [[Barbaricina columbine]], [[Sea marigold]], [[Santolina pinnata|Lavender cotton]], and [[Viola ucriana|Ucriana violet]]. Italy is a signatory to the [[Berne Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats]] and the [[Habitats Directive]].

Italy has many botanical and historic gardens.<ref>{{Cite web|title=I parchi fioriti e gli orti botanici più belli d'Italia|date=July 2016 |url=https://initalia.virgilio.it/i-parchi-fioriti-e-gli-orti-botanici-piu-belli-ditalia-3693|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109172952/https://initalia.virgilio.it/i-parchi-fioriti-e-gli-orti-botanici-piu-belli-ditalia-3693|archive-date=9 January 2023|access-date=14 March 2022|language=it}}; {{Cite web|url=https://www.casevacanza.it/idee/i-giardini-piu-belli-d-italia|title=Top10: i giardini più belli d'Italia|access-date=15 March 2022|language=it|archive-date=9 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109172951/https://www.casevacanza.it/idee/i-giardini-piu-belli-d-italia|url-status=live}}</ref> The Italian garden is stylistically based on symmetry, axial geometry, and the principle of imposing order on nature. It influenced the [[history of gardening]], especially [[French garden|French]] and [[English garden|English]] gardens.<ref>{{Cite web|date=11 March 2022|title=Alla scoperta delle meraviglie del giardino all'italiana|url=https://www.tuttogreen.it/giardino-all-italiana|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109172951/https://www.tuttogreen.it/giardino-all-italiana|archive-date=9 January 2023|access-date=28 March 2022|language=it}}</ref> The Italian garden was influenced by [[Roman garden|Roman]] and [[Italian Renaissance garden|Italian Renaissance]] gardens.

The [[Italian wolf]] is the national animal of Italy,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Sheri Foster|date=January 2021|title=What is Italy national animal?|url=https://it.yourtripagent.com/4052-what-is-italy-s-national-animal|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109172951/https://it.yourtripagent.com/4052-what-is-italy-s-national-animal|archive-date=9 January 2023|access-date=15 November 2021|website=Yourtrip.com}}; {{Cite web|url=https://www.affaritaliani.it/culturaspettacoli/il-lupo-grigio-degli-appennini-e-l-animale-dell-italia-544778.html|title=Il lupo grigio degli appennini e l animale dell Italia|author=James Hansen|date=June 2018|access-date=15 November 2021|archive-date=26 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126224852/https://www.affaritaliani.it/culturaspettacoli/il-lupo-grigio-degli-appennini-e-l-animale-dell-italia-544778.html|url-status=live}}</ref> while the national tree is the [[Arbutus unedo|strawberry tree]].<ref name="altovastese">{{Cite web|date=3 October 2011|title=Il corbezzolo simbolo dell'Unità d'Italia. Una specie che resiste agli incendi|url=http://www.altovastese.it/cultura/il-corbezzolo-simbolo-unita-italia-specie-che-resiste-agli-incendi|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205120852/http://www.altovastese.it/cultura/il-corbezzolo-simbolo-unita-italia-specie-che-resiste-agli-incendi|archive-date=5 February 2016|access-date=25 January 2016|language=it}}</ref> The reasons for this are that the Italian wolf, which inhabits the [[Apennine Mountains]] and the Western Alps, features prominently in Latin and Italian cultures, such as the legend of the [[founding of Rome]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Livy|title=The history of Rome|publisher=Printed for A. Strahan|others=George Baker (trans.)|year=1797}}</ref> while the green leaves, white flowers, and red berries of the strawberry tree, native to the Mediterranean, recall the colours of the flag.<ref name="altovastese"/> The national bird is the [[Italian sparrow]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Passero Italiano: L'uccello nazionale d'Italia|date=18 December 2022|url=https://www.concaternanaoggi.it/passero-italiano-luccello-nazionale-ditalia/|publisher=Conca Ternana Oggi|access-date=22 August 2024|archive-date=22 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240822123815/https://www.concaternanaoggi.it/passero-italiano-luccello-nazionale-ditalia/|url-status=live}}</ref> while the national flower is the flower of the strawberry tree.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.msn.com/it-it/notizie/mondo/qual-%C3%A8-il-fiore-nazionale-dei-paesi-del-mondo/ss-AA1eWqXE#image=25|title=Il fiore nazionale dell'Italia (e quello degli altri Paesi del mondo)|website=[[MSN]]|access-date=26 August 2024|language=it|archive-date=2 October 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241002211951/https://www.msn.com/it-it/notizie/mondo/qual-%C3%A8-il-fiore-nazionale-dei-paesi-del-mondo/ss-AA1eWqXE#image=25|url-status=live}}</ref>