Search results for "woodlands"

Criteria to identify old-growth forests in the Mediterranean: A case study from Sicily based on a literature review and some management proposals

2018

Old growth forests are increasingly considered and studied all around the world. However, the knowledge of such important forest systems is still limited in some bioclimatic regions, such as in the Mediterranean Basin. Starting from the knowledge acquired elsewhere, our research was carried out with the aim to select the most effective criteria to identify potential old-growth forests in Mediterranean ecosystems (Sicily, Italy). Four key proxy indicators were considered: deadwood amount, tree size, structural traits, and tree species richness. A preliminary classification of the local forest stands level in three classes of old-growthness (high, medium and low) has also been proposed. The m…

THE CLASS QUERCO-FAGETEA SYLVATICAE IN SICILY: AN EXAMPLE OF BOREO-TEMPERATE VEGETATION IN THE CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN REGION

2012

A syntaxonomical revision of the class Querco-Fagetea sylvaticae in Sicily, based on literature data and unpublished relevés, is presented. This class groups the mesophilous woods characterized by the dominance of deciduous trees (e.g. Fagus sylvatica, Quercus sp. pl., Acer sp. pl.), and more rarely by conifers (Taxus baccata, Pinus nigra subsp. calabrica), as well as by other broadleaved trees, such as Betula aetnensis, Populus tremula, Castanea sativa. In Sicily, these woody communities are widespread in the northern and north-eastern districts of the island, chiefly on the highest peaks (Madonie, Nebrodi, Peloritani, and Etna). This class is represented in Sicily by two, both flor…

The forest vegetation from the Garda lake

1998

A study about the forest vegetation occurring along the shores of the Garda lake is presented. The investigation emphasized a noteworthy vegetation diversity, related both to the habitat heterogenity and to the still present traces of several climatic changes that affected the area beginning from the Quaternary period. The examinated woodlands are the result of a compenetration between evergreen characteristic species of the Quercetea ilicis class, representing relicts of the climacic vegetation during the peak of the post-glacial anathermic phase, and deciduous mesothermophilous elements belonging to the Querco-Fagetea class order, which better reflect the present macroclimate. On the basi…

Are Sicilian forests at less risk of invasion by alien plants?

Climate change could facilitate the spread of invasive alien plants by making plant communities and individuals weaker and less competitive. Indeed, alien plants are generally more adapted to the rapidly changing environmental conditions that are being determined in the coming decades. Moreover, while alien plants have, until recent years, mainly affected synanthropic communities and man-made habitats, they are increasingly able to affect also more complex natural communities such as forests. The talk will show some Sicilian cases.

Bird abundance and richness in ten Mediterranean agroforestry systems

2019

Since the last century agriculture is strongly promoting the simplification of the landscape. The LIFE Desert Adapt project is been developed across 1000 hectares in Italy, Spain, Portu-gal and has the objective of implementing integrative agroforestry-based land use planning and management, and one of the indicators to evaluate the project effectiveness is birds richness and abundance. Here we present the results of the first assessment and explore the relationships with the main vegetation cover types. We established 68 sampling points where we recorded bird abundance and richness. In total we registered 57 bird species, sampling points surrounded by woodlands presented 50 species, while …

Exploitation competition between hole‐nesters ( Muscardinus avellanarius , Mammalia and Parus caeruleus , Aves) in Mediterranean woodlands

2005

Data from a long-term study (1993-2003) using artificial nest-boxes, were analysed to examine competition for nesting between blue tit Parus caeruleus and common dormouse Muscardinus avellanarius in Sicily. Occupation rates and the reproductive biology of the blue tit in sample woodlots outside the distribution area of the common dormouse were used as a control in sample areas where the two species were syntopic. A selection test showed that the two species, when living in syntopy, actively chose the small nest-boxes, thus overlapping in the use of the same spatial resource. The experimental exclusion of the common dormouse from nest-boxes caused an increase of blue tit occupation rate. Onc…

Trophic habits of Muscardinus avellanarius (Mammalia Gliridae) as revealed by multiple stable isotope analysis

2007

Multiple stable isotope analysis was used to investigate the diet of the common dormouse Muscardinus avellanarius in a mixed Mediterranean forest. δ13C and δ15N values of dormouse tissues compared to those of the vegetal and animal sources available in the area showed that the isotopic composition of both adult and juvenile M. avellanarius could be explained by a mixture of vegetal and animal organic matter. The isotopic composition of the assimilated nitrogen was mostly explained by the organic matter from flora. Among the vegetal components, flowers of Fagus silvatica, Quercus robur, and the rarer Crataegus oxyacantha, berries of Ilex aquifolium and acorns of Q. robur were found in the ad…