Conservation of Apennine beech forests with Abies alba SIC Pigelleto - M. Amiata

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

BACKGROUND

Apennine beech forests with Abies alba once covered an area from Monte Amiata to the Maremma plain in western Italy. Today, in Tuscany the habitat is limited to small isolated areas, at altitudes of between 600 and 900 metres. A proposed Site of Community Importance (SCI) in the area, the Foreste del Siele e Pigetello di Piancastagnaio is the location for one of the remaining beech forests with autochthonous silver fir and beech forests with Taxus baccata and Ilex aquifolium, another habitat that is rare in the Apennines. However, lack of maintenance of the beech forests with Abies alba allowed the diffusion of pathogen fungi, such as Heterobasidium and Armillaria, which affected the conifers and reduced their natural regeneration. In addition, the presence of exotic silver firs, recently planted in the area, created a serious risk of genetic erosion of the relict autochthonous population of this species. The habitat was also threated by over-exploitation of the beech woods. Finally, the Salamandrina terdigitata, one of the amphibians listed in the Habitats Directive, has been recently recognised in the area, where it is threatened by the reduction of its breeding habitat.

OBJECTIVES

The project had three main objectives for the project area (a site near Monte Amiata at an altitude of 600-969 metres mainly covered by deciduous woodlands, where indigenous Abies alba can be observed at a low altitude):

Conservation of the autochthonous silver fir inside the beech wood by implementing specific silvicultural works, aimed at the elimination of diseased plants, at the reduction of the risk of further infections and at the restoration of suitable conditions to favour the natural renovation of the species. At the same time, the exotic silver fir population was to be gradually eliminated to reduce the risk of genetic pollution.

Increase the prevalence of the yew inside the beech forests. This was to be done through the ex situ reproduction of at least 3 000 yew plants, and their subsequent planting inside the wood.

Conservation of the spectacled salamander and the increase of its population inside the SCI. For this purpose, the beneficiary planned to implement small works to slow down water flow in the streams of the area, and to restore abandoned old drinking troughs and springs. In order to guarantee long-term maintenance of habitats and species targeted by the project, management plans were to be prepared for the targeted woodlands.

RESULTS

The project achieved all the aims foreseen in the application; the Province of Siena declared the zone with the autochtonous Abies alba a Special Conservation Area (SCA). A management plan for the sites where actions are needed was elaborated and approved by the Comunità Montana. The plan includes details of actions to be carried out until 2027.

The project carried out the following activities:

Collection of naturalistic information on the SCI, genetic analysis for checking the origin of silver fir, creation of a management plan covering the areas involved in the project.

Purchase of seven hectares of mature forest with autochthonous silver fir and mesophilous broadleaved woodland, making it possible to support more effectively the creation of a reserve subject to special protection within the SCI.

Sylvicultural interventions aimed at improving the Apennine beech forest with Abies alba across a 36.7 hectare area, reconstitution of 32 hectares of Apennine beech forest with Abies alba, renaturalisation of 18 hectares of artificial conifers stands with allochthonous Abies alba, and restoration of 20 hectares of Apennine beech woods with Taxus and Ilex with the plantation of 3 000 European yew seedlings of European yew and 3 000 broadleaf tree saplings obtained by agamic reproduction.

Re-creation of eight habitats suitable for Salamandrina terdigitata using low-cost techniques.

Provision of information to local people about these issues and promoted the results on a website (www.lifepigelleto.it), at which location can be found the final technical report; proceedings of the workshop held in April 2005; reports on the naturalistic survey and on the genetic survey on the autochthonous population of silver fir; the naturalistic survey database; summary reports in Italian and English; and a summary of the technical-scientific aspects of the project.

Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report (see "Read more" section).

An ex-post visit, carried out in May 2017 by the LIFE external monitoring team, ten years after the project closed, concluded that the project had changed the approach of the provincial and regional authorities (Province of Siena and Toscana Region) to forest management. This was due to the development of new techniques and interventions, both at the planning and forest works stages, with some new practices becoming accepted regular practices. The project’s network of sample plots is enabling the ongoing monitoring of interventions (e.g. thinning, selective felling and plantation of seedlings of various species to increase biodiversity and natural regeneration in stands). The Vegetation Conservation Reserve ("zona di conservazione vegetazionale"), established by Siena Province at the end of the project, remains in force. The project’s environment impact was rated as very high, because the conservation status of target habitats was improved, and the actions initiated were extended to other sites thanks to the follow-on RESILFOR (LIFE08 NAT /IT/000371) project. In particular, the number of autochthonous Abies alba at the start of the TUCAP project was about 60, while the ex-post visit reported that this number had increased to over 1 000 with a predicted positive trend for the next 10 years. The ongoing monitoring has helped decrease illegal poaching, tree cutting and waste dumping. The target salamander species (Salamandra tergiditata) has increased in number and distribution, due to cost-effective and easily-implemented actions to restore reproductive sites. The ex-post report noted that the project improved knowledge of the Natura 2000 site’s flora and fauna, and the genetics of Abies alba. Capacity was built by improving specific forest intervention skills. The project established good ongoing relationships with stakeholders. Universities have benefitted (e.g. Siena, Firenze, Viterbo, Innsbruck) from using the project plots for ongoing research; private companies, such as associated beneficiary, by establishing useful contacts with research institutes and a social cooperative; and the nursery Floramiata saved on propagation costs by adopting the project’s new micropropagation protocol for the agamic reproduction of yew seedlings. Dissemination actions increased the awareness of the local population about the importance of the Pigelleto Natural Reserve, and its habitats and species. Thanks to TUCAP, the number of visitors in the Pigelleto area increased, to the benefit of the local economy. The project has contributed directly to the implementation of the Habitats and Birds directives.