Forest management guidelines to promote the conservation of Apennine brown bear in Italy

Forests provide a wide range of important ecosystem services and, among these benefits, biodiversity and wildlife habitat. Forest management (including no active control) deeply affects wildlife management, since it can alter habitat structure and productivity, speed-up evolution of ecosystems, and impact on wildlife ability to survive and reproduce. Unfortunately still very often, practitioners, forest planners and policy-makers fail to understand this opportunity. Forest management can maintain and enhance quality, quantity and availability of natural resources for wildlife, and therefore it is a valuable management tool long recognized in the wildlife practice. This is particularly true for species associated to forest ecosystems which are threatened or endangered, such as the Apennine brown bear (Ursus arctos marsicanus). Based on an extensive literature review on forest management-bear interactions, we report recommended management actions and associated working techniques, hereby illustrated and discussed in order to define a set of forest management guidelines meant to promote and encourage the adoption of adequate silviculture practices in Apennine forests, as well as to facilitate and support the range expansion of Apennine brown bear beyond its current core distribution. Our aim is also to present these guidelines to a wider scientific audience and decision-makers to foster their implementation into management practices, especially within protected areas. Finally, our ultimate goal is to fill the gap between disciplines such as silviculture and animal ecology, with the aim of stimulating the multidisciplinary approach requested not only for the conservation of the Apennine brown bear but for the integrated and enhanced management of wildlife in general

Distribution model of understory vegetation in beech forests from Central Apennines (Italy) in relation to edaphic parameters

The first results of a study of monitoring species and habitats in the framework of the Life 04NAT/IT/000190 "Tutela dei siti Natura 2000 gestiti dal Corpo Forestale dello Stato" are presented. This study was carried out by the Department of Plant Biology of the University of Rome (La Sapienza) and the National Forest Service. We focused the investigation on the relationships between herbaceous species and pedological parameters (humus and soil) in Central-Apennine beech forests. Data have been collected through 40 phytosociological relevés, 15 soil profiles and 40 humus profiles in 40 forest plots, between March 2005 and September 2006. In this paper we presented data elaborated on a subset of 15 plots where soil profiles were available. The species of undergrowth showed different ecological requirements to some edaphic and humus parameters (pH, sand, loam, clay, organic matter, nitrogen, carbon/nitrogen ratio, Ca++, K+;thickness and carbon content of the organic layers): significant correlations have been found using Pearson correlation test. The multiple regression analysis allowed to identify the factors more influencing the species distribution: thickness of the organic layers, carbon content (% C) and carbon/nitrogen ratio (C/N). Basing on the thickness of humus horizons (OL, OF, OH), and on carbon content, two species groups with different ecology have been recognized: (a) nemoral species typical of shady beech stands on oligomull/dysmull/thin amphimull (0 < 1cm.; 5.7 < %C < 9.9); (b) heliophilous species of more xeric stands on thick amphimull (1.25 < 11.5 cm.; 9.9 < %C < 13.7). The relationships among species and soil parameters and humus forms allow to recognize small differences within a homogeneous habitat and therefore they can provide management indications also at micro-scale level

Soil and humus parameters as indicators of different species distribution in central Apennine beech forests.

Changing Soils in a Changing World: The Soils of Tomorrow