The Regional Natural Park of Conero is situated in
the central-eastern part of the Italian peninsula where it
covers an area of about 6,000 ha (Fig. 1). The protected
area extends in a north-south direction for a distance of
about 20 Km, reaching a maximum width corresponding
to Conero Mountain (about 7 Km) and narrowing
towards its northern extremity.
The wide floristic and biocoenotic biodiversity which
characterises the area is determined by its central
position with respect to the basin of the Adriatic Sea,
by the height of the Conero promontory, which with its
height of 572 m greatly surpasses the average of the
Italian Adriatic coast, and by the diversity of the
geological, geomorphological and climatic conditions
of the territory enclosed by the Natural Park (Brilli-Cattarini,
1967; Biondi, 1986).
The agricultural, timbering and shepherding activities
that were very developed in the past have contributed
in part to the increase in the biodiversity of the territory,
determining a high diversification of the plant landscape
and favouring the development of ecotonal areas. The
abandonment of the agricultural activities in large areas
that followed, and of the timbering and shepherding
activities in almost all of the territory, has determined
the development of the natural dynamic processes of
the recovery of the vegetation