National park of Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise Mendel University in Brno Faculty of Forestry Subject: Landscape Ecology National park of Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise Student: Giuseppe, Luca Pio Prattichizzo 1

National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise is a park in centre of Italy Abruzzo National park is one of the most ancient parks of Italy, born in 1922. The territory of the National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise is mainly made up of a set of mountain ranges at an altitude of between 900 and 2,200 m asl, it extends for about 50.000 hectars covered mainly from beech forests, and five of them have been named UNESCO heritage It has snowy, cold climate in winter and warm pleasant summers, for this reason is the perfect place to go in every season The Park is home to a wide variety of animals that once occupied a much wider range in the Apennines: 67 species of mammals, 230 of birds, 14 of reptiles, 12 of amphibians, 15 of fish, and 4,764 species of insects, including important endemism. It is not always easy to spot animals, especially large mammals, since they are mostly elusive; however in particular circumstances or seasons of the year it is possible to observe even the most spectacular and representative animals of the Park, such as the Apennine chamois, the Marsican brown bear, the wolf, the deer and the golden eagle. The fauna, in its entirety, is preserved thanks to the educational and protective work carried out by the Park Authority It has an area of 49 680 ha, for 75% in territory of L’Aquila in the Abruzzo region. The last 25% is divided in territory of Frosinone, region Lazio, and Isernia, in region Molise. Between 170 and 30 milion of years ago this area is full of water because there was a sea. For that the montuntain is full of limestone

Faullt Overthrust Park boundary External area limit Non-marine deposits Aged between 3 million years ago and today The meteoric waters, dissolving the limestone with which the rock was "built", penetrate the bowels of the mountains, are enriched with precious minerals and form large emergencies located at the base of the mountain ranges. Noteworthy and suggestive are the Volturno springs Sandy and clayey rocks Aged between 15 and 5 million years ago Deep sea limestone rocks Aged between 180 and 20 million years ago Faullt Open sea limestone rocks Aged between 70 and 15 million years ago Overthrust Little bit deep sea limestone rocks Aged between 200 and 50 million years ago Park boundary External area limit

The territory Geographical characteristics of the Park The territory of the National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise is mainly made up of a set of mountain ranges of altitude between 900 and 2,200 m asl. The mountains of the Park present a varied and interesting landscape in which rounded peaks, typical of the Apennines, alternate with steep slopes with a typical alpine appearance. The central area of ​​the Park is crossed by the Sangro river, to which several streams flow

Sorbus aria Fagus sylvatica Acer pseudoplatanus Taxus baccata Forests cover about 60% of the park's surface area. The most common tree is the beech (Fagus sylvatica) which does not like to mix with other species which it competes strongly with and which forms most of the woods in the Park. We find only a few other species such as mountain maple (Acer pseudoplatanus) or curly maple (Acer platanoides), mountain rowan (Sorbus aria) and the very rare yew (Taxus baccata) Taxus baccata

Fraxinus excelsior Quercus cerris Betula pendula Other species that characterize the landscape are oaks, downy oak (Quercus pubescens) and Turkey oak (Quercus cerris), ash trees, black ash (Fraxinus excelsior). A rarity of the Park's territory is the birch (Betula pendula), present in a single station, testifying to an ancient history, the ice age Betula pendula

Iris marsica Cypripedium calceolus Many species that make up the herbaceous flora of the Park are difficult to list them all. However, we can recall some peculiarities of the Park's flora: the Scarpetta di Venere (Cypripedium calceolus), a spectacular and very rare orchid with very few specimens, the Giaggiolo della Marsica (Iris marsica) Cypripedium calceolus

Ursus arctos marsicanus Capreolus capreolus Canis lupus italicus Aquila chrysaetos Symbol of the park of Abruzzo, the Marsican brown bear is a genetically differentiated subspecies from bears in the Alps and therefore represents an exclusive endemism of central Italy. Thanks to recent scientific research it has been estimated a population of about 50 in the Park territory. Other species of animals in the area are the Apennine wolf, chamois, roe deer, white-backed woodpecker and royal eagle. Rupicapra pyrenaica Dendrocopos leucotos

BIOPRESERVATION Many species are at risk of disappearing The park offers a landscape where many species can be protected Any species of living organisms have interactions with the environment and other living beings that make the management of their protection complicated If the conservation actions are planned on the basis of alleged hypotheses, then we should not be surprised if the effects will be marginal or null. In the past, hundreds of apple trees have been planted for bears, based on the hypothesis that the recent regression of agricultural activities in the mountains had dangerously removed from the plantigrade important food sources There are many species in risck of exstintion. The park is the opportunity to protecte and preserve this species. It’s very difficoult to protect living species, because here are many interactions with living being and environment.

POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS School tourism Biodiversity promotion Increase controls regarding the protection of the area Works to solve this problem are tourist schools to teach the importance of maintaining bio diversity which is very important. in this way it is protected with prevention. But there must also be plans for subversion for the number of individuals present in an area and keep a safety threshold on the number of specimens at risk where to intervene. Increase controls in the area to never reach the critical point.

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