Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
The main species are juniper (
Juniperus phoenicea
L.), lentisk (
Pistacia
lentiscus
L.), tree phyllirea (
Phyllirea angustifolia
L.), and dwarf fan palm
(
Chamaerops humilis
L.). These species form a sparsely vegetated shrub land,
where juniper and lentisk, which respectively cover 53 and 22 % of the vegetated
surface, are aggregated into variably-sized patches with bare ground in between.
Phillyrea and palm can only be found as isolated elements inside the main patches.
Other species typical of Mediterranean maquis are present on the experimental
site: rosemary (
Rosmarinus officinalis
L.),
Genista corsica
(Loisel) DC.,
Daphne
gnidium
L.,
Smilax aspera
L.,
Euphorbia characias
L.,
Helichrysum microphyllum
DC.,
Asphodelus microcarpus
Salzm., and
Ferula communis
L. The vegetation is
a secondary succession following a fire event occurred in 1963 and agricultural
abandonment in 1970. Currently, this area has limited human activity. The aver-
age maquis height ranges between 0.93 and 1.43 m, and the ground cover varies
between 42 and 91 %. Total LAI values range from 2.7 to 3.0. The soil is Lithic
Xerorthent, 0.3-0.4 m deep, mainly composed of clay, and erosion is common.
2.2.16 Nonantola (IT-Non)
The Nonantola forest is a hardwood plantation located in a flat rural area of the Po
valley in the Emilia Romagna region, close to Modena (44.69019° N; 11.09109° E
15 m.a.s.l.). The site was set up in 1992 with European fundings (Set-aside, Reg. CEE
797/85 and, being a re-forestation in a former rural area it is a proper representation of
a Kyoto forest—Sect.
3.3
of the Kyoto Protocol). The forest is still growing and has
not yet reached the final stage, its dominant species consisting of: Oak (
Quercus robur
L.) 35 %, Ash (
Fraxinus
spp.) 25 %, Maple (
Acer campestre
L.) 12 %, Willow (
Salix
alba
L.) 8 %, Poplar (
Populus alba
L.) 6 %, Cerry (
Prunus mahaleb
L.), other 8 %.
The total area is 38.6 ha with a tree density of 1,100 trees ha
−
1
at the plantation stage,
and reduced to 826 trees ha
−
1
10 years after. The soil, by Soil USDA Taxonomy is
Fine, Mixed, Mesic Entic Chromusterts with a 60 % of clay, and a soil organic mat-
ter (SOM) of 49.8 Mg C ha
−
1
estimated in 1992 and 53.7 Mg C ha
−
1
measured in
2000. The average annual temperature of 13.1 °C and the average annual rainfall of
719 mm. characterize the site as located in Mediterranean climate, with rainfall con-
centrated in autumn-winter, summer drought and some heat waves events. Fluxes
have been measured since 2001 by means of the Eddy Covariance system placed at
13 m above the forest floor and steadily to rise during tree increase.
2.2.17 Parco Ticino (IT-PT1)
The study site is located at 60 m.a.s.l., about 10 km North-West of the city of Pavia
(45.20087° N; 9.06104° E) in the municipal area of Zerbol, within the Ticino Natural
Park in Northern Italy. Poplar land-use was introduced in the area after 1973 when a
fire destroyed the foregoing natural land cover, a floodplain forest with dominant oak
