The old-growth forest of Val Cervara(Abruzzo National Park, Italy)
Schirone
* University of Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy
Theoldest beech forest of Europe was found in the Apennines. The stand is locatedin Val Cervara (Abruzzo National Park) and it covers about one hundred hectaresform 1400 to 1800 m a.s.l. Some trees reach five hundred years, two fold themaximum age reported for the species. The dendroclimatological analyses on thetree-ring series are contributing to clarify the climatic variations occurredduring the Little Ice Age (1600-1850). The reconstruction of the past climateis an important step to understand the role of the man activities in thepresent climatic global change.
Theforest is characterized by a mosaic of patches in different phases ofdevelopment from seedlings to senescent and dead trees. The study of this standwill be also useful to define a model of forest management that take inconsideration the natural cycle of the beechwoods.