Interventions for the improvement of beech forests (habitats 9110, 9130) for the conservation of Carabus

LIFE11 NAT/IT/000213

Silvicultural operations aimed at increasing the structural complexity of the beech woods to allow the permanence and diffusion of Carabus olympiae.

PROJECT REFERENT
Berretti Roberta

WEBSITE

Create favourable conditions for the permanence and diffusion of Carabus olympiae by favouring, through forestry interventions, greater structural complexity of the beech forest and therefore better alternation of light and shadow areas, mixture of species and presence of ecotonal zones.

Silvicultural interventions must also provide revenues to be invested again in interventions for the protection of the species.

To increase the complexity of beech forests (both transitional high forest and aged coppice) it is necessary to apply an ‘irregular’ treatment, the main operating methods of which consist of:

• single-tree forestry by identifying "candidate" plants
• safeguard and enhancement of the less represented species
• creation of openings (holes or strips) to facilitate the entry of light to the ground to favour the decomposition of the litter and the establishment of an herbaceous layer and forest renewal
• release or complete elimination of stumps
• creation of buffer zones of non-intervention with open areas (meadows-pasture and roads)
• safeguarding and/or creation of herbaceous shrub corridors (ideal for Carabus olympiae).
• enrichment of the deadwood in the ecosystems also through girdling interventions

 The average harvesting rate will be 25%, (from 20 to 40% depending on fertility); in any case, the residual coverage after the intervention must not be less than 50%. Harvesting must not be uniform, creating a mosaic between areas subject to different harvesting intensities and also with areas where no intervention is carried out (at least 10%).

To respect the conservation needs of Carabus olympiae, the interventions must be suspended from the end of May to mid-July.

The interventions concern an area of the Upper Sessera Valley (BI) mainly characterized by beech woods and encroachment of vegetation at the thicket stage and some artificial reforestation of conifers (spruce, larch, and exotic). An important role is also played by pastures and prairies. In fact, the area is historically linked to traditional agro-forestry-pastoral activities.

Despite the Carabus olympiae is a species that is found only in Val Sessera, the activities aimed at changing the structure can respond to the needs of other species or have different purposes. In any case, these are silvicultural interventions require a certain technical preparation for their design, which in any case can be repeated wherever a more complex structure of the beech woods is needed.

From the LIFE GoProFor database, in the final part of the sheet, it is possible to download some technical and dissemination material relating to the project, including the Layman's report and the Commercial Forest Plan (2015-2029).