Reintroduction of nuclei of Taxus baccata in habitat 9210*

LIFE08 NAT/IT/000371

Insertion of nuclei of Taxus baccata in Apennine beech woods.

PROJECT REFERENT
Marcello Miozzo

WEBSITE

Define and implement techniques for thickening beech forest formations related to habitat 9210* by reintegrating nuclei of Taxus baccata.

Taxus baccata is a species that has difficulty reproducing in forest nurseries since the seed germinates difficultly and not regularly. Furthermore, in the areas affected by the ReSilFor project there is an absence of female plants capable of producing seed. The project staff has thus decided to remedy this problem by adopting the propagation technique by cutting.

Initially, after a census of all the Taxus baccata individuals present in the area, the propagation material from the mother plants is collected. The cutting is then done, where the twigs, of an average length of 5 cm, are prepared and placed in a rooting bed. Finally, with seedlings, nuclei of 30-35 plants are created inside the beech woods managed subsequently for 5 years from planting.

Central Italian Apennines in the Tuscany and Marche regions. These are mountainous reliefs characterized by fragmented sedimentary rocks with deep and fertile soils. The forest areas are located between 1000 and 1500 m asl. From a climatic point of view, all areas have a Mediterranean climate with rainfall patterns in the spring autumn periods and with partial water deficits in the summer periods.

Good practice is easily replicable. However, it is necessary to have a nursery equipped with heated greenhouses and cultivation beds. Furthermore, it is important to collect a large number of mother plants in order not to have a low genetic variability in the offspring of agamic origin.

From the GoProFor database, in the final part of the sheet, it is possible to download material related to the project and in particular the Project Guide, the Laymans report and also a video on the grafting technique.