Nature Park of Tecchie - Province of Pesaro and Urbino

Ecological and physical characterisation of the typology.
The group includes sites mainly characterised by beech woods sharing features with central European ecological and plant systems, roughly attributable to the region, mixed woods and gorges and inhabited by species of the Tilia and maple genera (*9180). These give a certain variety to the monotony of the beech forest landscape and enhance the general environmental quality. The woods are to be found mainly on limestone substrata and more rarely on calcium ones, in level with coarse deposits and situated at the bottom of slopes or within deep valleys. The most typical species include the Sycamore Mapel (Acer pseudoplatanus), the Norway Maple (A. platanoides), Asperula taurina, the European Ash (Fraxinus excelsior), Perennial Honesty (Lunaria rediviva), Small-leaved lime (Tilia cordata), the Large-leaved Lime (T. plathyphyllos) and the Wych Elm (Ulmus glabra).
The presence of grassland habitats and bushes is statistically significant (6210, 6510, *6230, 4030), as well as plants on limestone outcrops (8210, *8240), Alpine rivers (3240), chestnut woods (9260), beech woods with yews (Taxus) and holly (Ilex) (9210), screes (8120, *8160) and caves (8310).
The sites belonging to this typology enjoy a temperate climate with a reduced or absent dry season. They usually grow on deep and advanced soils.
They are distributed primarily in the Alps, pre-Alps or northern Apennines and there are isolated pockets even in south Italy and Sicily.
Their surface area is considerably varied but mainly around 750 hectares; this is also due to the presence of forest formations such as the mixed gorge woods which grow notably on high slope surfaces and therefore appear very small on a planimetric scale. The sites have an extremely variable minimum altitude but mainly around an average of 190 metres.
Indicators
The interest of these sites is primarily linked to the heterogenity of the habitats which are found on them. The sites are however mainly characterised by a forest community in which the presence of priority habitats (such as deep valleys of Tilio-Acerion woods and beech woods with Taxus and Ilex) is not frequent.
In this context more than in any other, certain elements of value are represented by the elevated diversity of species and communities and the consistency of the actual mosaic in comparison to the potential one.
As an elevated wealth of species in present in the environments included in this typology, particularly soil fauna, one of the main indicators originates from the checking of their presence.
The presence of stenoendemites, species with a restricted area distribution (for example the Carabus olympiae in the western Alps).
Taking into consideration the extreme heterogeneity of vegetal groups, a possible faunistic indicator could be provided by the wealth of zoocenosis with reference to the forest species of birds (Picids such as the Green Woodpecker, Picus viridis) and restricted to the Alpine area Tetranoids (such as the pheasant).
A similar evaluation can be made for Carnivorous Mammals.