(9260) – CHESTNUT GROVES

Ecological and physical characterisation of the typology.
Groups of sites mainly characterised by the presence of forest formations predominated by the Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa). The chestnut has been favoured in Italy both for its wood and its fruit. It finds optimum conditions in siliceous soils on hills and mountains, in areas potentially suited to hosting deciduous oaks or mixed woods with mesophilic broad-leaved trees.
In the typology we must not ignore the presence of grasslands (6210(*), 4030 (European dry heaths), 6510, *6220), even with Mediterranean characteristics (Mediterranean oak woods and therophytic grasslands), woods of Downy oak (* 91H0) and Holm oak (9340).
Sites belonging to this typology generally enjoy a temperate climate. Mediterranean type formations, which can be found within these sites, should be considered as edafoxerophile variants.
The distribution of the sites favours the Tyrrhenian side of the peninsula (which is rainier on average).
These are sites with very variable surface areas, mainly around 1500 hectares, and with a minimum altitude of about 300 metres.
By comparison the forest cover is considerably homogenous with an average value of about 80%.
Indicators.
The poor quality of conservation is indicated by the presence of cosmopolitan species and widespread distribution and these may be related to frequent coppicing, or in the case of fruit chestnut trees to the cultivation of the soil.
In relation to the above the following cut-off scores have been recorded:
• in fruit-bearing chestnut trees, the number of cosmopolitan species and of widespread distribution in an elementary population > 30% of the total flora;
• in coppiced chestnut trees, the number of cosmopolitan species and of widespread distribution in an elementary population > 15% of the total flora.
The good quality of conservation can be assessed in a qualitative manner on the basis of the presence of macro mushrooms and both plant and animal nemoral species.
A relatively low diversity of invertebrates indicates a poor quality of conservation.
Specific indicators are:
• Insect: Coleoptera, excellent indicators of good quality management (with the presence also of tree stumps suitable for adults to spend the winter);
in the Ligurian Alps and Ligurian Apennines:
• Insect, Coleoptera: ground beetles Carabus solieri (Western-Alpine endemites protected in France), a striking element at times characteristic of chestnut forests;
in the whole of Italy (excluding Sardinia):
• Chachocarabus of the intricatus group, European elements in decline or extinct in vast northern and central European areas but currently not under threat in Italy.
Further indicators of a good quality conservation are the forest communities of mammals and birds.
In the first group, dormice, weasels and insectivores connected to humid environments are significant. In the second group the best indicator is the community of passeriformes with a specific degree of elevated variety and in a more localised form, the presence of piciformes.