A description of the Educational Trails
 

EDUCATIONAL PANELS

VEGETATION

The trail, which goes through an old driveway winds through a setting of countryside and mountains containing Turkey oak woods alternating with fields of grain.
You reach the side of the Serre and there is more woodland.
We reach Ca’ Balbano from the top and from here walk to the first interesting point where it is possible to see a wild cherry wood planted at the time to increase the local production of this fruit designated for the production of black cherry liqueur and jam products.
After the wild cherry wood we walk along a driveway covered by sandstone masses. Along here , in this road of forest produce removal, strata of sandstone crop out in the right-side walls.
The trail continues towards the “fosso dei Cerreti”, so-called due to the presence of Turkey oak woods, originally managed as a coppice wood and therefore dense and bushy in appearance. Then we reach a stretch of pruned-managed columnar trees and a rich undergrowth.
This area of the Serre is included in the Special Protected Zones and Sites of Community Importance which interest the entire “Serre” range, from M.Picognola (Scheggia – PG) to M.Vicino (Apecchio – PU).
This is where the Municipal Nature Park of the Bosco di Tecchie, famous in the Marches, begins. The park is currently being transformed into a regional nature reserve through its unification with the Regional Nature Reserve of M.Catria.
Along the trail we can see several groundwater wells and ponds. The latter are artificial and have been created to encourage the reproduction of amphibians.
The setting is enriched by perennial torrents which flow in the shade of the ample tree-cover and are environments selected by splendid rare amphibians such as the fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra) and the spectacled salamander (Salamandrina terdigitata), which are tied to forests with a high degree of humidity and need, in addition to clean water, a real forest rich in moist forest litter, full of shelters and dead trees on the ground.
Half-way through the trail we enter an open area made up of ample shrubbed meadows originating from old abandoned cultivated fields.
The stretch of shrubs is extremely rich and ranges from bushes of dog rose, to junipers, from fruit-bearing trees such as pear trees and wild apple trees, small cherries to wild cherries, sorbus, etc.
After having gone across an uphill bendy stretch, we end up at a flat point, rich in low ground vegetation and then along a meadow where the fenced-off botanic garden is located. Further on we reach the Ca’ Tecchie refuge.
Past the refuge we follow signs for the biodiversity trail until we arrive beneath Monte Bono. Here we can admire a splendid beech wood mixed with Turkey oaks, maples, hornbeams, alders, rowans, etc.
You continue walking following the white and red information panels until you reach a crossroads where a coppice wood begins whilst the biodiversity trail continues to the right and is signposted by an arrow.
The trail winds through a mixed wood and goes along the crest of Monte Serrone and then descends towards the ditch. You cross the ditch and arrive at a cut section of the wood.
The last stretch goes through the coppice wood and the circular trail ends at the ditch where panel number 3 is to be found.
In this unique area of the Marches there is a genuine moor of Common Heather, an ericacea commonly known as heather typical of northern Europe and which is probably the most southern species in the whole of the Apennines.
This small strip of heather enhances the already natural beauty of this area.
Strips of heather can also be found further down along the trail in sunny areas and within the disruptions of the woodland surface.
From the meadows, observing the east side of the Serre, it is possible to see the entire sequence of ecosystems, especially during the intermediate seasons when the different phases of leaf growth in the various tree species highlight the varied climactic and vegetational range in this environment.