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Il lavoro si propone di verificare lo stato biologico corrente del bosco e la sua dinamica recente in un contesto di cambiamento della gestione e dell’ambiente di crescita. L’analisi utilizza casi di studio di fustaia (faggio e abete rosso) e di origine cedua (faggio e querce caducifoglie) dalla rete nazionale del programma di monitoraggio ICP-Forests. Espressioni diverse dell’accrescimento sono impiegate come descrittori dello stato biologico (“salute e vitalità”) del sistema e della sua capacità di risposta ai cambiamenti nei comparti fisico/chimico dell’ambiente di crescita. Lo stato corrente evidenzia produttività elevate e una dinamica di accrescimento in cui l’incremento corrente di volume prevale nettamente sul medio ad età adulto-mature. I valori dei casi di studio si collocano intorno alla media europea rilevata sulle medesime tipologie. Il confronto con i modelli alsometrici costruiti 50 anni fa, indica una produttività superiore all’attualità, nonostante la prassi gestionale meno intensiva. Si registra anche una evidenza di sensitività ai disturbi di tipo climatico occorsi, a scala diversa, negli ultimi 10 anni. Il maggiore accrescimento corrente rappresenta la prima verifica di uno stato di “adattamento reattivo” (autonomo) dei casi di studio alle mutate condizioni ambientali e gestionali. La stessa reattività della componente arborea a un ambiente di crescita più favorevole (>CO2, >N, >T°), rende gli alberi sensibili ai disturbi di tipo climatico che si sovrappongono al trend di fondo. L’esposizione può diventare critica per una duratura “infedeltà” stagionale e per la maggiore frequenza di eventi estremi. Si formulano ipotesi di gestione adattativa mirate a: ridurre la vulnerabilità dei sistemi e conservare i processi funzionali, favorire la capacità di adattamento e di mitigazione degli effetti del cambiamento. Aim of the work is the assessment of current stand condition and of its dynamics over a time of change both in forest management and growth environment. The analysis is based on 18 case-studies from the Italian level II ICP-Forests network. The sampled plots include beech and spruce high forests and aged beech and deciduous oaks coppice forests. Different variables of stand growth have been used both as descriptive statistics of ecosystem’s “health & vitality” and of its ability to answer changes in the physical/chemical compartments of growth environment. The case-studies point out a high productivity and a position of current volume increment much higher than mean volume increment, in spite of the generally grown-up stand ages. The current volume increment of Italian case-studies is on average similar to the value found for the same types in Europe. The comparison with yield tables modeled 50 yrs ago draws attention to the higher productivity in progress, even into not-managed stands. There is also the clear evidence that stands are sensitive to climate disturbances occurred at different spatial scales over the last 10 yrs. The higher growth rates recorded at the case-studies means the progress of a reactive (autonomous) adaptation. But, the same responsive ability to a more suitable growth environment (>CO2, >N, >T°), makes trees more sensitive to climate disturbances overlapping the background trend. Exposure to disturbances may be critical for long-lasting seasonal climate deviations or their increased occurrence. Hypotheses of adaptive management to reduce forest ecosystems’ vulnerability, maintain or enhance functional processes, support the inherent adaptive capacity and impacts’ mitigation, are finally addressed. Dottorato di ricerca in Ecologia forestale

The LTER site "Mediterranean Forests" (IT 04 000 T Mediterranean Forests) consists of three ICP Forests Level II intensive monitoring plots (http://icp-forests.net/), belonging to the CONECOFOR National Program (since 1995). The three Research Sites are located in Tuscany (Colognole - LI, TOS1), Lazio (Acquapendente - VT, LAZ1) and Sicily (Godrano - PA, SIC1). Each area is a 50m fenced square area, where passive samplers and automatic survey units are located, which are designed to collect data on the physiological processes that reflect the interactions of trees with their living environment and provide valuable information on the impacts of atmospheric pollution on forests and the alterations produced by polluting compounds on plant growth, on the balance of their foliar nutrients and on the functionality of soils, proving to also possess the right flexibility required by the current knowledge challenges on functioning of semi-natural forest ecosystems. The three areas, so far apart from each other on the national territory, have been included in this LTER macrosito because they represent the woody cenoses of the Mediterranean belt, with a prevalence of tree species from Turkey (Quercus cerris L.) and holm oak (Quercus ilex L.). These woods are characterized by the typical Mediterranean climate (hot and dry summers, mild winters and autumn rainfall), presence of evergreen or sclerophillous plant species, despite submontane and pre-Apennine location (as in the case of the site of Monte Rufeno). However, forest monitoring has a rather high cost that, when not insured by national funds, is sought in other sources of funding, such as European projects. The ICP Forests-CONECOFOR areas have been included in several LIFE projects (https://ec.europa.eu/easme/en/life), including the last one LIFE + ENV13EN000813 "Smart4Action" (Sustainable Monitoring and Reporting to Inform Forest and Environmental Awareness and Protection") which enabled to carry out a "spending review" on the national monitoring network. On the basis of the results obtained, it was possible to calculate which changes in the timing of the monitoring protocols, in the sampling frequencies and in the number of replicas will be feasible in order to obtain significant cost savings, while maintaining the scientific value of the collected data. These results also allowed to select and prioritize the ICP Forests-CONECOFOR areas, better responding to the criteria needed to achieve the maximum monitoring efficiency with the least expense. The LAZ1 Monte Rufeno site turned out to belong to this category.

The LTER site "Mediterranean Forests" (IT 04 000 T Mediterranean Forests) consists of three ICP Forests Level II intensive monitoring plots (http://icp-forests.net/), belonging to the CONECOFOR National Program (since 1995). The three Research Sites are located in Tuscany (Colognole - LI, TOS1), Lazio (Acquapendente - VT, LAZ1) and Sicily (Godrano - PA, SIC1). Each area is a 50m fenced square area, where passive samplers and automatic survey units are located, which are designed to collect data on the physiological processes that reflect the interactions of trees with their living environment and provide valuable information on the impacts of atmospheric pollution on forests and the alterations produced by polluting compounds on plant growth, on the balance of their foliar nutrients and on the functionality of soils, proving to also possess the right flexibility required by the current knowledge challenges on functioning of semi-natural forest ecosystems. The three areas, so far apart from each other on the national territory, have been included in this LTER macrosito because they represent the woody cenoses of the Mediterranean belt, with a prevalence of tree species from Turkey (Quercus cerris L.) and holm oak (Quercus ilex L.). These woods are characterized by the typical Mediterranean climate (hot and dry summers, mild winters and autumn rainfall), presence of evergreen or sclerophillous plant species, despite submontane and pre-Apennine location (as in the case of the site of Monte Rufeno). However, forest monitoring has a rather high cost that, when not insured by national funds, is sought in other sources of funding, such as European projects. The ICP Forests-CONECOFOR areas have been included in several LIFE projects (https://ec.europa.eu/easme/en/life), including the last one LIFE + ENV13EN000813 "Smart4Action" (Sustainable Monitoring and Reporting to Inform Forest and Environmental Awareness and Protection") which enabled to carry out a "spending review" on the national monitoring network. On the basis of the results obtained, it was possible to calculate which changes in the timing of the monitoring protocols, in the sampling frequencies and in the number of replicas will be feasible in order to obtain significant cost savings, while maintaining the scientific value of the collected data. These results also allowed to select and prioritize the ICP Forests-CONECOFOR areas, better responding to the criteria needed to achieve the maximum monitoring efficiency with the least expense. The LAZ1 Monte Rufeno site turned out to belong to this category.

We provided long-term stand and canopy structural data from permanent monitoring plots representative of some most diffuse temperate and Mediterranean forests, under different coppice management regimes. Periodic inventories were performed in the surveyed plots since the 1970s. Annual litterfall production and its partitioning (leaf, woody, reproductive parts) and optical canopy measurements using the LAI-2000 Plant Canopy Analyzer were performed every year in fully equipped plots since the 1990s. These data can be used for evaluating the influence of coppice management in the stand and canopy structure, the parametrization of radiative transfer models that require accurate ground truth data, and the calibration of high to medium resolution remotely sensed data. Dataset access is at https://doi.org/10.17632/z8zm3ytkcx.2 . Associated metadata is available at https://agroenvgeo.data.inra.fr/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/2bd2d77f-3cf8-43da-b1b5-9f8196dc017f .