IT04-T Foreste Mediterranee

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.