South Apennine mixed montane forests

South Apeninne mixed montane forests
	Map of the ecoregion
Ecology
Realm	Palearctic
Biome	Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub
Borders	Italian sclerophyllous and semi-deciduous forests and Tyrrhenian-Adriatic sclerophyllous and mixed forests
Geography
Area	13,095 km2 (5,056 sq mi)
Country	Italy
Conservation
Conservation status	vulnerable
Protected	6,008 km² (46%)[1]

The South Apennine mixed montane forests is an ecoregion in the southern Apennine Mountains of southern Italy and Sicily. It has a Mediterranean climate, and is in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome.

This ecoregion is restricted to the high mountain massifs of the regions of Basilicata, Calabria and the island of Sicily.

Flora

The ecoregion's wide altitudinal range results in several forest zones.[2]

At lowest elevations the forests are characterized by the sclerophyllous evergreen holm oak (Quercus ilex) and cork oak (Quercus suber), coniferous stone pine (Pinus pinea), and the decidous trees Quercus pubescens, Fraxinus ornus, and Ostrya carpinifolia.

At medium elevations the mixed deciduous forests of Quercus cerris, Quercus pubescens, Quercus frainetto, sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa), and Ostrya carpinifolia predominate.

At high elevation altitudes there is a north-south slopes gradient of plant communities:

South-facing plant communities: On south-facing slopes with cold and dry climate European black pine (Pinus nigra subsp. larico) is the dominant species. Pinus nigra subsp. larico is also found on Mount Etna up to the timberline along with the Etna birch (Betula aetniensis). Pinus heldreichii leucodermis is found only Pollino Mountains.
North-facing plant communities: On north-facing slopes Silver fir (Abies alba) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica) mix with Pinus nigra subsp. larico. Relict stands of the endemic Nebrodi fir (Abies nebrodensis) appear in the Madonie Mountains. The Etna summits is characterized by a shrub community of Astragalus siculus, Berberis aetnensis, Juniperus communis alpina and the Etna tree-broom (Genista aetnensis).

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"South Apennine mixed montane forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.

Eric Dinerstein, David Olson, et al. (2017). An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience, Volume 67, Issue 6, June 2017, Pages 534–545; Supplemental material 2 table S1b.
"South Apennine mixed montane forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.

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