Efficiency of environmental improvements in open areas of the Central Apennines Mountains (Italy)

摘要

The aim of this work was to enhance the quality and productivity of habitats utilized by wild animals, such as deer and wild boar, by carrying out environmental improvements in open areas located in the Regional Park of Laghi di Suviana e Brasimone inBologna, Italy. In the studied area shrubs and bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) were removed and a suitable forage mixture was seeded. Vegetation was sampled through linear analysis from which measures of botanical composition, pastoral value and biodiversity of the meadow were calculated. During the vegetation survey, the defoliation rate of the eaten species was also collected in order to obtain more information about the palatability of species. The vegetation changed considerably after the treatment, with significant enhancement in biodiversity, as measured by Shannon-Wiener index which increased from about 1.8 to 2.3. Pastoral value also showed a value triple that at the beginning of the trial. Moreover, the method used to measure the defoliation rate enabled effective indications to be made concerning the real utilization of several plant species by wild animals.