Sviluppo di una nuova metodologia per la classificazione di alberi habitat: definizione e applicazione
Author(s)
Perrella, Paolo
Date Issued
July 13, 2015
Type
Doctoral Thesis
Abstract
Forest ecosystems provide a multitude of goods and services. Among the others, the creation of
habitat and consequently the conservation of biodiversity. The forest technicians must therefore
adopt silvicultural systems, able to combine the preservation of the ecosystem services and
economic sustainability. Generally, the main negative effect of forestry operations on biodiversity is
related to the elimination of senescent and death trees. In the silvicultural practices, this negative
effect can be reduced, using protocols which include the conservation of dead wood (on the ground
and standing) and old and decaying trees with microhabitats. To facilitate the identification and
subsequent release of the trees habitat during different silvicultural operations, a protocol to
estimate the value of ecological support forestry (tree, population), ie the potential of the media to
keep the natural Biodiversity (natural), has been developed.
The method RADAR is the first proposal for numerical classification of habitat trees in Italy.
This method assumes that all the features and / or uniqueness of the trees are potentially usable by
taxa associated with them. The ecological value is determined by the quantification of the eight
aspects considered in the RADAR table: tree size, position relative to roads, presence of
peculiarities, fungi, epiphytes, dead wood, cavity nests. The RADAR table is a field instrument
flexible and directly applicable, which:
a) it makes it possible to easily identify the trees which must be excluded from cutting;
b) leaves the technician to operate the appropriate technical choices sometimes, also, to the pursuit
of profit: plants with many microhabitats in fact, often have significant size, but generally have a
low economic value, or using an obsolete terminology "are filled of defects ", so their conservation
is often also advantageous from the financial point of view as well as economic and ecological;
c) allows to evaluate the trees using an "objective" method, therefore reducing the possible criticism
from stakeholders.
Furthermore, the RADAR method can play an important role both in identifying elements of
connectivity such as “islands of biodiversity”, “ecological corridors”, “stepping stones”, as part of
the morticulture approach (Harmon 2001), or more simply as part of measures for the preservation
over time of the microhabitat (cultivation of habitats trees).
Last, but not least for importance, it should be noted that the RADAR table, accomplish, in a
rational manner, to the request of the law (Legislative Decree no. 227/2001) to release indefinite
aging trees, and the recent Ministry directive of 23 October 2014, concerning the preservation of
monumental trees.
Additional information
Dottorato di ricerca in Ecologia forestale
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