Sperlinga Wood, Alto Salso (ITA060009)
Site type: SAC - Special Conservation Area
Code: ITA060009 - Hectares: 1781
Description:
Site of great geobotanical interest, falling within the territories of Gangi, Sperlinga and Nicosia and characterized by a dry thermo-Mediterranean climate according to
Rivas Martinez terminology. The site extends south of Sperlinga and west of Nicosia. It is crossed by the river network of the upper course of the Salso river. There
most of the vegetation thickens in deciduous oak woods belonging to the Quercetea ilicis class, leaning against the top of the site. The orography of the
non-cacuminal parts appear very lively and within the perimeter are mixed with mosaic cultivations and natural wooded environments. The oaks appear a lot
evolved and everywhere provided with a shrub layer rich in characteristic species, such as Lonicera etrusca, Prunus spinosa, Crataegus monogyna, Rosa canina, Pyrus
pyrainus. The herbaceous layer, endowed with Tamus communis, Silene italica subsp. sicula (Ucria) Jeanmonod [Syn. Silene sicula], Echinops siculus, introduces itself
also at the peak of evolution. On cliffs of great interest is the presence of Polypodium interjectum, a species peculiar to this territory in general
absent from the rest of Sicily. The waters of the Salso tend to form gallery-like Salix alba woods, with Salix pedicellata but without Populus nigra. On the edge of the
Willow groves in Salix alba are formed Tamariceti in Tamarix gallica, in impoverished forms for reasons of high altitude and therefore devoid of Nerium oleander.
4.2Quality and importance
Extensive forests of deciduous oaks in an area characterized above all by pastures and arable land. Presence of native pine forests with Pinus pinea, very rare in
Sicily The oak forests of Sperlinga are of considerable interest, as they represent extreme evolutionary stages within the Quercetea ilicis class. It comes, though
there are no particularly showy tree specimens, of very mature forms of wood. Territorial training is also of great interest to
presence of various endemics listed above. The site is also enhanced by the presence of streams sufficiently rich in water even during the dry season
it determines a well-integrated environmental mosaic that allows the site to host a relatively rich and articulated vertebrate and invertebrate fauna. Of
particular relevance is the presence of the Lanner and some Sicilian endemic species.
Source: Ministry of the Environment Natura 2000 form
Ministerial data: Natura 2000 form
Card insertion: Ignazio Caloggero
Photo: web
Information contributions: Ignazio Caloggero, Region of Sicily
