Linguaglossa pine forest
Site type: SAC - Special Conservation Area
Code: ITA070013 - Hectares: 605
Description:
The site is located on the north-eastern side of Etna at altitudes between 1300 and 1600 m, within the humid supramediterranean bioclimatic belt. It is characterized by very ancient lava flows colonized essentially by majestic pine forests at Pinus nigra ssp. calabrica, mixed with small strips of deciduous oak woods with Quercus congesta and Quercus dalechampii and beech woods. On the margins there are lava fields related to fairly recent flows colonized by a vegetation thinned out with small chamaephites and hemicryptophytes.
Majestic forest in Pinus nigra ssp. Calabria in a unique landscape context for the looming presence of the volcano. It is an intensely exploited coppice and razor cut forest since the earliest times, which nevertheless still retains interesting highly natural strips. It hosts a rich avifauna, with significant populations of Cruises, which in Sicily nests only in this area. The invertebrate fauna presents numerous strictly forestry species, often linked, at least for the larval stage, to the cavities of the wood, or to the bark. Some endemics, such as for example Buprestis (Buprestis) aetnensis Baviera & Sparacio, 2002 and Anthaxia (Melanthaxia) giorgioi Sparacio, 2002 are known only for this site and in any case extremely rare, others are exclusive to Etna, or only to the north-eastern Sicilian regions. A good contingent of Apennine or European geonemic species that find the southern limit of the distribution range in Sicily is relegated only to Etna and is often present only in this site. Of particular naturalistic and landscape interest are the extensive pine forests of Calabrian pine. (Sicilian-Calabrian endemism) which cover a large part of this area. These are very mature pine forests that also have a considerable historical value as they have been known since the past centuries as the "Linguaglossa pine forest". Also significant is the presence of various endemic or rare species of considerable phytogeographic value, some of which are mentioned in the list in section 3.3 (D).
Source: Ministry of the Environment Natura 2000 form
It falls within the Etna Park
Ministerial data: Ministerial Map Natura 2000 form
Card insertion: Ignazio Caloggero
Photo: web
Information contributions: Ignazio Caloggero, Region of Sicily
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