Serra del Re, Monte Soro and Biviere di Cesarò

Site type: SAC - Special Conservation Area

Code: ITA030038 - Hectares: 21318

Description: 

This site covers an extensive area that coincides with the central portion of the Nebrodi chain and represents the heart of the homonymous park where the highest peaks are located. In fact, the altitudes are between 700 and 1950 m at Monte Soro. Geologically the area is characterized by mainly siliceous substrates such as flysch, schist and gneiss, while limestone outcrops are rare. The bioclimate is between the mesomediterraneo and suprameditteraneo with ombrotype between the lower subhumid and the lower humid. The highest part of the Nebrodi falls instead in the sub-Mediterranean supratemperate with a lower humid shadow type. The forest vegetation is represented above 1300-1400 m by thermophilic beech woods rich in holly. Turkey oak woods are widespread at lower altitudes, while below 900-1000 m cork, holm oak and mixed woods dominated by Quercus congesta and sometimes Quercus gussonei are normally found. The mesophilic meadows-pastures are well represented, especially on more or less flat surfaces, while low orophilic bushes are found in the steepest and most rocky stretches. Also of interest is the hygrophilous vegetation that is localized in the humid depressions and around the mountain lakes including in particular the Biviere di Cesarò. In particular, the lake surfaces with perennial waters host very peculiar and specialized aspects rich in submerged or floating hydrophytes.

It is a mountain area of ​​considerable naturalistic and landscape interest. Of particular importance is the presence of numerous rare and endemic species located above all in nemoral, humid habitats and in pastures. Within this site there are the wood formations of greater extension and geobotanical relief. Well represented here are the beech woods, which cover the central and highest part of the mountain range, the cerrete that normally are in contact with the beech woods and the evergreen cork and holm oak woods. An important role is played by the mesophilic grasslands used as summer pasture by livestock (sheep, cattle and horses) in which numerous endemic or rare species are located. This area is also rich in periodically flooded depressions and lake environments which considerably increase its biodiversity as they are rich in hygrophytes and hydrophytes which are exclusive to these extremely specialized habitats. Here there are also various entities that in the regional area are rare or considered of significant phytogeographic interest, in turn mentioned in the list reported in section 3.3 (D). Site of exceptional landscape and naturalistic value. It includes the largest and best preserved beech forests in Sicily, humid areas of great interest, such as Lake Biviere, characterized by marshy vegetation that includes some unique plants in Sicily, and waterways among the most intact of our island. It represents the heart of the entire chain of the Nebrodi Mountains and due to its extension it exemplifies all its connotative characters. The richness of the fauna is manifested above all in the ambit of small animal groups, which, due to their numerical abundance, have managed, at least partially, to escape the destruction wrought by man. It is no coincidence that scientific researches, some of which are still in progress, have led to the discovery of numerous species new to science, or to the Sicilian fauna.A significant part of this invertebrate fauna is represented by species pushed southwards by the last glaciations, for which the mountain woods, the valleys crossed by the streams, the springs and the ponds, constitute, in the current climatic conditions, the last refuges on our island. The populations of these species, being the southernmost of their distribution range, are often characterized compared to European populations by a significant genetic diversity, which is of great interest for studies on biological evolution. In some cases we are in the presence of neo-endemic species differentiated by isolation from the primitive European "mother" species. The presence of valleys, woods, streams, etc.

Source: Ministry of the Environment Natura 2000 form

It falls within the Nebrodi 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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