Apennine deciduous montane forest

Mixed forest (Abies alba and Fagus sylvatica) in Cimone Mountain, northern Apennine

The Apennine deciduous montane forests, a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome, are an ecoregion in the mountain ranges of italian peninsula including the Apennine Mountains. The development of these forests is ensured by the high rainfall Apennines (from 1000 mm in southern Apennine to 2500 mm in northern Apennine), combined with a temperate-cool climate. Because of climate change, the presence of Silver Fir (Abies alba), although still widespread, is dramatically reduced in favor of the beech.

Description

Vegetation zones

The ecoregion has two major vegetation zones:

1. Extensive forests

• Fagus sylvatica
• Silver Fir Abies alba (mixed with beech)
• some relict Pinus nigra var. italica stands.
• some relict Picea abies and Pinus sylvestris (only in Northern Apennine).

With presence of deciduos Quercus ssp. and sporadic Fraxinus ssp., Acer ssp., Tilia ssp., Populus ssp., Castanea sativa, Carpinus ssp., Ostrya ssp., Ulmus ssp., Betula ssp., Sorbus ssp., Salix ssp., Prunus ssp., Taxus baccata, Malus sylvestris, Pyrus and other Central-European broadleaved and coniferous species.

2. Mountain summit meadows and cushion scrubs, with the predominant species:

• Juniperus nana,
• Sorbus chamaemespilus,
• Arctostaphylos uva-ursi,
• Vaccinium vitis-idaea
• relict Pinus mugo (Majella Mountain).

Endemic species

There are a high number of endemic species increasing at higher elevations and representing between 10 and 20% of the total flora.

• Abruzzo Mountains has 1,200 endemic species;
• Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga has 1,500 endemic species;
• Maiella mountains has 1,800 endemic species.

Alpine species include

• Gentiana dinarica,
• Gentiana nivalis,
• Androsace alpina,
• Polygala chamaebuxus,
• Saxifraga oppositifolia,
• Ranunculus seguieri
• Carlina acaulis.

External links

• "Appenine[sic] Deciduous Montane Forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.

Palearctic temperate broadleaf and mixed forests
Apennine deciduous montane forests	Italy
Atlantic mixed forests	Denmark, France, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands
Azores temperate mixed forests	Portugal
Balkan mixed forests	Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Turkey
Baltic mixed forests	Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Poland
Cantabrian mixed forests	Spain, Portugal
Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests	Iran, Azerbaijan
Caucasus mixed forests	Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkey
Celtic broadleaf forests	United Kingdom, Ireland
Central Anatolian deciduous forests	Turkey
Central China loess plateau mixed forests	China
Central European mixed forests	Austria, Germany, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Belarus, Czech Republic
Central Korean deciduous forests	North Korea, South Korea
Changbai Mountains mixed forests	China, North Korea
Changjiang Plain evergreen forests	China
Crimean Submediterranean forest complex	Russia, Ukraine
Daba Mountains evergreen forests	China
Dinaric Mountains mixed forests	Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia
East European forest steppe	Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Ukraine
Eastern Anatolian deciduous forests	Turkey
English Lowlands beech forests	United Kingdom
Euxine-Colchic deciduous forests	Bulgaria, Georgia, Turkey
Hokkaido deciduous forests	Japan
Huang He Plain mixed forests	China
Madeira evergreen forests	Portugal
Manchurian mixed forests	China, North Korea, Russia, South Korea
Nihonkai evergreen forests	Japan
Nihonkai montane deciduous forests	Japan
North Atlantic moist mixed forests	Ireland, United Kingdom
Northeast China Plain deciduous forests	China
Pannonian mixed forests	Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Croatia
Po Basin mixed forests	Italy
Pyrenees conifer and mixed forests	France, Spain, Andorra
Qin Ling Mountains deciduous forests	China
Rodope montane mixed forests	Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia
Sarmatic mixed forests	Russia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus
Sichuan Basin evergreen broadleaf forests	China
South Sakhalin-Kurile mixed forests	Russia
Southern Korea evergreen forests	South Korea
Taiheiyo evergreen forests	Japan
Taiheiyo montane deciduous forests	Japan
Tarim Basin deciduous forests and steppe	China
Ussuri broadleaf and mixed forests	Russia
West Siberian broadleaf and mixed forests	Russia
Western European broadleaf forests	Switzerland, Austria, France, Germany, Czech Republic
Zagros Mountains forest steppe	Iran, Arabian Peninsula