Proposal of a simplified method for the assessment of carrying capacity of woods in territorial forest planning

Abstract

IntroduzioneLe risorse pastorali spontanee possono essere con siderate delle risorse assimilabili a quelle forestali per complessità vegetazionale e funzioni ad esse as segnate, nelle quali è possibile coniugare l'attività produttiva con la salvaguardia delle importanti fun zioni extraproduttive che sono ad esse riconosciute (Staglianò et al. 2003). Per i pascoli sono necessarie delle linee guida relative alla gestione, così come ac cade per le foreste con le quali le risorse pascolive sono spesso profondamente correlate. Uno dei primi parametri da stabilire per la gestione razionale dei pascoli è quello del carico animale potenzialmente mantenibile, rappresentato dal numero di capi ani mali che può essere mantenuto su una certa superfi cie pastorale per un certo periodo di tempo evitando o limitando l'insorgere di fenomeni degradativi rela tivi alla qualità e alla produttività della risorsa. Per quanto riguarda le superfici a pascolo sono state messe a punto diverse metodologie di calcolo del ca it).Abstract: Proposal of a simplified method for the assessment of carrying capacity of woods in territorial forest plan ning. Methods for carrying capacity estimation are standardised for pastoral resources, but in particular en vironments it is important to assess the potential utilisation of forests as forage source for grazing animals. Some experimental methods are money and time consuming and they need the accurate evaluation of pro duction from woody species that can be utilised by animals. This work suggests a simplified methodology of vegetation sampling to be used inside forest planning to evaluate the carrying capacity of woods. The propo sed technique needs the determination of a maximum animal stocking rate and the assessment of herbaceous and woody vegetation and their palatability to evaluate the eventual occurrence of negative parameters to be taken into account as reductive factors of the maximum stocking rate previously identified. The research was carried out inside the forest planning of the complex "Gallipoli-Cognato" (Basilicata). About 100 sample areas were conducted to assess the woody and the herbaceous layers present in the forest. Based on these findings, three classes of overall forage quality were identified and to them a different and decreasing level of potential stocking rate was attributed, starting from the maximum that for the studied area was conside red as 0.3 LU ha -1 year -1. Proposed methodology resulted simple and fast, even if some improvements are ne cessary concerning the evaluation of the herbaceous vegetation and the assessment of the damages caused by animals grazing to soil and forest.Keywords: Forest, Carrying capacity, Grazing, Management, Basilicata Received: May 27, 2008; Accepted: Jan 19, 2009 Citation: Bianchetto E, Argenti G, Ferretti F, 2009. Proposta per una metodologia speditiva di stima del carico animale mantenibile da formazioni forestali nell'ambito della pianificazione territoriale. Forest@

GIS system and livestock field survey as tools to manage the potential reducing of fuel load for fire prevention

“…Podolian cattle is the most common breed kept in the hinterlands of Basilicata region (South of Italy), where the animals are generally reared under extensive or semi-extensive conditions . This allows the animals to utilize different vegetation layers: forest layer <3 m, shrubland and grassland for all the year (Bianchetto et al, 2009). By prescribed grazing, Podolian cattle may play an important role for a sustainable and ecological management of the available resources, by reducing grass and shrub biomass (Pittroff et al, 2006;Fuhlendorf and Engle 2001).…”