Po Basin mixed forests

Ecoregion in Italy

Po Basin mixed forests

Po River at San Benedetto

Location of the Po Basin mixed forests

Ecology
Realm| Palearctic
Biome| Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests
Borders|

* Alps conifer and mixed forests
* Dinaric Mountains mixed forests
* Illyrian deciduous forests,
* Italian sclerophyllous and semi-deciduous forests

Geography
Area| 42,149 km2 (16,274 sq mi)
Countries|

* Italy
* Switzerland

Conservation
Conservation status| Critical/endangered
Protected| 3,572 km2 (8%)[1]

The Po Basin mixed forests is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion in the basin of the Po River in northern Italy and Switzerland's Ticino canton.

## Geography

[edit]

The Po Basin is bounded on the north and west by the Alps, and on the south by the Apennine Mountains. It opens onto the Adriatic Sea on the east.

## Flora

[edit]

### Terrestrial plants

[edit]

The Po Basin mixed forests consists of remnants of:
1\. Mixed deciduous oak/hornbeam forest -

* Quercus robur
* Quercus cerris
* Carpinus betulus
* Ulmus minor
* Fraxinus ornus

2\. Riparian forest, as well as flood-plain vegetation of the Po Basin \-

* Fraxinus oxycarpa
* Salix alba
* Alnus glutinosa
* Ulmus minor
* Populus alba
* Populus nigra
* Quercus robur

3\. Coastal submediterranean forest -

* Quercus ilex
* Quercus cerris
* Olea europaea
* Pinus pinea
* Carpinus betulus
* Fraxinus ornus

### Aquatic plants

[edit]

The freshwater ecosystems (zona umida) have a high level of biodiversity.
Threatened (in Italy) plant species include

* Leucojum aestivum
* Halocnemum strobilaceum
* Nymphaea alba
* Bassia hirsuta
* Limonium bellidifolium
* Utricularia australis
* Thelypteris palustris
* Salvinia natans
* Sagittaria sagittifolia
* Plantago cornuti

## Fauna

[edit]

Less-disturbed wetlands which are important breeding areas for many bird species are most significant biodiversity of the ecoregion. Examples are grey heron, purple heron, great egret, little egret, squacco heron, cattle egret, great bittern, little bittern, pygmy cormorant and ferruginous duck.

## Conservation

[edit]

The region is industrialised and has a long history of human pressure (shrinkage of wetlands, invasive species, and unsustainable hunting of waterfowl).

### Protected areas

[edit]

A 2017 assessment found that 3,572 km2, or 8%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Only 2% of the unprotected area remains in natural habitat.[1] Protected areas include Panfilia Wood,[2] the Euganean Hills Regional Park, Po Delta Regional Parks, and Valli del Mincio Nature Reserve.

## External links

[edit]

* "Po Basin mixed forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Eric Dinerstein, David Olson, et al. (2017). An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience, Volume 67, Issue 6, June 2017, Pages 534–545; Supplemental material 2 table S1b. [1]
2. ^ Vito De Santis (June 2007). "The Panfilia Wood". rivista.fondazionecarife.it. Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Ferrara. Retrieved 1 September 2023.

* v
* t
* e

Palearctic temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregions

Western Europe|

* Apennine
* Atlantic
* Azores
* Baltic
* Cantabrian
* Celtic
* English Lowlands
* Madeira
* North Atlantic
* Po Basin
* Pyrenees
* Western European

Eastern Europe|

* Balkan
* Central European
* Crimean Submediterranean
* Dinaric Mountains
* East European forest steppe
* Pannonian
* Rodope
* Sarmatic

West Asia|

* Caspian Hyrcanian
* Caucasus
* Central Anatolian
* Eastern Anatolian
* Euxine–Colchic
* Zagros Mountains

East Asia|

* Central China loess plateau
* Central Korean
* Changbai Mountains
* Changjiang Plain
* Daba Mountains
* Hokkaidō
* Huang He Plain
* Manchurian
* Nihonkai evergreen
* Nihonkai montane
* Northeast China Plain
* Qin Ling Mountains
* Sichuan Basin
* South Sakhalin–Kurile
* Southern Korea
* Taiheiyo evergreen
* Taiheiyo montane
* Tarim Basin
* Ussuri
* West Siberian

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template