Monitoring of Tree Damages in the Pine Stands as a Tool to Better Woodland Management : Research and Monitoring as Key Elements for the Sustainable Development of the Limestone Alps European Strategies
Fifty five percent of the territory in the Province of Trento is covered by forests, out of which 6% represent Pine areas (mainly Pinus sylvestris and Pinus nigra). The present study concerns with the Pinus nigra stands situated at lower altitudes of the valleys. They are originally artificially planted and are very susceptible to the slightest influence by anthropogenic interference (trampling, pollution, grazing etc.). The fragility and the impact from pollutant elements in air and land lead to various forms of plant disorders. Since 1990, a monitoring on forest damage is being carried out to study the various types of plant diseases to aid better forest management in these areas. This study comprises of data collection from 45 permanent forest stations obtained from five specific questionnaires sent to this department periodically. Elaboration and conclusions are published annually and are made available to forest and park managers of the Province to verify and to correct previous methods and treatments employed. This system of monitoring has highlighted some of the main pathologies such as Sphaeropsis sapinea, Cenangium ferruginosum, Traumatocampa pityocampa, which can be related to predisposing factors like local topographic conditions and dendrological aspects. The pine forest areas are situated mainly on calcareous brown soils with a eutrophic mull humic horizon. These soils are well known to be unstable and complex as they are derived from a heterogeneous material. Therefore, an indirect role of vegetation to act as a protection against erosion can be more important than as a direct agent in soil development. This Forest Tree Damage Monitoring (FTDM) aims to resolve pathological problems that come up in forest management and in the long run to analyse the causes that generate these diseases in these forest systems.
