Woodland Recolonisation and Postagricultural Development in Italy

Abstract

The principal change in Italy’s rural landscape over the past fifty years has been the spontaneous return of woodlands on land previously used for agriculture and cattle-raising. This secondary succession, together with reafforestation projects carried out by man, is an ongoing process. The spontaneous recolonisation by woodland takes place in many areas, from agricultural land by the sea, in the Mediterranean environment, to the high altitude pastures of the Alps. This colonisation, which involves numerous native and exotic tree species, is sometimes preceded by a more or less long phase of shrub dominance; in other cases, the shrub phase is absent, and trees colonise the land immediately after agricultural use has ceased or when grazing pressure is reduced. The pattern of recolonisation is often influenced by the presence of remnant fodder or fruit trees or pre-existent agricultural artefacts, such as terraces or walls. Already existing woodland types, such as stone pine woods, expand, and new stand types are being formed, like ash-sycamore stands that in the past did not exist in the Italian forest landscape. Many broad-leaved tree species invade old-established sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa), cork oak (Quercus suber) and umbrella pine (Pinus pinea) plantations. The ecological and social consequences of this woodland expansion are, so far, virtually unknown. The social perception of this phenomenon is rather complex: some believe that a degradation of the rural territory is taking place and that the spread of woodlands close to villages and along the roads should be halted. Others, for various reasons, consider the ‘renaturation’ of the rural landscape as a positive factor.