Old-Growth Forests of the Pollino National Park: Biodiversity, Structural Complexity, and Adaptive Conservation – The ‘Old Growth For. Pollino’ Project
Published 2026-10-06
Keywords
- Biodiversity,
- bioindicators,
- structural complexity,
- old-growth forests,
- adaptive management
- Southern Apennines ...More
How to Cite
Copyright (c) 2026 Francesco Ripullone, Vittoria Marchianò, Danilo Travascia, Liliana Bernardo, Maurizio Biondi, Marco Borghetti, Michele Colangelo, Salvatore Digilio, Domenico Gargano, Emanuele Giuzio, Adriana Guma, Mattia Iannella, Francesco Iovino, Antonio Lapolla, Nicodemo Passalacqua, Cristina Potenza, Giovanna Potenza, Aldo Schettino, Rosalba Rotondaro, Pierpaolo Storino, Salvatore Urso, Gianluca Piovesan
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Old-growth forests (OGFs) are highly natural ecosystems characterized by spontaneous regeneration dynamics, large and ancient trees, abundant deadwood in multiple decay stages, and diverse microhabitats. In Mediterranean regions, such ecosystems are rare and fragmented, yet they play a strategic role in biodiversity conservation, long-term ecological research, and climate resilience assessment. The Pollino National Park (Southern Italy) hosts one of the most significant OGF networks in the Southern Apennines. The “Old Growth For. Pollino” project updated the decadal monitoring of nine old-growth stands, characterized three newly detected forest areas, assessed structural, floristic and faunal components, and applied predictive models for old-growth classification and habitat suitability. Results highlight high structural heterogeneity in beech and mixed forests, the presence of conservation-relevant saproxylic and forest-specialist species, and a general stability or slight increase in vegetation vigor over the past four decades. The integrated analysis confirms that Mediterranean OGF complexity cannot be reduced to structural thresholds alone but emerges from the interaction among stand structure, topography, biodiversity and disturbance legacy. The multidimensional framework adopted provides a robust basis for adaptive forest conservation strategies under climate change.
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