Phd Federica Gilardelli A5
Vegetation dynamics and restoration trials in limestone quarries: the Botticino case study (Brescia, Italy) Federica Gilardelli UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI MILANO – BICOCCA Facoltà di Scienze Matematiche, Fisiche e Naturali Vegetation dynamics and restoration trials in limestone quarries: the Botticino case study (Brescia, Italy) Federica Gilardelli PhD thesis in Environmental Science XXV cycle Tutor: Cotutors: Prof. Sandra Citterio Prof. Sergio Sgorbati Dr. Rodolfo Gentili Dr. Stefano Armiraglio Collaborations: Dr. Ing. Sergio Savoldi Dr. Pierangelo Barossi February 2013 To all the quarrymen and their families. A tutti i cavatori e le loro famiglie. Background. All over the world, the naturalistic restoration of abandoned quarry areas represents a real challenge because of the very adverse initial site conditions for plant species colonization. In order to identify the best restoration practices, the present thesis considered, as a case study, the “Botticino extractive basin” (Lombardy, Italy), that is today the second greatest Italian extractive basin and it is famous worldwide for the limestone extraction. In particular, the thesis proposes a multidisciplinary approach based on the study of the local vegetation dynamics, laboratory tests, plant selection for restoration and field experiments to test different restoration techniques. Methods. Spontaneous vegetation dynamics over the whole extractive basin was studied by an ecological approach through 108 plots, that were carried out on surfaces whose “disused time” from quarry abandonment was known; data were analysed by cluster analysis and Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) and compared to the available data on grassland and woodlands related to the study area. We identified successional phases according to the trend of the most common species whose cover significantly increases or decreases with time.
[Show full text]