Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e Biologia dei Sistemi

Descrizione del progetto

Orchid-rich semi-natural grasslands (such as habitat 6210*, assigned to habitat E1. 2a Semi-dry perennial calcareous grassland), present in almost the entire European continent, are among the most species-rich plant communities in Europe and contain a large number of rare and endangered species, thus bearing high nature conservation importance. Such grasslands are currently among the most threatened plant communities in Europe, due to their inherent sensitivity to land use changes. The long-term preservation of these orchid communities cannot be achieved without the application of measures aimed at stabilizing the environments that host them. However, the reinforcement of declining orchid populations and the reintroduction of native orchid species that have previously disappeared from the target area(s) additionally require a specific approach complying with the unique biology of these plants.
The strategic objective of the project (which involves Italian and Czech beneficiaries) is to apply best practices to develop an ad hoc approach, based on the combination of rehabilitation of degraded orchid habitats, reinforcement/reintroduction of selected orchid species and implementation of the land stewardship approach, to strenghthen and secure orchid-rich grassland habitats (with a focus on habitat 6210*).