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South Apennine mixed montane forests


The South Apennine mixed montane forests is an Ecoregion, in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub Biome, located in the Southern Apennine Mountains, in southern Italy and on Sicily.

This ecoregion is restricted to the high mountain massifs of the regions of Basilicata, Calabria and the island of Sicily.

Wide altitudinal range results in several forest zones.

At lowest elevations the forests are characterized by the dominance of sclerophyllous evergreen oak Quercus ilex and Quercus suber, coniferous Pinus pinea (Italian Stone Pine), and deciduous Quercus pubescens, Fraxinus ornus, Ostrya carpinifolia forests.

At medium elevations the mixed deciduous forests of Quercus cerris, Quercus pubescens, Quercus frainetto, Castanea sativa, Ostrya carpinifolia predominate.

At high elevation altitudes there is a north-south slopes gradient of plant communities:


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