Permanent meadows

Ecological importance

In the Reserve these fields separate the internal area from the cultivated areas right near the edges, acting like a filter from the noise coming from the outside.

They are very important because they are populated by lots of different species. They are used as forage by some birds’ species that in here can find insects, reptiles and mammals during the summer and seeds during the winter.

Habitat

The fields are seminatural grassy vegetations cultivated by man thanks to the mowing. These fields are called “stable” because they haven’t been ploughed or harrowed for so long that the species which grow here have found their balance.

They are the most endangered habitat in Europe because of the abandonment of agriculture practices on the hills and in the mountains (woods’ invasion) and the lay of concrete in the plain.

Pollinators

Insects have an important ecologic function called POLLINATION. Through their wondering between the flowers, they get dirty with pollen, which is later released on other flowers allowing the fecundation and the formation of the seed that, once it has been dispersed, will grow and became a new plant. The most important insects for the pollination are Hymenopterans (bees, bumblebee and wasps), the lepidopterans (butterflies and moths), Dipterans (for examples fly) and beetles.