Standard Article - doi: 10.3832/ifor0511-002 © iForest – Biogeosciences and Forestry Introduction Winter tourism today represents one of the most important economic sectors in a great part of the world’s mountain areas (Elsasser & Messerli 2001, Rixen et al. 2003). At the same time, the impact of ski runs and other infrastructures related to ski sports may have dramatic effects on fragile mountainous en- vironments (Pignatti 1993, Titus & Tsuyuza- ki 1999, Pickering et al. 2003). As a con- sequence, many studies have been carried out on the restoration of ski slopes after their creation (Urbanska 1997, Titus & Tsuyuzaki 1999, Rixen et al. 2003), as their constru- ction is one of the major causes of anthropo- genic disturbances in alpine ecosystems (Watson 1985, Laiolo & Rolando 2005). If the analysis is limited to the ski run routes, the major negative effects are on soil and ve- getation, which are often affected by any hu- man disturbance to ecosystems (Wali 1999, Fischer & Wipf 2002, Laiolo et al. 2004). Soils are disturbed by the construction of ski runs and ski-lifts, by skiers’ passage and snowcats managing the snow (Ferrari 2005). Damage caused by skiers is more clearly seen in the middle of the ski runs (Ries 1996), where the machines create undesir- able effects over the entire soil surface. The high level of snow compaction produces a denser snow layer, with a reduction in snow insulating properties, a higher probability of soil freezing, decreasing gas permeability, alteration of bio-geochemical cycles, and a decrease in micro-porosity (e.g., Gros et al. 2004, Wipf et al. 2005). All of these changes can dramatically affect the vegetation of ski runs (Rixen et al. 2003). Taking into account these considerations and the environmental constraints in fragile alpine environments, revegetation is always performed after the construction of a ski run in order to limit soil erosion, reduce visual impacts, and maintain and lengthen the dura- tion of snow cover (Argenti et al. 2004a). Rapid reconstitution of vegetation cover is desirable in order to reach these goals but many studies carried out in Alpine Mountain areas (e.g., Urbanska 1995, Dinger 1997, Ar- genti et al. 2002, Scotton & Piccinin 2004) have shown the difficulty and slowness of this process, especially in areas higher than 1800-2000 m a.s.l., such as those above the timberline (Bédécarrats 1991, Urbanska & Fattorini 2000). Commercial mixtures com- posed of forage species are generally used for revegetation because they are cheap and easily available (Argenti et al. 2004b, Krautzer et al. 2004), but these species are often not suitable to local conditions (Ruth- Balaganskaya & Myllynen-Malinen 2000, Urbanska & Fattorini 2000, Krautzer et al. 2001). Therefore, the use of seed from local natural populations (Mortlock 2000) or from species adapted to the intervention site is re- commended (Peratoner 2003) to reduce fai- lures and to speed up the establishment of a stable plant community. For this reason it is advisable to conduct programs for the pre- liminary evaluation of the species to be used in several areas so as to create a suitable mixture of species (sometimes not conven- tionally used mixes) well adapted to particu- lar pedo-climatic conditions (Argenti et al. 2004a). Once the revegetation has success- fully been performed, the mid-long term aim is to obtain a high level of colonisation by native species to assure the ecological inte- gration of restored areas (Dinger 1997, Ar- genti et al. 2002). Bédécarrats (1991) identi- fied three stages of development of these plant communities: a beginning stage, in which sown species dominate the sward, a transitional stage, in which the colonisation of the ski run by native species begins to re- place the sown plants, and a maturation stage, in which the proportion of autochtho- nous species is higher than those introduced by revegetation. Talamucci & Argenti (2005), analysing data from 21 ski slopes scattered across 12 Italian resorts, found si- milar patterns of recovery by native species and stated that on average 6 to 9 years are needed to reach a significant amount of autochthonous plant presence (30-40% out of the total) in the study areas. The rate of re- colonisation by autochthonous species is af- fected by management and local environ- mental conditions. To contribute to the knowledge of vegeta- tion development in revegetated ski runs and to clarify the rate of recovery by native spe- cies, a research was carried out in a Northern Apennine ski area using data from several ski runs that had been restored in different years. Materials and methods Research was carried out at the Monte Ci- mone ski resort (North Apennines, Italy, 44° 11’ N, 10° 42’ E), a ski area with 30 ski runs totalling about 50 km of tracks. In this area eight different ski slopes ranging in elevation © SISEF http://www.sisef.it/iforest/ 178 iForest (2009) 2: 178-182 Department of Agronomy and Land Management (DiSAT), University of Florence, p.le delle Cascine 18, I-50144 Firenze (Italy) @ Giovanni Argenti (giovanni.argenti@unifi.it) Received: Mar 17, 2009 - Accepted: Jun 26, 2009 Citation: Argenti G, Ferrari L, 2009. Plant cover evolution and naturalisation of revegetated ski runs in an Apennine ski resort (Italy). iForest 2: 178-182 [online: 2009-10-15] URL: http://www.sisef.it/ iforest/show.php?id=511 Plant cover evolution and naturalisation of revegetated ski runs in an Apennine ski resort (Italy) Argenti G, Ferrari L Revegetation on ski runs is performed to limit soil erosion, to reduce visual im- pact and to lengthen the duration of snow cover. Commercial forage mixtures are often used and the mid-long term aim is to obtain a high level of colonisa- tion by species of the local flora to ensure the ecological integration of re- stored areas. The naturalisation of the artificial canopy is affected in a remar- kable way by the local environmental conditions and by management of the swards. To contribute to the knowledge of this process, data collected in an Apennine ski resort on several ski runs revegetated in different years and lo- cated at different elevations (from 1020 to 1745 m a.s.l.) are reported. Bota- nical analyses were also conducted on natural areas located at different alti- tudes and close to the ski tracks to assess the level of naturalisation reached by the artificial canopy. Results showed the effectiveness of the revegetations performed, even though they were carried out with very simple mixtures. Data collection allowed to evaluate the rapidity of the naturalisation process which is mainly affected by the height of the ski slope and years since sowing. Evolu- tion of swards over time demonstrated that, in the environment studied, char- acterised by low altitude, the speed of colonisation by native species is consi- derably higher than that reported in previous studies carried out in different alpine environments located at upper elevations. Keywords: Revegetation, Botanical composition, Native species, Floristic rich- ness