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The scientific research in the GPNP: necromass and forest biodiversity
Contrary to popular belief, the more cluttered and fuller of logs and dead wood a forest is, the higher the biodiversity of the forest ecosystem is likely to be. On the other hand, uniform forests, with clean undergrowth and all regular plants of the same size, are unfavourable for biodiversity.
The forests cover less than 20 per cent of the park's territory and are currently being surveys are currently in progress to ascertain the amount of dead wood present, the so-called necromass, in peccete (spruce forests, in the Park mainly on the Aosta Valley side) and beech forests (beech forests, in the Park on the Piedmont side).
In a living tree it is possible to observe around 10% living and physiologically active cells, these rise to 40% in a dead trunk, because it becomes the home of different species such as fungi, mosses and insects, which in turn will feed a complex food web all the way to symbolic woodland animals such as owls and woodpeckers.
A single nesting cavity made by a woodpecker can actually start a process that leads to the creation of many microhabitats capable of hosting bats, various species of beetles and wood-degrading fungi. And even just the relationships between birds defined as cavicolians, burrowers and different forest species are extremely complex, resulting in so-called nest webs (see photo).