DOLOMITES - Annexes 2-8 - Provincia di Udine

NOMINATION OF THE DOLOMITES FOR INSCRIPTION ON THE WORLD NATURAL HERITAGE LIST UNESCO
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Pinus cembra at the treeline (Pale di San Martino – Trento).
Larch is surely one of the colonizing plants that best characterize the higher elevations, especially
near to the grasslands. Pure larch woods are rare formations and often only found pursuant to interventions
by man. In the continental climate valleys, the most characteristic forest plant in the
sub-Alpine belt is Swiss stone pine, which is particularly abundant in the Ladin valleys. In the fall,
larch and Swiss stone pine woods lend beautiful colour effects that make the landscape suggestive
and attractive with majestic vistas on the backdrop of the mountain peaks. Even the few sub-Alpine
woods of Norway spruce, larch and Swiss stone pine (between 1,500 and 2,200 m), we can appreciate
the characteristic underbrush of whortleberry, rhododendron and dwarf juniper. Above the edge
of the forest live isolated trees, often bent and mutilated by lightning, sometimes with the characteristic
candelabra shape. Dwarf shrubs form the most characteristic plant life (climax) on the Dolomites
as in the rest of the Alpine arc. The strong presence of Alpenroses, instead of hairy Alpenroses
or dwarf Alpenroses, indicates that these are lands rich in silica or formed by the breakdown of carbonate
rocks, but on deep and acidic soils. A widespread presence of heather and red whortleberry
distinguishes the more continental slopes that are relatively warmer in summer. Bog bilberry (Vaccinium
gaultherioides) indicates drier and acidic realms. The most typical hallmark of the Dolomite
landscape, especially on rocks and calcareous detritus, are the dwarf pine woods which are rarely
found on the crumbly slopes, even at the lower elevations. Any hiker will tell you how demanding it
is to hike through dense dwarf pine coppices, but he is also aware of the safety that they lend to the
mountain climber and the very important job they play in keeping loose soil compact. Damp lands
(caused by the accumulation of looselypacked soil, often carried along by landslides) is often covered
by coppices of green alder (in some areas these woods can be very large; for example, in the volcanic
group of Cima Pape, such coppices stretch out from 1,000 to 1,900 meters) which host thriving
flora of high grass which take advantage of the high humidity and the nitrogen supplied by the bac-