San Paolo Albanese
Table of contents
Where
What, Why
Research activity
Forest survey
Dendro-ecological investigations
Pon OT4CLIMA project
AGRITECH National project
Dissemination
Where
The San Paolo Albanese high forest is located in the Pollino National Park (province of Potenza, Basilicata).
What & Why
The San Paolo Albanese high forest is dominated by Quercus frainetto Ten.
The site shows dieback symptoms since the early 2000s and the most affected areas encompass ca. 250 ha.
Research activity
Forest survey
What phenotypic symptoms have been observed? Shoot death, early leaf drop, crown defoliation, epicormic shoot production
How were decaying and non-decaying trees distinguished? Crown transparency was estimated by a visual assessment performed by two independent observations on the same tree using binoculars.
Dendro-ecological investigations
To quantify radial growth, increment cores were extracted at breast height (1.3 m) using 5 mm Pressler increment borers. 97 dominant Q. frainetto trees with contrasting vigor (35 D trees and 62 ND trees) were sampled.
The project aimed to investigate the different climate change impacts at local and regional scales by developing and employing innovative Earth Observation technologies and methodologies, with a highly multi-disciplinary approach and a marked collaboration between Research and Industry.
Multi-scale and multi-sensor analysis for testing and verifying remotely sensed vegetation indices.
In situ. Each tree is labeled and georeferenced using a GPS device.
Measuring xylem water potential, using Scholander's pressure chamber, to quantify plant water stress. The daily course of xylem water potential is monitored, beginning from shortly before dawn until late afternoon.
Progetto PON Drone San Paolo.Sez.StateofResearch.mp4ProgettoPON_TelegiornaleSez.SanPaolo.mp4VID-20230715-WA0080.mp4Agritech National Project - Task 7.1.2 "Forest Resilience to Climate Change: deciduous oak forests under climatic stress in marginal and protected areas"
Surveys in the high forest of San Paolo Albanese took place in July and September 2023.
We sampled pairs of dominant trees showing contrasting crown transparency or defoliation.
Each tree is labeled.
Sampled neighbouring trees were always located about 8-15 m from apart. For each tree, we measured its diameter at breast height (Dbh, at 1.3 m) and total stem height using a Vertex rangefinder.
To quantify radial growth, increment cores were extracted at breast height (1.3 m) using 5 mm Pressler increment borers.
Location of the study sites in Southern Italy (San Paolo Albanese, PZ; Oriolo, CS). The green and red dots represent the sampled and georeferenced trees.
Each tree is georeferenced using a high-precision GPS device. Thus, it will be possible to track all the trees identified, in the framework of the project, in the future as well, and monitor their evolution over time
Woody cores have been extracted and will be subjected to dendrochronological analysis.
Sampling trees for genetic investigations
A slingshot ( was used to collect twigs and leaves used for DNA extractions and genetic investigations.
