Restoring the functions of the habitat of shifting dunes in a pilot site of the Northern Adriatic coast (Italy).

In the area of the SCI/SPA IT4070009 “Ortazzo, Ortazzino, Foce del Torrente Bevano”, located in the Northern Adriatic coast (Emilia-Romagna, Italy), a restoration of the habitat 2120 “Shifting dunes along the shoreline with Ammophila arenaria (white dunes)” was performed. The intervention aimed to restore the main environmental functions of this habitat (sand capture, sediment accumulation and stabilisation). Ammophila arenaria (L.) Link, because of its particular structure and morphology, strongly contributes to the accomplishment of these functions: so it was chosen as a key species for the intervention. Shoots and rhizomes from local Ammophila arenaria populations were collected in 2006 early spring. The plant material was vegetatively propagated and the new individuals obtained were cultivated in nursery during the late spring, summer and the start of autumn 2006. At the end of October 2006, 2500 vigorous tufts of Ammophila arenaria along a 300 m x 2 m strip, situated 30-40 m from the shoreline, were planted. Any loss of the Ammophila arenaria shoots was scored in the following months. During the 2007 vegetative season a significant increase in number of shoots as well as in height and diameter of tufts occurred; plant cover passed from 3-5% to 15-20% of the vegetalized area. One year after implantation, clear sand accumulation micromorphologies appeared in the intervention site, indicating that the main geomorphological functions of the habitat were restored. The paper will describe the intervention and its results.