Salvatore Seddaiu

Mediterranean cork oak forests provide essential ecosystem services but face increasing threats from climate change, ecosystem simplification, and oak decline. Ensuring their long-term sustainability requires governance approaches that integrate regional planning frameworks with international certification standards. This study presents a pioneering case of public cork oak forest management in Alà dei Sardi, Sardinia (Italy), where municipal forest planning was aligned with national and regional regulations and further enhanced through Forest Stewardship Council^® (FSC^®) certification. The FSC system offers internationally recognized standards and the Ecosystem Services Procedure (FSC-PRO-30-006 v2-1) to verify responsible forest management and quantify key ecosystem benefits. The Alà dei Sardi forest is the first publicly owned municipal cork oak forest to achieve FSC Forest Management certification, with demonstrated positive impacts of its management activities on biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration and storage, water protection, soil conservation, and recreational services. The certification process integrated management planning, stakeholder engagement, monitoring, and adaptive interventions, showing that public institutions can combine legal frameworks with voluntary standards to enhance ecological performance, accountability, and socio-economic value. This case illustrates a potentially scalable and replicable model for sustainable forest governance, linking territorial planning with market-based mechanisms, and provides a practical example of governance for resilient and multifunctional forest systems.

Ectomycorrhizal fungi represent a key component of forest ecosystems, contributing significantly to tree nutrition, stress tolerance, and overall ecosystem resilience. In the Mediterranean region, cork oak (Quercus suber L.) forests, have significant ecological and economic value, and their vitality strongly depends on these belowground mutualistic relationships. Although previous studies have investigated the diversity and function of ectomycorrhizal fungi, several aspects concerning their ecological dynamics remain inadequately understood, particularly in cork oak forests. This study investigates the structural and dynamics of ectomycorrhizal fungal communities in cork oak forests of Sardinia located on granitic, basaltic, and trachytic substrates and subjected to different management practices (natural, grazed, and ploughed). We assess how forest management and seasonal variability interact with lithological conditions to shape community structure and diversity. Three cork oak stands for each lithological substrate (nine in total) were selected in areas where all the three forestry managements were present. Two transects were established in each stand, and soil samples were collected during spring and autumn to assess seasonal variations in the ectomycorrhizal community. In total, 82,345 ectomycorrhizal root tips were morphologically characterized and classified in 167 morphotypes based on morpho-anatomical characteristics. From these, 120 were successfully assigned to distinct Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) through internal transcribed spacer (ITS) barcoding. Our results indicate that lithological substrate, management system, and sampling season significantly influence the structure and composition of ectomycorrhizal communities. Notably, ploughing caused a marked reduction in fungal richness, highlighting the sensitivity of these communities to soil disturbance.

Extreme heat waves coupled with severe drought episodes are increasing in frequency in the Mediterranean region. Such climatic events pose significant threats to evergreen sclerophyllous vegetation, despite their inherent resistance and adaptation to drought conditions. Over recent decades, several cases of dieback affecting Quercus ilex, Quercus suber, and other evergreen shrubs have been reported across the Mediterranean basin. In Italy, the first reports of Q. ilex dieback due to climatic events date back to 2012 in Tuscany, and with more extensive impacts observed following the extreme drought of 2017. During the summer of 2024, widespread dieback phenomena were reported across Southern Italian regions, including Apulia, Basilicata, and the islands of Sardinia and Sicily. The symptoms were consistent and recurrent in all the affected areas, characterized by partial or total foliar browning, followed by wilting and branch dieback. Notably, resprouting from dormant buds was observed in affected branches and leaves in the following rainy season. Affected areas showed ongoing symptoms of oak decline, often associated with the presence of Phytophthora spp. and other opportunistic pathogens, suggesting a complex interaction between biotic and abiotic stressors. This study aims to document and analyze the most relevant cases of Q. ilex dieback occurring in central and southern Italy, using also data collected through the SilvaCuore web application. The phenomenon of dieback and mortality of Q. ilex is still poorly understood in terms of the cause-and-effect relationships, the relative contribution of biotic and abiotic factors, the extension and severity of damage, and the ecological consequences. Although Mediterranean woodlands (forests and shrublands) are scarcely represented in the current scientific and monitoring programs (ICP Forests Level I network), the available results show an increase in dieback and mortality in Italy since 2012. We emphasize the urgent need for coordinated research efforts to study and map this phenomenon. Proposed actions include establishing a network of permanent monitoring plots that combine phytopathological and ecophysiological assessments over time, deploying comprehensive terrestrial and remote sensing monitoring techniques, and involving citizens in early detection efforts. Finally, the research should aim to identify the site-specific and management-related factors that have contributed to the extent and intensity of the dieback phenomenon. Understanding these drivers is critical for developing effective management strategies aimed at mitigating the impacts of these dieback events and enhancing the resilience of the most vulnerable forest stands.

In autumn 2018, during a study on the pathogens involved in the etiology of chestnut nut rot symptoms observed in three of the main sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa) growing areas in Sardinia (Site ...

Cork oak forests are of immense importance in terms of economic, cultural, and ecological value in the Mediterranean regions. Since the beginning of the 20th century, these forests ecosystems have been threatened by several factors, including human intervention, climate change, wildfires, pathogens, and pests. Several studies have demonstrated the primary role of the oomycete Phytophthora cinnamomi Ronds in the widespread decline of cork oaks in Portugal, Spain, southern France, and Italy, although other congeneric species have also been occasionally associated. Between 2015 and 2019, independent surveys were undertaken to determine the diversity of Phytophthora species in declining cork oak stands in Sardinia (Italy). Rhizosphere soil samples were collected from 39 declining cork oak stands and baited in the laboratory with oak leaflets. In addition, the occurrence of Phytophthora was assayed using an in-situ baiting technique in rivers and streams located throughout ten of the surveyed oak stands. Isolates were identified by means of both morphological characters and sequence analysis of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of ribosomal DNA. In total, 14 different Phytophthora species were detected. Phytophthora cinnamomi was the most frequently isolated species from rhizosphere soil, followed by P. quercina, P. pseudocryptogea, and P. tyrrhenica. In contrast, P. gonapodyides turned out to be the most dominant species in stream water, followed by P. bilorbang, P. pseudocryptogea, P. lacustris, and P. plurivora. Pathogenicity of the most common Phytophthora species detected was tested using both soil infestation and log inoculation methods. This study showed the high diversity of Phytophthora species inhabiting soil and watercourses, including several previously unrecorded species potentially involved in the decline of cork oak forests.

Since the early 1990s, common alder (Alnus glutinosa) trees showing a variety of symptoms such as a partial or complete canopy dieback, reddening of foliage and bleeding cankers at the collar and l...