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The Regional Natural Reserve WWF’s Oasis of Calanchi di Atri, province of Teramo, was established in 1995 and it encloses forms of erosion inside it with different aspects, the so called calanques, known also as Dante’s bolgia, formed by the passing of drainage water on clayish and marly soils, which have remained deprived of the covering of trees.

The area of the reserve is hilly and it covers a surface of 380 hectares, from the bottom of the valley till the stream Piomba and Colle della Giustizia.

The presence of calanques has not hindered the plants’ growth, which are numerous even though there are extreme conditions of uneasiness. There are pioneer species, mainly xerophilous, resilient to aridity. The vegetal element results strictly related to three different areas in which calanques are divided: border, walls and end of the valley.

Border area: typical species of hilly vegetation, grouped in thermophilous woods, are located in the upper parts of calanques. Among the herbaria species, there are Medicago sativa, Hedysarum coronarium, Cynara cardunculus, liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra). Broom trees, Prunus spinosa, Rosa canina spp., Ulmus spp. and Crataegus monogyna are included in the bushy species.

Wall area: xerophilous plants used to warm and dry environments grow on these steep walls and the species, which have adapted to the conditions, have thin trunks, thorns and a developed root system. Numerous belong to the gramineae species, such as Elymus athericus, Reichardia picroides, Tamerix spp. and Capparis spinosa.

End of the valley area: it is characterised by high levels of humidity and of scarce sun exposure and it is the convergence point of various basins; there are hydrophilic species like Arundo donax, Daucus carota and Dorycnium hirsutum. Among the bushy and arboreous species, there are Cornus sanguinea, downy oaks (Quercus pubescens), Populus alba, Populus nigra and Salix alba.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)