DR4 Tirso Region, Sardinia (Italy)

Current status

Sardinia is the second largest island of the Mediterranean basin. The dehesa-like landscapes, called “meriagos” in Sardinia, are shaped by sheep breeding (with almost 2.7 millions of ovine animals). Its extension of about 2500 km2 , the breeding activities, and the fact that almost 80% of the national cork production of Italy comes from these areas of Sardinia, make these areas not only the most widespread landscape of Sardinia, but also of great importance both from the ecological and socio-economic point of views. 

The PDA area encompasses most of the “Tirso” basin in the central part of Sardinia, and it is representative of most of the “meriagos” of the island. Cork oaks trees are well represented, alone or in conjunction with other Mediterranean sclerophyllous species. Soils are shallow (mean depth is around 20 to 40 cm) and acidic, developed from granitic rocks. Extensive use of deep and/or superficial plowing is a concern for soil erosion and alfa biodiversity, however, as other marginal areas in the region, the study area suffers from land abandonment with cascading effects on gamma Biodiversity and fire risk. Climate change is strongly impacting the meriagos health, particularly with longer and more intense drought and heat waves events, threatening water availability and, as a consequence, soil, vegetation health, and related ES (ecosystem services) (productivity and C sequestration potential, profitability).