Miglioramento pascolo in aree forestali

The effect of fertilization and oversowing with annua! self reseeding forage species was evaluated in a cork oak (Quercus su ber L.) forest, in a grani tic area of centrai Sardinia. The study was carried out in two areas, mechanically cleared from shrubs, with different tree density. Results show that rninimum tillage techniques, accompanied by nitrogen and phosphorous fertilization and oversowing may provide good forage productions, both in tenns of forage quantity and quality, while reducing the environmental impacts of ploughing and shrub clearing with biade dozers. Shrub clearing alone considerably increased forage productions. Pasture improvement techniques provide much greater forage productions in less dense and less enviromnentally sensitive areas, where agronomie inputs can be concentrated, alleviating the pressure on more sensitive and less productive areas.