Reserved area
The landscape between plains and hills
Nature
Lonigo is situated between the plains and the hills at the southwestern edge of the Berici Hills. The extraordinary natural richness of these hills is a European heritage and is part of the Natura 2000 network for the protection of the territory and biodiversity. Given the strong human impact in the Po Valley, the Berici Hills constitute a true oasis for the protection of natural environments and their flora and fauna.
the environment
climate and geology
The climate is of a continental – temperate type; geologically, the Berici Hills are predominantly limestone in nature, where water disappears quickly from the surface layers to seep into caves and reappear in the plains.
These elements give rise to forest formations characterized by thermophilic and xerophilic species where downy oak, hop hornbeam, and manna ash dominate. Unfortunately, native species are being replaced in many areas by the encroachment of black locust and tree of heaven. Other frequent encounters include the hackberry (or nettle tree) with its edible black berries, hawthorn, and hazel.
On the cooler and more humid northern slopes, one can find common hornbeam, chestnut, pedunculate oak, and black elderberry. In autumn, the smoke tree contributes to coloring our hills an intense red, along with the Christ’s thorn with its curious coin-shaped fruits and the terebinth or wild pistachio.
The flowers are also innumerable; spring is a particularly rich season, its arrival marked by the appearance of green hellebore buds, pale violet liverworts, common primrose, and “galeti” (or hollowroot) which carpet the undergrowth in colors ranging from pink to white. It is rarer to encounter the beautiful deep purple flower of the mountain pasqueflower, a species usually found at higher altitudes in the nearby Prealps. Not to be missed during this period is the flowering of the “scarpete dea madona” or snake’s head iris, a Mediterranean species naturalized in some areas of northern Italy with a flower similar to that of the iris, featuring petals that look like black-purple velvet.
There are many plants traditionally used in cooking. Among the most common are: tanoni (black bryony shoots), bruschi or butcher’s broom shoots, bruscandoli (hop shoots), pissacani (dandelion), sparasine (wild asparagus), carletti or schiopettini (bladder campion leaves), and rampussoi or rampion bellflower. The list of edible herbs is long, including nettle, oregano, thyme, wild fennel, wild garlic, burdock, goosefoot, bindweed, mallow, lemon balm, horseradish, and many others.
True jewels of our flora are the wild orchids. The Lonigo territory boasts as many as 18 species. Most of them grow on sunny and arid uncultivated land. Others are found just inside the woods. They are among the most precious, colorful, and evocative flowers. Among the most common are the pyramidal orchid, the three-toothed orchid, and the green-winged orchid (or goat lily), which populate entire meadows with their flowers ranging from white to pink, purple-red to violet from May to June. There are curious species like the lizard orchid, whose numerous flowers have a central petal (labellum) narrow and elongated like a beard, or the monkey orchid with a labellum shaped like a little man; leafless species like the violet limodore with beautiful purple-violet flowers that live thanks to symbiosis with specific underground fungi; others with majestic spikes of flowers such as the lady orchid; and still others with a very long spur adapted for pollination by the long proboscis of butterflies.
And then there are the Ophrys, true masterpieces of coevolution between plants and insects; these are species (bee orchid, bumblebee orchid, spider orchid, fly orchid) whose labellum is shaped to simulate the abdomen of a female insect, which will act as a pollinator in a vain attempt to “mate” with the flower. These are very sensitive species that suffer from human impact, particularly due to the abandonment of traditional agro-pastoral practices and the consequent loss of habitat to the advancing forest and reckless picking by hikers. It is therefore reminded that, as with any other wild flower, the best way to pick it is through a camera lens.
the animals of Lonigo
fauna
The fauna is affected by the radical transformation of the hill territory by humans over the millennia. Among the medium-sized mammals, the fox, badger, stone marten, and weasel survive. There are some specimens of roe deer. The hare is very widespread. Hedgehog, mole, and shrew live both on the hills and in the plains. Grey heron and little egret have become quite common on the banks of the Guà river.
The European honey buzzard nests on the hills and, even in the plains, the common buzzard can frequently be observed. Among the nocturnal birds of prey, the most common species is the tawny owl in the woods, while in the open spaces of the countryside live the barn owl, the little owl, and the rare Scops owl. Also frequent are the hoopoe, the hooded crow, the magpie, and the turtle dove.
Among the most common species are the swift, the skylark, the swallow, the long-tailed tit, the great tit, the blue tit, the starling, the chaffinch, the goldfinch, the blackbird, the nightingale, and the robin. The jackdaw nests in the towers of Lonigo. Pheasants and quails were introduced for hunting purposes. In summer, the silence of the night is interrupted by the song of the cuckoo.
Among the reptiles, we find the green whip snake, the common green lizard, the wall lizard, and the slow worm. Red and green frogs and the common toad are frequent.
Given the incredible variety of habitats and micro-environments, there are numerous organisms still to be mentioned, such as invertebrate species, some typical of the Mediterranean area. Finally, there are countless species of fungi, mosses, and lichens (special fungi in symbiosis with algae) present in every habitat which, together with other plant and animal organisms, constitute this incredible mosaic of biodiversity that is the Berici Hills, of which the Lonigo territory is a part.
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