Po Basin mixed forests is a term used to describe an ecoregion

Ecoregion

An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...

 and biome

Biome

Biomes are climatically and geographically defined as similar climatic conditions on the Earth, such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often referred to as ecosystems. Some parts of the earth have more or less the same kind of abiotic and biotic factors spread over a...

 composed of trees and other vegetation characteristically found in the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests

Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests

Mixed forests are a temperate and humid biome. The typical structure of these forests includes four layers. The uppermost layer is the canopy composed of tall mature trees ranging from 33 to 66 m high. Below the canopy is the three-layered, shade-tolerant understory that is roughly 9 to...

 surrounding the Po River

Po River

The Po |Ligurian]]: Bodincus or Bodencus) is a river that flows either or – considering the length of the Maira, a right bank tributary – eastward across northern Italy, from a spring seeping from a stony hillside at Pian del Re, a flat place at the head of the Val Po under the northwest face...

 in Northern Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, and its watershed

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

 from the Cisalpine

Cisalpine

Cisalpine may mean:-Historic geography:* Cisalpine Gaul, ancient Roman province* Cisalpine Republic, Napoleonic client state-Languages:...

, or Italian side, of the Alps

Alps

The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....

.

Terrestrial plants

The Po Basin mixed forests consists of remnants of:

1. Mixed deciduous oak/hornbeam forest -

• Quercus robur
• Quercus cerris
• Carpinus betulus
• Ulmus minor
• Fraxinus ornus
  Fraxinus ornus
  Fraxinus ornus is a species of Fraxinus native to southern Europe and southwestern Asia, from Spain and Italy north to Austria and the Czech Republic, and east through the Balkans, Turkey, and western Syria to the Lebanon.It is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 15–25 m tall with a trunk up...
  
  

2. Riparian forest

Riparian forest

A riparian forest is a forested area of land adjacent to a body of water such as a river, stream, pond, lake, marshland, estuary, canal, sink or reservoir. -Etymology:...

, as well as flood-plain vegetation of the Po Basin -

• Fraxinus oxycarpa
• Salix alba
• Alnus glutinosa
• Ulmus minor
• Populus alba
• Populus nigra
• Quercus robur

Aquatic plants

The freshwater ecosystems (zona umida) have a high level of biodiversity.

Threatened (in Italy) plant species include

• Leucojum aestivum
• Halocnemum strobilaceum
• Nymphaea alba
  Nymphaea alba
  Nymphaea alba, also known as the European White Waterlily, White Lotus, or Nenuphar, is an aquatic flowering plant of the family Nymphaeaceae....
  
  
• Bassia hirsuta
• Limonium bellidifolium
• Utricularia australis
  Utricularia australis
  Utricularia australis is a medium sized, perennial species of aquatic bladderwort. This species has a vast geographic range, being found throughout Europe, in tropical and temperate Asia including China and Japan in the east, Central and Southern Africa, Australia and the North Island of New Zealand...
  
  
• Thelypteris palustris
  Thelypteris palustris
  Thelypteris palustris, or the marsh fern, is a fern native to eastern North America and across Eurasia. It prefers to grow in marshy situations in full sun.-References:*...
  
  
• Salvinia natans
  Salvinia natans
  Salvinia natans, commonly known as floating fern, floating watermoss, floating moss, is an annual floating aquatic fern, which can appear superficially similar to moss...
  
  
• Sagittaria sagittifolia
  Sagittaria sagittifolia
  Sagittaria sagittifolia is a flowering plant in the family Alismataceae, native to wetlands throughout the temperate regions of Europe and Asia; in Britain it is the only native Sagittaria....
  
  
• Plantago cornuti

Fauna

Lesser-disturbed wetlands which are important breeding areas for many bird species are most significant biodiversity of the ecoregion. Examples are Grey Heron

Grey Heron

The Grey Heron , is a wading bird of the heron family Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia and also parts of Africa. It is resident in the milder south and west, but many birds retreat in winter from the ice in colder regions...

, Purple Heron

Purple Heron

The Purple Heron is a wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, breeding in Africa, central and southern Europe, and southern and eastern Asia. The European populations are migratory, wintering in tropical Africa; the more northerly Asian populations also migrate further south within Asia...

, Great Egret

Great Egret

The Great Egret , also known as the Great White Egret or Common Egret, White Heron, or Great White Heron, is a large, widely-distributed egret. Distributed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world, in southern Europe it is rather localized...

, Little Egret

Little Egret

The Little Egret is a small white heron. It is the Old World counterpart to the very similar New World Snowy Egret.-Subspecies:Depending on authority, two or three subspecies of Little Egret are currently accepted....

, Squacco Heron

Squacco Heron

The Squacco Heron, Ardeola ralloides, is a small heron, long, of which the body is , with wingspan. It is of Old World origins, breeding in southern Europe and the Greater Middle East.-Behaviour:...

, Cattle Egret

Cattle Egret

The Cattle Egret is a cosmopolitan species of heron found in the tropics, subtropics and warm temperate zones. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Bubulcus, although some authorities regard its two subspecies as full species, the Western Cattle Egret and the Eastern Cattle Egret...

, Great Bittern

Great Bittern

The Eurasian Bittern or Great Bittern is a wading bird of the heron family Ardeidae. It is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds applies.-Etymology:...

, Little Bittern

Little Bittern

The Little Bittern is a wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, native to the Old World, breeding in Africa, central and southern Europe, western and southern Asia, and Madagascar. Birds from temperate regions in Europe and western Asia are migratory, wintering in Africa and further south in...

, Pygmy Cormorant

Pygmy Cormorant

The Pygmy Cormorant is a member of the cormorant family of seabirds. It breeds in southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia. It is partially migratory, with northern populations wintering further south, mostly within in its breeding range...

 and Ferruginous Duck

Ferruginous Duck

The Ferruginous Duck is a medium-sized diving duck from Eurasia. The species is known colloquially by birders as "Fudge Duck"....

.

Conservation

The region is industrialised and has a long history of human pressure (pollution, shrinkage of wetlands, invasive species, and unsustainable hunting of waterfowl).

External links

• WWF: Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests Ecoregion