Correlation between forage availability in pastures and climate

Correlation between forage availability in pastures and climate. The aim is to analyse the optimal condition for herbaceous species growth, used by farmers to forage.

Input datasets

1. VHR-REA_IT Dynamical Downscaling of ERA5 at daily level with COSMO-CLM

2. VHR-PRO_IT Downscaling at very fine resolution of COSMO-CLM over Italy from 8km to 2.2km

3. Cropping on the North-western Italy Region

Variables: Max, Min and Mean Temperature (daily), precipitation (daily), snow cover (daily), relative humidity (daily)

With regard to Piedmont, two territories were chosen for the research of which the botanical surveys dating back to the previous twenty years were already available, in order to be able to compare them with the current ones. It is a pasture in Val Formazza (Vco) in the Lepontine Alps, located at an altitude between 1900 and 2300 meters and a pasture in Usseglio in Val di Viù (To) in the Graian Alps at an altitude between 1200 and 2600 meters. Ecological and pasture value indices were applied to the surveys to understand the qualitative trend with respect to climatic variations. At the same time, the floristic evolutions of the composition of the pasture compared to the past were monitored.

The goal is to direct the territory towards choices related to the qualitative-quantitative evolution deriving from climate impacts. Solutions that could result in the identification of new marginal areas more suitable for mountain farming or in greater flexibility of the periods of ascent and descent from the pasture or, again, in structural interventions that allow the creation of reservoirs for the storage of rainfall for their use according to production needs.