Tuscania Nature Reserve

Plant and animal life

The park hosts within its boundaries no less than two Sites of Community Importance (SCI): SCI IT6010020 Marta River (upper portion) and SCI IT60100036 Tuscania Cork Grove, selected and mapped by the EU as a result of the presence of threatened habitats and species and for this reason considered areas of particular environmental interest.
The course of the Marta, however, represents the heart of the Park. Along this river, above all in its northern portion, there are wide swathes of hygrophilous and riparian vegetation: poplars, elders, willows and stretches of reeds. Here the waters still teem with fish, including dace (Leuciscus souffia), brook lamprey (Lampetra planeri), shad (Alosa fallax), South European roach (Rutilus rubilio), barbel (Barbus plebejus) and brook goby (Padogobius nigricans) all species of Community interest, extremely important from a naturalistic point of view since they are threatened with extinction.In the vicinity of the small springs, clumps of elders shade ferns which are also quite rare such as the maiden-hair fern (Adiantum capillus-veneris), while near the water nest the penduline titmouse (Remiz pendolinus), the rare pied kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) and quite often you will hear the unmistakable song of Cetti's warbler (Cettia cetti).
Moving to the downstream area of the valley of the Marta, where the tufa ravines widen into wider sedimentary valleys, the best developed forest growth on the slopes is that of cerris oak groves (Quercus cerris) and mesophilic woods with hornbeam and cornel, while in the open, sunnier areas we find prevalence of thermophilic vegetation, often of the Mediterranean brush type, with ilex (Quercus ilex), lentisk, heather, numerous scattered cork trees, accompanied in the cooler areas by plants typical of deciduous oak woods such as pubescent oak (Quercus pubescens), maple and ash.
With such diverse vegetation, interspersed with open areas used for grazing and crop growing, animal life is also be rich and varied. Apart from the species already mentioned, we must highlight the abundant presence of the wild boar (Sus scrofa), which reigns supreme in this environment, the porcupine (Hystrix cristata) and bird species such as the tawny owl (Strix aluco), the golden oriole (Rigogolus canorus), the rare roller (Coracias garrulus), the hobby (Falco subbuteo), the kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), the sparrow-hawk (Accipiter nisus) and the numerous sylviids which inhabit the Mediterranean brush. It is interesting to note the nesting habits of species associated with cereal crop and traditional grazing habitats, such as Montagu's harrier (Circus pygarcus), the quail (Coturnix coturnix) and no less than three species of larks: the wood-lark (Melanocorypha calandra), the crested lark (Galerida cristata) and the skylark (Alauda arvensis).