PREFACE

Proper forest management must take account of and balance many factors; some have direct positive or negative links with human activity (e.g. cultivation, fires), and some are more closely connected with the ecology of the system, such as environmental features and disturbances indirectly caused by anthropogenic activities through atmospheric deposition and pollution. These problems are more marked in a geographically complex country like Italy, which has a variety of environments (Mediterranean, Apennine and Alpine) with distinct differences between them, reflected in the vegetation types. A further characteristic of our country is its high density of population and productive activities, which has resulted in the deforestation of the areas most suited to agriculture and industry, and encouraged the growth of forests which can be exploited by man.