The Palù Longo peat bog

The peat bog complex located in Palù Longo extends for 8 hectares and is of particular ecological and naturalistic interest. It is positioned downstream from a regularly authorised dump of inert materials below the provincial road, on the western border of the SCI.

The peat bog presents general original features, with turf thicknesses exceeding 10 metres and an important water supply network. Though smaller than its original, its main nucleus is still intact in the southern part. It is an active raised bog with peat mosses and presence of mountain pine. It can be traced to habitat 7110* and, in part, also to 91D0* (woody peat bog).

There is an important depression in which coenoses of the Rhynochosporion (7150) grow which include among other species of important floral value and on the red list, Rhynchospora alba, considered CR (seriously at risk, highest risk category according to the IUCN regulation) at national and regional level, Drosera longifolia, carnivorous species assessed VU (vulnerable) at national level and CR (critical) at regional level and above all the even rarer Lycopodiella inundata, found in only two areas in the Veneto Region.

The first findings made during the Life project have also confirmed that the life of these strips of peat bog has been long and complex and the possibility to reconstruct the conformation of the coenoses present in the territory through the pollen analysis is of exceptional historical importance. The accumulation of organic un-decomposed substance on the bottom of the peat bog permits the conservation of the pollens of the vegetal species in the area making it possible to carry out investigative work which dates back chronologically to the post-glacial period.

The site, unknown and recognised to date for its ecological importance, has been strongly penalised by the realisation of deep drainage channels which have lowered the water layer and by the allocation to dump (first for urban and then inert refuse) which has considerably attacked the surface of the habitat, despite the strong vitality of the same where it has not been disturbed.