Itinerary edited by the UNIVERSITY OF BARI 
The millennial transformation process operated by humans on natural ecosystems, by cutting, fire and grazing, it has allowed the formation of a particular plant landscape and a mosaic of secondary habitats characterized by an original and rich fauna. Particularly interesting are the prairie environments that dominate the territories of Alta Murgia and the southern profile of the Gargano Peninsula. These areas retain a large number of species of high conservation value closely related to the ecosystem of prairie and sensitive to the change of land use, primarily caused by the intensification of crops and abandonment of traditional pastoral. In these territories, it is also essential to the preservation of the many underground karst environments, which are home to a rich fauna of endemic and vulnerable species.
The Murgia hill
Shaped by geological events and the centuries-old human activities, the landscape of Alta Murgia is characterized by wide open spaces with meadows as far as the eye can see, by rounded hills and vast plains, on which you read the unmistakable signs of the karst phenomena. The element that dominates is the limestone rock outcrops, of which the Murgia is constituted, formed in the sea from about 150 million years ago and brought to light after alternating phases of emergence and submergence.
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The geo-paleontological heritage of Puglia
The Alta Murgia occupies the central part of Puglia and is surrounded to the west by Bradanica Fossa, to the north from the plains of the Tavoliere, to the east by the plain of Bari and to the south-east is separated from the eastern Murge by the groove of the seat of Gioia del Colle. The peculiar character of this landscape makes it unique compared to other regions of Puglia.
The Man marks on high-Murgia landscape
The most common traces of the secular Human relationship with the Alta Murgia are represented by the typical rural buildings of dry stone, built in large part from the end of 1500 and is still observable. Dry stone walls, jazzi, farms, and neviere are some of the buildings around the country, used in the past in the traditional agro-pastoral activities, to draw boundaries between properties, to create fences, parking areas and shelter for livestock and pastoralists during transhumance or simple homes for the farmers. Constructions made of the same stone that make up the Murgia and perfectly integrated in the landscape, but now largely abandoned.
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The limestone of Apulia, from natural resource to cultural heritage
To the top: landscape of the Alta Murgia, photo by Marco Marvulli
To the bottom:
Melanargia arge,
Author: Notafly, CC-BY-SA-3.0
The flora of the Alta Murgia
The Alta Murgia’s fitoclima is Mediterranean with oceanic seasonal rains, but on a continental trend with mesomediterranean thermotype and dry and sub-humid hombrotype.
The most characteristic type of Alta Murgia’s vegetation consists of the sub-Mediterranean xeric grasslands where the species Stipa austroitalica is associated with high coverage values of Festuca Circummediterranea, Koeleria lobata, Scorzonera villosa.
The prairie communities of Stipa austroitalica in Alta Murgia refers to the alliance Hippocrepido glaucae-Stipion austroitalicae. This alliance, endemic in Eastern peninsular and limited to the regions of Apulia, Basilicata and Molise, frames the grasslands of Festuco-Brometea class with Mediterranean-accented characters that are developed on limestone substrate, often characterized by rocky outcrops. It is found in a phytoclimatic context of semi-continental type with thermotype between mesomediterranean and lower mesotemperate, hombrotype between dry and sub-humid. These grasslands present floristic affinities with those of the eastern and the Carso (northern Adriatic), but they differ for its own contingent of endemic species and for the presence of species in the area that find their synecologic optimum.
The prairie communities of Stipa austroitalica in Alta Murgia form a semi-natural habitat strongly conditioned by centuries of human activity, which has allowed the formation and maintenance over time. Today this habitat, with a high conservation value and of Community interest (Natura 2000 code: 62A0 - Directive 92/43 / EEC), is often seriously threatened or the mechanization of agro-pastoral activities and the change in land use or from abandonment of traditional pastoral, this last factor of fundamental importance for preservation of the integrity of grassland communities.
Stipa austroitalica Martinovský subsp. austroitalica, photo by Luigi Forte
| CULTIVATION: Prunus webbii (Spach) Vierh. is a densely branched shrub or small tree, which appears to have contributed to the current gene pool of cultivated almond (Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D. A. Webb). Widespread in the eastern Mediterranean, in Italy is present only in Sicily and Puglia.
| TOOL MAKING: Ferula communis L. entity is typical of Murgia prairies, which abounds when there is overgrazing. This species has been widely used in the past to make lightweight stools used by shepherds or other artifacts, including the most interesting, it is certain the notch (tagghié, fig. on the right) for the recording of measures, trade and days working.
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( photo by Giovanni Signorile ).
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Landscape of the Alta Murgia, photo by Marco Marvulli
The fauna of the Alta Murgia
la donnola, la volpe e la faina.
la gallina prataiola, la ghiandaia marina e il falco pecchiaiolo.
la testuggine di Hermann, il geco comune, il cervone.
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Several species of mammals are particularly linked to agro-pastoral landscapes and the rural settlements.
The weasel (Mustela nivalis) and the fox (Vulpes vulpes), along with many species of insectivores and rodents, frequently use dry stone walls and “specchie” to build dens and shelters.
The wolf (Canis lupus) and the stone marten (Martes foina) are well known for their historical adversarial relationship with the farmers, though it tends to prefer less manmade habitats.
Particularly important are the different species of bats, directly threatened by the destruction and transformation of natural and artificial cavities.
Among the most typical birds of the grassland areas there are several species nesting on the ground, such as the little bustard (Tetrax tetrax), the grille (Melanocorypha grille), skylark (Alauda arvensis) and the quail (Coturnix coturnix).
Other species, such as the European roller (Coracias garrulus), the owl (Athene noctua) and the barn owl (Tyto alba) nesting in the spaces typical of the farms and rural buildings.
Several are finally raptors such as buzzards (Buteo buteo), honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus) and the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), which use open spaces as hunting grounds.
In both natural water collections, both anthropogenic (“cutini”, pools, channels) in the Apulian karst areas we can find a fair number of species of amphibians. Among the Salamandridi you may encounter species such as Triton italics (Lissotriton italicus) and Southern Crested Newt (Triturus carnifex), the latter being particularly related to artificial water collected. While among the Anura we mention the common toad (Bufo bufo), terrestrial species that can also be run from several hundred meters from the water, and the very common Green Frog (Pelophylax lessonae kl. Esculentus) always recover in the immediate vicinity of the water.
Puglia grassland areas are home to a number of reptiles, especially in the rural level or in areas with abundant bedrock. In these areas it is possible to observe the Hermann's tortoise (Testudo hermanni), three species gekkonidae like Gecko Kotschy (Cyrtopodion kotschyi) the common gecko (Tarentola mauritanica) and warty gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus) and some lizards including the country Lizard (Podarcis sicula) and the colorful green lizard (Lacerta viridis). Snakes are worthily represented by a number of species including Cervone (Elaphe quatuorlineata), the lively and fast Biacco (green whip snake), the colorful Colubro leopardino (European Ratsnake) and the common viper (Vipera aspis), the only poisonous Puglia ofide. Very often snakes attend rural areas, as these represent a secure source of prey (rodents and livestock species of small size).
The vast group of terrestrial invertebrates, dominated by insects, has a key role in prairie ecosystems, representing nodes important in food webs. Many species, such as Melanargia arge, Zerynthia polyxena, Prionotropis appula, Ephippiger apulus and Euplagia quadripunctaria, are endemic species of conservation interest. As examples of the great specialization and diversity of insects, they can observe countless adaptations of chewing herbivores (eg., Orthoptera, beetles Chrysomelidae) and sucking (Homoptera, Heteroptera), pollinators (Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera) and the Raiders (Mantodea, Neuroptera ).
