zona umida

In Apulia wetlands, vegetation has needed to adapt itself to the peculiar environmental factors of these areas, namely the high salinity of the lagoon waters and of the substratum and the scarcity of oxygen in the soil. These conditions have caused such plants as the Chenopodiaceae to evolve to a sort of small cactuses, with fleshy leaves tightly tied to the stem. The reduced dimension of the leaves has the function of reducing transpiration, while the increase of parenchymatic tissues allows the accumulation of water to counterbalance the salinity of soil.

As regards the fauna, the importance of Apulian swampy regions is mainly due to the numerous species of birds which here occur, either to reproduce or to winter. Of the 63 species of birds which live in wetlands in Italy, a good 46 nidificate in Apulia. As for vegetation, birds too have adapted to the peculiarities of the region: in our wetlands some birds, which usually nidificate on trees (such as the little egret, the squacco heron and the night heron), took to build their nests at sea level amidst cannas in Daunia Risi, as an almost unique case in Italy.

A remarkable position in the trophic chain of wetlands is held by the amphibians, such as tree-frogs, salamanders, tritons, toads and, most important and numerous of all, edible frogs. As to the reptiles, we can find snakes like the grass snake(Natrix natrix) and the tesselated water snake (Natrix tesselata), besides the European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis), which is almost disappearing.

According to the census of the natural wetlands taken by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture in 1970, Apulia has the 5th place for surface and the 4th for number of wetlands in Italy: 20,700 hectares, 23 areas.

Apulia offers some of the most significant examples of coastal wetlands. Partly of natural and partly of anthropic origin, each of these areas has a more or less elevated salinity.

The natural ones were mostly generated by the action of watercourses which, in the millennia, got isolated from the sea. An example of natural wetland is the ancient Lake Salpi.

The present salt-pans of Margherita di Savoia are a wetland of anthropic origin, but they were built on this very Lake Salpi, once it was reclaimed.

The wetland of the salt-pans of Margherita di Savoia is an area of great interest for the presence of several species of water-birds, both migratory and non-migratory.

In particular, some years ago the beautiful greater flamingos started breeding here, attracting the attention of naturalists. 

Wetlands are those natural or artificial areas with presence of water, whether permanent or not, whether still or running, whether fresh or brackish or salt, including sea-areas whose depth is not more than six metres at low tide.