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AGROECOSYSTEMS AND HUMAN IMPACT THROUGH MELLIFEROUS AREAS 239

the phrygana and Citrus orchards, for example. Furthermore, Sicilian territory has Good and Excellent apiarian interest and
the data obtained show (Table 2) that a large part of the therefore a high suitability for beekeeping.

Table 1. Distribution of the twenty-three types of apiarian pasture, and their apiarian interest in Sicily.

Types of apiarian pasture Apiarian Surface of provinces (ha)
Interest

Catania Siracusa Ragusa Messina

Etna volcanic communities and lapilli fields Null 15855.15 - - 546.98
Rocky slopes Limited 23.52 264.99 1.41 370.33
Coastal habitat Null 367.96 791.75 533.96 1096.88
Inland water bodies and marshes Null 2508.95 1913.14 330.43 183.52
Sclerophyllous woodland Occasional 6512.53 5809.32 1631.39 -
Phrygane Excellent 575.01 4731.16 1730.76 495.62
Matorral Good 22196.95 4690.62 1042.80 66608.76
Coniferous (Pinus halepensis) woodland Good - 155.70 100.65 -
Permanent water courses Occasional 2729.83 1474.62 501.07 6206.59
Grassland and agriculturally-improved pastures Good 34895.97 41793.66 13365.21 58763.88
Coniferous and broadleaved plantations Limited 23.95 2074.97 200.56 8625.21
Coniferous reforestation Null 6532.48 - 4567.23 -
Deciduous broadleaved plantations Limited 17441.39 1254.07 294.63 56728.23
Eucalyptus plantations Excellent 4675.78 47.72 232.73 298.68
Ceratonia siliqua woodland Excellent - 879.94 27998.51 -
Citrus orchards Excellent 52065.29 38761.85 4111.99 10474.22
Fruit orchards Good 10307.67 32.05 3428.23 2208.94
Olea europaea groves Occasional 8503.68 11103.73 11251.64 38228.86
Vineyards Limited 6117.81 71.85 2972.28 13716.89
Arable land and Intensive mixed/ unmixed crops Good 140460.23 83473.44 80075.57 42135.13
Castanea sativa plantations Excellent 3350.85 - - 4779.89
Robinia plantations Excellent - 11.88 - 225.82
Urban areas Null 20131.87 10835.02 7068.09 12637.20

Table 1. (Continued) Apiarian Surface of provinces (ha)
Interest
Types of apiarian pasture Enna Caltanisetta Palermo Trapani Agrigento
Null
Etna volcanic communities and lapilli fields Limited - - - - -
Rocky slopes Null 64.44 151.18 2443.55 282.09 425.79
Coastal habitat Null 1.62 331.94 498.33 1618.35 1102.11
Inland water bodies and marshes Occasional 1743.67 611.10 1956.79 2234.31 1653.87
Sclerophyllous woodland Excellent 1005.47 564.91 13081.31 2447.38 1245.25
Phrygane Good 444.46 1466.95 1911.46 2423.00 4945.89
Matorral Good 7522.01 1030.56 32901.95 8484.75 5421.74
Coniferous (Pinus halepensis) woodland Occasional - - - - -
Permanent water courses Good 3625.65 3697.33 7632.32 1919.82 3984.06
Grassland and agriculturally-improved pastures Limited 56521.01 29652.74 107856.81 32415.23 52580.55
Coniferous and broadleaved plantations Null 213.29 1913.16 14473.78 4759.78 11071.06
Coniferous reforestation Limited 5056.25 4.10 916.40 380.43 213.66
Deciduous broadleaved plantations Excellent 4836.47 92.71 17666.46 8759.69 3532.97
Eucalyptus plantations Excellent 11722.66 12447.05 2471.14 1707.63 3410.64
Ceratonia siliqua woodland Excellent - - - - -
Citrus orchards Good 6424.92 568.56 10264.04 1585.64 4656.20
Fruit orchards Occasional 2806.26 6310.17 4930.69 714.80 9387.06
Olea europaea groves Limited 14087.61 9667.50 64025.71 21371.31 34848.30
Vineyards Good 896.15 7907.48 18963.39 80053.50 38290.50
Arable land and Intensive mixed/ unmixed crops Excellent 135373.60 130539.06 226681.70 89698.85 140262.82
Castanea sativa plantations Excellent - - 107.92 - -
Robinia plantations Null - - - - -
Urban areas 4167.76 5874.30 20548.52 17321.14 17943.19

-, absence of apiarian pasture