In Europe, alkaline fens attributable to the order Caricetalia davallianae Br.–Bl. 1949 and protected 7230 EEC Habitat are primarily distributed in cold and cool temperate climates, while they become rare in southern areas where Mediterranean influences prevail. They are considered very threatened in Central and Southern Italy, and some of them have disappeared in recent decades, as is the case regarding the Colfiorito swamp, where a LIFE project is underway with the goal of restoring part of it.
This vegetation, on the plateaus of the Central Apennines, is generally linked to small springs. Extensive grazing and hay harvesting are practiced there, while agricultural exploitation is relatively modest, contributing to the preservation of these fragments of vegetation. View this paper