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Climate and Natural Enviroment in Lombardia

The climate of this region is continental, though with variations depending on altitude or the presence of inland waters. The continental nature of the climate is more accentuated on the plains, with high annual temperature changes (at Milan an average January temperature is 1.5 ºC and 24 ºC in July), and thick fog between October and February. The Prealpine lakes exercise a mitigating influence, permitting the cultivation of typically Mediterranean produce (olives, citrus fruit). In the Alpine zone, the valley floor is relatively mild in contrast with the colder higher areas (Bormio, 1,225 m.-1.4 ºC average in January, 17.3 ºC in July). Precipitations are more frequent in the Prealpine zone (up to 1,500-2,000 mm. annually) than on the plains and Alpine zones (600 mm. to 850 mm. annually).

Of vegetation on the plains, intensively cultivated for centuries, little of the original environment remains. Elm, alder, sycamore, poplar, willow and hornbeam woods and heaths are included now in certain protected areas such as the Parco del Ticino or the Parco delle Groane. In the area of the great Prealpine lakes, however, grow olive trees, cypresses and larches, as well as varieties of subtropical flora such as magnolias, azaleas, acacias, etc. The mountains have the zones of vegetation typical of the whole range of the Italian Alps. At a low level (up to approximately 1,100 m.) lie oak woods or broad-leafed trees in general; on the mountain slopes (up to 2,000-2,200 m.) beech trees grow at the lowest limits, with conifer woods higher up. Shrubs such as rhododendron, dwarf pine and juniper are native to the summital zone (beyond 2,200 m.).

The numerous species of endemic flora (the Lombard native species), typical mainly of the Lake Como area, include some kinds of saxifrage, the Lombard garlic, groundsels bellflower and the cottony bellflowers.

There are many protected areas: most important is the Parco Nazionale dello Stelvio (national mountain park), the largest Italian Park, with typically alpine wildlife: red deer, roe-deer, ibex, chamois, foxes, ermine and also golden eagles; the Parco Regionale del Ticino was instituted in 1974 on the Lombard side of the Ticino River to protect and conserve one of the last major examples of fluvial forest in Northern Italy.

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