Table 1. Sample sites features.

Code	Management	m a.s.l.	Municipality	Soil	Forest climax
REN1ti	tilled	300	Rende	Sand/clay	Quercus virgiliana
REN2ti	tilled	300	Rende	Sand/clay	Quercus virgiliana
REN3ti	tilled	300	Rende	Sand/clay	Quercus virgiliana
REN4ti	tilled	300	Rende	Sand/clay	Quercus virgiliana
REN5cc	cover cropped	300	Rende	Sand/clay	Quercus virgiliana
REN6cc	cover cropped	206	Rende	Sand/clay	Quercus virgiliana
REN7cc	cover cropped	210	Rende	Sand/clay	Quercus virgiliana
TER1hc	half-cropland	75	Terranova	Clay	Mediterranean evergreen
TER2hc	half-cropland	73	Terranova	Clay	Mediterranean evergreen
TER3hc	half-cropland	71	Terranova	Clay	Mediterranean evergreen
TER4hc	half-cropland	60	Terranova	Clay	Mediterranean evergreen
TER5hc	half-cropland	50	Terranova	Clay	Mediterranean evergreen
TER6hc	half-cropland	45	Terranova	Clay	Mediterranean evergreen
TER7cc	cover cropped	170	Terranova	Sand/clay	Mediterranean evergreen
MIR1cc	cover cropped	5	Mirto	Alluvial	Lowland mixed
MIR2cc	cover cropped	5	Mirto	Alluvial	Lowland mixed
MIR4cc	cover cropped	5	Mirto	Alluvial	Lowland mixed

The code is composed by the first three letters of the municipality (i.e. direct intuitive geographically based classification), sequentially numbered, and followed by the management code. Management: tilled (ti) = periodically undergoing mechanical soil tillage; half-cropland (hc) = characterized by cover crop of spontaneous herbaceous vegetation only under tree rows, being the rest of the soil tilled; cover cropped (cc) = entirely covered with spontaneous herbaceous vegetation mowed in spring. Forest climax: the forest vegetation potentially growing in natural conditions (i.e. absence of agricultural landscape).