No abstract

Wildfires have always been an integral part of the ecology of many terrestrial ecosystems, but their frequency is increasing in many parts of the world. Wildfires were once a natural phenomenon, but after humans learned to control fire, it has been used as a management tool to increase soil fertility, to regenerate natural vegetation for grazing and to control competing vegetation. However, currently uncontrolled wildfires threaten not only natural vegetation, landscape biodiversity, communities and economies, but they also release large amounts of carbon dioxide, thus contributing to global temperature increase. Higher temperatures and drier summers have increased the risk of wildfires in biodiversity rich areas of European Mediterranean countries and have resulted in human casualties. The aim of this article is to investigate whether agroforestry, the practice of integrating woody vegetation and agricultural crops and/or livestock, could be a management tool to reduce wildfires in European Mediterranean countries. Fire events from 2008 to 2017 and data of land cover and land use were spatially correlated. Results indicated that agroforestry areas had fewer wildfire incidents than forests, shrublands or grasslands, providing evidence of the potential of agroforestry to reduce fire risk and protect ecosystems.

The successful promotion of agroforestry in Italy depends on both a recognition of tradition and the opportunities for innovation. In Italy, agroforestry has traditionally been a key component of landscape management. Complex systems, based on the integration among crops-livestock-fruit/forest trees, provided a wide variety of products (e.g. food, feed, fibers, fuelwood and timber) and other ecosystem services (e.g. soil erosion control and biodiversity preservation). Silvopastoral systems have been used for centuries and are still managed in marginal areas. The integration of fruits trees (in primis olive trees) with crops and grazing was widely practiced and is still profitable. Coltura promiscua was historically developed integrating fruit and forest trees and particularly multifunctional trees (e.g. Juglans regia and Prunus avium) to support vines and intercrops. Building on recent research, projects have also focused on innovation in agroforestry. The adoption of shade tolerant forage species and crops has been studied in silvopastoral and olive systems. Silvopastoral systems can significantly offset the CO 2 emissions produced by livestock and shield grazing animals from "heat waves". Integration of fast growing timber trees (like Populus) in arable systems can help reverse the decline in plantation forestry in Italy. Finally, the constraints imposed by the EU agricultural policy, especially the prevalent provisions for monocrops severely limiting the introduction of innovative agroforestry approaches, are discussed. New political measures and certification actions are strongly required.

Fabrics manufactured in Italy with 100% Sardinian sheep breed wool, traditionally named ‘Orbace’, and with local Tuscan wool from 50% Sardinian and 50% Comisana sheep breeds wool (Tuscan Cloth), were subjected to sensory evaluation, through descriptive analysis performed by a trained panel, and to an instrumental evaluation method, through FAST – Fabric Assurance by Simple Testing. The correlation between instrumental data and sensory attributes was investigated. Sensory evaluation indicated that Orbace fabrics, originated from 100% Sardinian wool, had higher grittiness, stiffness, force of compression and hand friction and lower softness and tensile stretch, as compared to the fabrics obtained from mixed wool. Principal component analysis (PCA) indicated a high correlation for grittiness, stiffness and force of compression in one direction, tensile stretch, softness, warmth and fullness in the opposite, clearly discriminating in this dimension Orbaces from Tuscan fabrics. This discrimination appears to be an effect of the wool used for the different fabrics. Differences in key sensory traits were also recorded among fabrics derived from the same raw material, but differing in weave. Thickness, as the key attribute of the second PCA dimension, provided discriminations within groups and is reasonably perceived as an effect of different weaves. Canonical Correlation Analysis indicated that measurements performed with FAST were correlated with a number of basic touch traits, including softness, stiffness, force of compression and tensile stretch. Orbace and Tuscan Cloth handle definition, on the basis of sensory and instrumental measures, will be of use to describe and protect original products.