Impacts of agricultural practices on soil and water quality in the Mediterranean region and proposed assessment methodology

Zalidis, George C.; Stamatiadis, Stamatis; Takavakoglou, V.; Eskridge, Kent M.; Misopolinos, Nikolaos

doi:10.1016/s0167-8809(01)00249-3

Cited by 297 publications

(177 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…In some Greek zones, a gradual decline of practices that combined diverse rural land-uses (e.g., fallow land), were used as olives and grazelands for the growing livestock, decreasing land-use diversity [54]. The simplification of local multifunctional land-use systems to intensive livestock grazing changed ecosystem equilibrium towards environmental, soil, vegetation and biodiversity degradation processes [68][69][70][71][72][73]. In fact, Greece is one of the European countries suffering from soil erosion and desertification, loss of organic matter, salinization and soil compaction [74][75][76], with about 20% of its land surface exposed to erosion risk [77,78].…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Rural Districts between Urbanization and Land Abandonment: Undermining Long-Term Changes in Mediterranean Landscapes

Zambon

Ferrara

Salvia³

et al. 2018

Sustainability

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Abstract:The present study investigates changes in the rural landscapes of a Mediterranean country (Greece) over a long time period encompassing economic expansions and recessions. Using a spatial distribution of 5 basic agricultural land-use classes (arable land, garden crop, vineyards, tree crop and fallow land) derived from official statistics at 6 years (1970, 1979, 1988, 1997, 2006, 2015), a quantitative analysis based on correlation and multivariate techniques was carried out to identify recent changes in the Greek agricultural landscape at prefectural level during different economic waves. Empirical results evidenced both intuitive and counter-intuitive landscape transformations, including: (i) a progressive, spatially-homogeneous reduction of cropland; (ii) a (more or less) rapid decrease in the surface of high-input crops, including arable land, horticulture and vineyards; (iii) a parallel increase in the surface of tree crops, especially olive; (iv) a spatially-heterogeneous decrease of fallow land concentrated in metropolitan and tourism districts, especially in the last decade; and, finally, (v) increasingly diversified landscapes in rural, accessible areas close to the sea coast. Based on a correlation analysis with background socioeconomic indicators, our findings reflect the multiple impacts of urbanization and land abandonment on the composition and diversity of rural landscapes. Changes in agricultural land-use were moulded by multiple drivers depending on latent transformations in rural systems and inherent conflicts with expanding urban regions. Together with market conditions and the Common Agricultural Policy subsidy regime, social contexts and the economic cycle are important when identifying long-term changes in agricultural landscapes, especially in transitional socio-ecological systems.

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Rural Districts between Urbanization and Land Abandonment: Undermining Long-Term Changes in Mediterranean Landscapes

Zambon

Ferrara

Salvia³

et al. 2018

Sustainability

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“…These have strong negative environmental impacts, particularly on soil erosion, runoff to water bodies, habitats and quality of scarce water resources (Beaufoy and Pienkowski 2000). Excessive fertilization and irrigation in intensive and hyper-intensive agriculture may result in degradation of aquatic ecosystems and depletion of superficial and groundwater resources (e.g., Zalidis et al 2002). Intensive agriculture and forestry can result in several types of stress, which individually or together affect the structure and functioning of inland waters.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Land Use Intensification on Fish Assemblages in Mediterranean Climate Streams

Matono

Sousa

Ilhéu

2013

Environmental Management

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Southern Portugal is experiencing a rapid change in land use due to the spread of intensive farming systems, namely olive production systems, which can cause strong negative environmental impacts and affect the ecological integrity of aquatic ecosystems. This study aimed to identify the main environmental disturbances related with olive grove intensification on Mediterraneanclimate streams in southern Portugal, and to evaluate their effects on fish assemblage structure and integrity. Twentysix stream sites within the direct influence of traditional, intensive, and hyper-intensive olive groves were sampled. Human-induced disturbances were analyzed along the olive grove intensity gradient. The integrity of fish assemblages was evaluated by comparison with an independent set of least disturbed reference sites, considering metrics and guilds, based on multivariate analyses. Along the gradient of olive grove intensification, the study observed overall increases in human disturbance variables and physicochemical parameters, especially organic/nutrient enrichment, sediment load, and riparian degradation. Animal load measured the impact of livestock production. This variable showed an opposite pattern, since traditional olive groves are often combined with high livestock production and are used as grazing pasture by the cattle, unlike more intensive olive groves. Stream sites influenced by olive groves were dominated by non-native and tolerant fish species, while reference sites presented higher fish richness, density and were mainly occupied by native and intolerant species. Fish assemblage structure in olive grove sites was significantly different from the reference set, although significant differences between olive grove types were not observed. Bray-Curtis similarities between olive grove sites and references showed a decreasing trend in fish assemblage integrity along the olive grove intensification gradient. Olive production, even in traditional groves, led to multiple in-stream disturbances, whose cumulative effects promoted the loss of biota integrity. The impacts of low intensity traditional olive groves on aquatic ecosystems can be much greater when they are coupled with livestock production. This paper recommends best practices to reduce negative impacts of olive production on streams, contributing to guide policy decision-makers in agricultural and water management.

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“…The territory is mainly flat and hill. The greatest part of the territory (81.4%) is used for agriculture while forestry and semi-natural areas cover about 13.3% of the region (Zalidis, Stamatiadis, Takavakoglou, Eskridge, & Misopolinos, 2002;Van der Knijff, Jones, & Montanarella, 2000 …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Webgis Framework for Disseminating Processed Remotely Sensed on Land Cover Transformations

Caradonna

Novelli

Tarantino

et al. 2016

Reports on Geodesy and Geoinformatics

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Impacts of agricultural practices on soil and water quality in the Mediterranean region and proposed assessment methodology

Cited by 297 publications

References 17 publications

Rural Districts between Urbanization and Land Abandonment: Undermining Long-Term Changes in Mediterranean Landscapes

Rural Districts between Urbanization and Land Abandonment: Undermining Long-Term Changes in Mediterranean Landscapes

Effects of Land Use Intensification on Fish Assemblages in Mediterranean Climate Streams

A Webgis Framework for Disseminating Processed Remotely Sensed on Land Cover Transformations

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