Italian Terraced Landscapes: The Shapes and the Trends

Varotto, Mauro; Ferrarese, Francesco; Pappalardo, Salvatore Eugenio

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-96815-5_3

Cited by 11 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Hence, reliable estimation on CO 2 emissions must be microrelief-specific, especially when considering that terraced fields constitute at least 10% of the entire cropland area globally (1.1 billion ha, Roser and Ritchie, 2019) and distribute widely in almost all the major grain producing regions. For instance, 22 million ha in Middle east and North Africa (Dixon et al, 2001), 13 million ha in China (Chapagain and Raizada, 2017), 133 million ha rice field in Asian-Pacific region that is often terraced (Papademetriou, 2000), as well as smaller areas such as vineyards in Europe and South America (Chapagain and Raizada, 2017;Varotto et al, 2019).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Capturing the Scale Dependency of Erosion-Induced Variation in CO2 Emissions on Terraced Slopes

Schneider

Kuhn

et al. 2021

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Net soil CO2 emissions are not independent of topography but tend to decline with increasing slope gradients. Such decline has been attributed to increased runoff and greater soil loss on steep slopes, leaving the soil less habitable for microorganisms. However, the specific variations of slope gradients and thus the associated soil properties relevant for CO2 emissions, especially from terraced slopes, are often disguised by the coarse resolution of digital terrain models (DTMs) based on commonly available open-source data. Such misrepresentation of the relationship between topography and soil CO2 emissions carries the risk of a wrong assessment of soil-atmosphere interaction. By applying a slope dependent soil CO2 emission model developed from erosion plots to nearby sloping and partially terraced cropland using two DTMs of different spatial resolutions, this study tested the significance of these resolution-induced errors on CO2 emission estimates. The results show that the coarser-resolution Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) underestimated CO2-C emission by 27% compared to the higher-resolution DTM derived from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) imagery. Such difference can be mostly attributed to a better representation of the proportion of flat slopes in the high-resolution DTM. Although the observations from erosion plots cannot be directly extrapolated to a larger scale, the 27% underestimation using the coarser-resolution SRTM DTM emphasizes that it is essential to represent microreliefs and their impact on runoff and erosion-induced soil heterogeneity at an appropriate scale. The widespread impact of topography on erosion and deposition on cropland, and the associated slope-dependent heterogeneity of soil properties, may lead to even greater differences than those observed in this study. The greatly improved estimation on CO2 emissions by the UAV-derived DTM also demonstrates that UAVs have a great potential to fill the gap between conventional field investigations and commonly applied coarse-resolution remote sensing when assessing the impact of soil erosion on global soil-atmosphere interaction.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Capturing the Scale Dependency of Erosion-Induced Variation in CO2 Emissions on Terraced Slopes

Schneider

Kuhn

et al. 2021

Front. Environ. Sci.

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“…Many people are abandoning agriculture in marginal land, including the cultivation of terraces [24]. Several studies have suggested potential strategies to preserve or restore these landscapes, mostly focusing on economic incentives, community-based initiatives, and tourism [18,75,76] (Table 1). Some researchers instead suggest measures to facilitate the vegetation recolonization of abandoned terraces to reduce the erosion process and failure risks [53,59,77].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…How to incentivize the farmers to keep maintaining their terraces, however, is a different matter. The Mediterranean area hosts many outstanding examples of terraced landscapes, though they are currently changing [18,25]. Many people are abandoning agriculture in marginal land, including the cultivation of terraces [24].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Review on Management Strategies of the Terraced Agricultural Systems and Conservation Actions to Maintain Cultural Landscapes around the Mediterranean Area

2021

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Coupled human–environment systems and traditional agricultural landscapes can be a key element in the conservation of biodiversity, ecological functionality, and cultural heritage. Terraced landscapes are a relevant example of traditional landscapes within the Mediterranean area, but they are now threatened due to the abandonment of agricultural activities. In order to identify factors that can affect the conservation strategies needed to maintain terraced landscapes in the Mediterranean area, we performed a literature review on studies about terraces and their management, soil erosion and vegetation dynamics after abandonment, etc. We collated a total of 285 scientific papers reporting 293 case studies in 19 countries. The majority of these studies analyze dry stone terraces and their influence on soil erosion and water runoff, either in cultivated or abandoned terrace systems. Only a minority of papers suggest maintenance or conservation strategies or involve farmers, exploring their decision-making. The conservation of terraced landscapes is in the hands of local farmers, and thus they should be actively involved in decision-making to find the most suitable strategies for assuring the continuity in farming and preserve cultural landscapes in the Mediterranean area.

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“…Therefore, terraced vineyards and orchards are identified as key descriptors of the Amalfi Coast, which was recognized as a Cultural Heritage Site in 1997 (UNESCO 1997). The protection and conservation of terraced landscapes in Italy pertain to the Superintendency for Architectural Heritage and Landscape (Ministry of Culture), such as the National Register of Historical Rural Landscapes and Traditional Practices (Ministry of Agriculture Food and Forestry Policies), and farmers are eligible for funding for their preservation (Caneva et al 2013;Agnoletti et al 2015;Varotto et al 2019). Although there are economic incentives, the unique landscape of the Amalfi Coast is currently threatened by the potential collapse of terraces once they start deteriorating after the abandonment of agricultural activities; the risk of these collapses is also amplified by the increasing incidence of heavy rainfall events (Caneva et al 2007;Caneva and Cancellieri 2007;Caneva 2010;Savo et al 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk factors and plant management activities for the terraced agricultural systems on the Amalfi coast (Italy): an interdisciplinary approach

Cicinelli

Caneva

Savo

2021

Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei

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Cultivated terraces are outstanding modifications of mountains and hills to obtain arable land. These terraced agricultural systems are widespread traditional landscapes within the Mediterranean area. The cultivated terraces of the Amalfi Coast (Southern Italy) are outstanding examples of cultural landscapes, and they represent one of the key descriptors of the UNESCO Site. Terraces have characterized the landscape of the Amalfi Coast for a long time as their construction started during the Middle Age. However, their conservation is now threatened by abandonment, which has dramatically risen in the last 60 years, and by the ongoing climatic changes with the increased incidence of heavy rainfall events. We combined interviews with local farmers and vegetation surveys to understand which management activities are carried out to improve the conservation of cultivated terraces on the Amalfi Coast. To this end, we analyzed the linkages between these management practices and their influence on the vegetation growing on the terrace risers. Our informants identified the maintenance of waterways and walls as crucial factors influencing terrace and slope stability. The preservation of the integrity of terraces depends on periodic vegetation control and the maintenance of water drainage systems, which are carried out thanks to the active presence of farmers. According to our informants, the vegetation growing on the walls has a relevant role in the stability of terraces, and we found a prevalence of Hemicryptophytes that increase with the number of interventions over the year. Thus, active and vital agriculture becomes pivotal for the preservation of this cultural heritage.

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Italian Terraced Landscapes: The Shapes and the Trends

Cited by 11 publications

References 13 publications

Capturing the Scale Dependency of Erosion-Induced Variation in CO2 Emissions on Terraced Slopes

Capturing the Scale Dependency of Erosion-Induced Variation in CO2 Emissions on Terraced Slopes

A Review on Management Strategies of the Terraced Agricultural Systems and Conservation Actions to Maintain Cultural Landscapes around the Mediterranean Area

Risk factors and plant management activities for the terraced agricultural systems on the Amalfi coast (Italy): an interdisciplinary approach

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