The Impact of Urbanization on Land: A Biophysical-Based Assessment of Ecosystem Services Loss Supported by Remote Sensed Indicators

Abstract

Urbanization and related land consumption are one of the main causes of ecosystem services loss. This is especially the case for soil-related services affecting ecosystem functions and limiting accessibility to natural resources. Satellite remote sensing and environmental databases enable in-depth analysis of urban expansion and land changes, which can be used to monitor trends in the provision of ecosystem services. This work aims to describe a multilayered approach to the assessment of biophysical loss of ecosystem services flows in Italy caused by an increase in land consumption in the period 2012–2020. The results show higher losses in wood production, carbon storage, hydrological regime regulation, and pollination in the northern regions of Italy, as well as in some southern regions, such as Campania and Apulia. Habitat quality loss is widespread throughout Italy, whereas crop production loss varies on the basis of the locations in which it occurs and the crop types involved. Loss of arable land and fodder production mainly occurs in northern regions, whereas southern regions have experienced a drop in permanent crop production. This study highlights the importance of using integrated data and methodologies for well-founded approaches, with a view to gaining a thorough understanding of ecosystem services-related processes and the changes connected therewith.

Urbanization’s environmental imprint: A review

“…The process of urbanization, and the related increase in impervious surfaces, affects other types of land use and land cover, triggering a series of effects on the environment, which results in it being the main cause of land degradation. The main effects consist of the loss of fertile soils, the adverse impact on water balance, the increase in surface water runoff and flood risk, the negative influence on local microclimates due to urban heat islands, landscape fragmentation,and the loss of biodiversity (Assennato et al, 2022). In order to oblige theever-developing populace spontaneous development has been completed, which generates dangers, aggravates hitherto problematic circumstances in urban communities, and makes them untenantable.The methodology of keen urban communities is picking up prominence with governments over the world, have fabulous designs to update existing urban communities by means of the combination of frameworks advances to expand efficiencies of utilization.…”

Implications of a Climate-Smart Approach to Food and Income Security for Urban Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review

“…Researchers have proposed numerous approaches to improving food production. However, unintended consequences such as deforestation, land degradation, ineffective water use, and biodiversity loss have been observed [17][18][19][20][21][22]. Increasing urbanisation dislocates agricultural production by decreasing agricultural land area [23].…”

The Increasing Coastal Urbanization in the Mediterranean Environment: The State of the Art in Italy

“…The loss of natural and productive land from urbanization is a global phenomenon, and represents one of the most important factors in landscape change and land degradation [1][2][3], associated with the loss of ecosystem services [4][5][6] and an increasing desertification risk [7,8]. Urbanization has been recently referred to within the concept of land consumption, considered as the change from non-artificial land cover to artificial land cover, with a distinction having to be made between permanent consumption and non-permanent consumption [9].…”