Desertification risk fuels spatial polarization in 'affected' and 'unaffected' landscapes in Italy.

Autor: Nickayin SS; Planning and Design Faculty, Agricultural University of Iceland, 311, Hvanneyri, Borgarbyggð, Iceland., Coluzzi R; Institute of Methodologies for Environmental Analysis, National Research Council (IMAA-CNR), Contrada Santa Loja, 85050, Tito Scalo, Italy., Marucci A; Department of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences (DAFNE), Tuscia University, Via San Camillo de Lellis, 01100, Viterbo, Italy., Bianchini L; Department of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences (DAFNE), Tuscia University, Via San Camillo de Lellis, 01100, Viterbo, Italy., Salvati L; Department of Economics and Law, University of Macerata, Via Armaroli 43, 62100, Macerata, Italy. luca.salvati@unimc.it., Cudlin P; Global Change Research Institute (CAS), Lipova 9, 37005, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic., Imbrenda V; Institute of Methodologies for Environmental Analysis, National Research Council (IMAA-CNR), Contrada Santa Loja, 85050, Tito Scalo, Italy.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Scientific reports [Sci Rep] 2022 Jan 14; Vol. 12 (1), pp. 747. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Jan 14.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-04638-1
Abstrakt: Southern Europe is a hotspot for desertification risk because of the intimate impact of soil deterioration, landscape transformations, rising human pressure, and climate change. In this context, large-scale empirical analyses linking landscape fragmentation with desertification risk assume that increasing levels of land vulnerability to degradation are associated with significant changes in landscape structure. Using a traditional approach of landscape ecology, this study evaluates the spatial structure of a simulated landscape based on different levels of vulnerability to land degradation using 15 metrics calculated at three time points (early-1960s, early-1990s, early-2010s) in Italy. While the (average) level of land vulnerability increased over time almost in all Italian regions, vulnerable landscapes demonstrated to be increasingly fragmented, as far as the number of homogeneous patches and mean patch size are concerned. The spatial balance in affected and unaffected areas-typically observed in the 1960s-was progressively replaced with an intrinsically disordered landscape, and this process was more intense in regions exposed to higher (and increasing) levels of land degradation. The spread of larger land patches exposed to intrinsic degradation brings to important consequences since (1) the rising number of hotspots may increase the probability of local-scale degradation processes, and (2) the buffering effect of neighbouring (unaffected) land can be less effective on bigger hotspots, promoting a downward spiral toward desertification.
(© 2022. The Author(s).)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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