Desertification risk fuels spatial polarization in ‘affected’ and ‘unaffected’ landscapes in Italy

Desertification risk fuels spatial polarization in ‘affected’ and ‘unaffected’ landscapes in Italy

  • 1.

    Fernandez, R. J. Do humans create deserts?. Trends Ecol. Evol. 17, 6–7 (2002).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 2.

    Geist, H. J. & Lambin, E. F. Dynamic causal patterns of desertification. Bioscience 54(9), 817–829 (2004).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 3.

    Imeson, A. Desertification, Land Degradation and Sustainability (Routledge, 2012).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 4.

    Romm, J. Desertification: The next dust bowl. Nature 478, 450–451 (2011).

    ADS 
    CAS 
    PubMed 

    Google Scholar
     

  • 5.

    Portnov, B. A. & Safriel, U. N. Combating desertification in the Negev: Dryland agriculture vs. dryland urbanization. J. Arid Environ. 56, 659–680 (2004).

    ADS 

    Google Scholar
     

  • 6.

    Salvati, L., Bajocco, S., Ceccarelli, T., Zitti, M. & Perini, L. Towards a process-based evaluation of land vulnerability to soil degradation in Italy. Ecol. Ind. 11(5), 1216–1227 (2011).

    CAS 

    Google Scholar
     

  • 7.

    Santini, M., Caccamo, G., Laurenti, A., Noce, S. & Valentini, R. A multi-model GIS framework for desertification risk assessment. Appl. Geogr. 30(3), 394–415 (2010).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 8.

    Bajocco, S., Salvati, L. & Ricotta, C. Land degradation vs. Fire: A spiral process?. Prog. Phys. Geogr. 35(1), 3–18 (2011).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 9.

    Incerti, G., Feoli, E., Salvati, L., Brunetti, A. & Giovacchini, A. Analysis of bioclimatic time series and their neural network-based classification to characterise drought risk patterns in South Italy. Int. J. Biometeorol. 51(4), 253–263 (2007).

    ADS 
    CAS 
    PubMed 

    Google Scholar
     

  • 10.

    Salvati, L., Perini, L., Sabbi, A. & Bajocco, S. Climate Aridity and land use changes: A regional-scale analysis. Geogr. Res. 50(2), 193–203 (2012).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 11.

    Coluzzi, R. et al. Investigating climate variability and long-term vegetation activity across heterogeneous Basilicata agroecosystems. Geomat. Nat. Haz. Risk 10(1), 168–180 (2019).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 12.

    Imbrenda, V. et al. Analysis of landscape evolution in a vulnerable coastal area under natural and human pressure. Geomat. Nat. Haz. Risk 9(1), 1249–1279 (2018).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 13.

    Imbrenda, V. et al. Land degradation and metropolitan expansion in a peri-urban environment. Geomat. Nat. Haz. Risk 12(1), 1797–1818 (2021).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 14.

    Kairis, O., Karavitis, C., Kounalaki, A., Salvati, L. & Kosmas, C. The effect of land management practices on soil erosion and land desertification in an olive grove. Soil Use Manag. 29(4), 597–606 (2013).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 15.

    Kairis, O., Karavitis, C., Salvati, L., Kounalaki, A. & Kosmas, K. Exploring the impact of overgrazing on soil erosion and land degradation in a dry Mediterranean agro-forest landscape (Crete, Greece). Arid Land Res. Manag. 29(3), 360–374 (2015).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 16.

    Karamesouti, M. et al. Land-use and land degradation processes affecting soil resources: Evidence from a traditional Mediterranean cropland (Greece). CATENA 132, 45–55 (2015).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 17.

    Kosmas, C. et al. Land degradation and long-term changes in agro-pastoral systems: An empirical analysis of ecological resilience in Asteroussia-Crete (Greece). CATENA 147, 196–204 (2016).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 18.

    Jongman, R. H. G. Homogenisation and fragmentation of the European landscape: Ecological consequences and solutions. Landsc. Urban Plan. 58(2), 211–221 (2002).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 19.

    Lavado Contador, J. F., Schnabel, S., Gomez Gutierrez, A. & Pulido Fernandez, M. Mapping sensitivity to land degradation in Extremadura, SW Spain. Land Degrad. Dev. 20(2), 129–144 (2009).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 20.

    Otto, R., Krusi, B. O. & Kienast, F. Degradation of an arid coastal landscape in relation to land use changes in southern Tenerife (Canary Islands). J. Arid Environ. 70, 527–539 (2007).

    ADS 

    Google Scholar
     

  • 21.

    Braje, T. J., Leppard, T. P., Fitzpatrick, S. M. & Erlandson, J. M. Archaeology, historical ecology and anthropogenic island ecosystems. Environ. Conserv. 44(3), 286–297 (2017).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 22.

    Rick, T., Ontiveros, M. Á. C., Jerardino, A., Mariotti, A., Méndez, C. & Williams, A. N. Human-environmental interactions in Mediterranean climate regions from the Pleistocene to the Anthropocene. Anthropocene, 100253 (2020).

  • 23.

    Bajocco, S., Ceccarelli, T., Smiraglia, D., Salvati, L. & Ricotta, C. Modeling the ecological niche of long-term land use changes: The role of biophysical factors. Ecol. Ind. 60, 231–236 (2016).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 24.

    Antrop, M. Landscape change and the urbanization process in Europe. Landsc. Urban Plan. 67(1), 9–26 (2004).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 25.

    Bakra, N., Weindorf, D. C., Bahnassy, M. H. & El-Badawi, M. M. Multi-temporal assessment of land sensitivity to desertification in a fragile agro-ecosystem: Environmental indicators. Ecol. Ind. 15(1), 271–280 (2012).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 26.

    Pacheco, F. A. L., Fernandes, L. F. S., Junior, R. F. V., Valera, C. A. & Pissarra, T. C. T. Land degradation: Multiple environmental consequences and routes to neutrality. Curr. Opin. Environ. Sci. Health 5, 79–86 (2018).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 27.

    Gomes, E. et al. Agricultural land fragmentation analysis in a peri-urban context: From the past into the future. Ecol. Ind. 97, 380–388 (2019).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 28.

    Gulcin, D. & Yilmaz, K. T. The assessment of landscape fragmentation in an agricultural environment: Degradation or contribution to ecosystem services?. Fresenius Environ. Bull. 25(12), 7941–7950 (2017).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 29.

    Pili, S., Grigoriadis, E., Carlucci, M., Clemente, M. & Salvati, L. Towards sustainable growth? A multi-criteria assessment of (changing) urban forms. Ecol. Ind. 76, 71–80 (2017).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 30.

    Haddad, N. M., Brudvig, L. A. & Clobert, J. Habitat fragmentation and its lasting impact on Earth’s ecosystems. Sci. Adv. 1(2), 1–9 (2015).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 31.

    Kouba, Y., Gartzia, M., El Aich, A. & Alados, C. L. Deserts do not advance, they are created: Land degradation and desertification in semiarid environments in the Middle Atlas, Morocco. J. Arid Environ. 158, 1–8 (2018).

    ADS 

    Google Scholar
     

  • 32.

    Nagendra, H., Munroe, D. K. & Southworth, J. From pattern to process: Landscape fragmentation and the analysis of land use/land cover change. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 101(2), 111–115 (2004).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 33.

    Lin, Y., Han, G., Zhao, M. & Chang, S. X. Spatial vegetation patterns as early signs of desertification: A case study of a desert steppe in Inner Mongolia, China. Landsc. Ecol. 25(10), 1519–1527 (2010).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 34.

    Kéfi, S. et al. Spatial vegetation patterns and imminent desertification in Mediterranean arid ecosystems. Nature 449(7159), 213–217 (2007).

    ADS 
    PubMed 

    Google Scholar
     

  • 35.

    Girvetz, E. H., Thorne, J. H., Berry, A. M. & Jaeger, J. A. Integration of landscape fragmentation analysis into regional planning: A statewide multi-scale case study from California, USA. Landsc. Urban Plan. 86(3), 205–218 (2008).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 36.

    Hargis, C. D., Bissonette, J. A. & David, J. L. The behavior of landscape metrics commonly used in the study of habitat fragmentation. Landsc. Ecol. 13(3), 167–186 (1998).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 37.

    Llausàs, A. & Nogué, J. Indicators of landscape fragmentation: The case for combining ecological indices and the perceptive approach. Ecol. Ind. 15(1), 85–91 (2012).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 38.

    Salvati, L. & Zitti, M. The environmental “risky” region: Identifying land degradation processes through integration of socio-economic and ecological indicators in a multivariate regionalization model. Environ. Manage. 44(5), 888 (2009).

    ADS 
    PubMed 

    Google Scholar
     

  • 39.

    Ferrara, A. et al. Updating the MEDALUS-ESA framework for worldwide land degradation and desertification assessment. Land Degrad. Dev. 31(12), 1593–1607 (2020).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 40.

    Delfanti, L. et al. Solar plants, environmental degradation and local socioeconomic contexts: A case study in a Mediterranean country. Environ. Impact Assess. Rev. 61, 88–93 (2016).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 41.

    Cowie, A. L. et al. Land in balance: The scientific conceptual framework for Land Degradation Neutrality. Environ. Sci. Policy 79, 25–35 (2018).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 42.

    Lanfredi, M. et al. A geostatistics-assisted approach to the deterministic approximation of climate data. Environ. Model. Softw. 66, 69–77 (2015).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 43.

    Coluzzi, R. et al. Density matters? Settlement expansion and land degradation in Peri-urban and rural districts of Italy. Environ. Impact Assess. Rev. 92, 106703 (2022).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 44.

    Xie, H., Zhang, Y., Wu, Z. & Lv, T. A bibliometric analysis on land degradation: Current status, development, and future directions. Land 9(1), 28 (2020).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 45.

    Ferrara, A., Salvati, L., Sateriano, A. & Nolè, A. Performance evaluation and costs assessment of a key indicator system to monitor desertification vulnerability. Ecol. Ind. 23, 123–129 (2012).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 46.

    Salvati, L. From simplicity to complexity: The changing geography of land vulnerability to degradation in Italy. Geogr. Res. 51(3), 318–328 (2013).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 47.

    Salvati, L. et al. Italy’s renewable water resources as estimated on the basis of the monthly water balance. Irrig. Drain. J. Int. Commiss. Irrig. Drain. 57(5), 507–515 (2008).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 48.

    Salvati, L. et al. Assessing the effectiveness of sustainable land management policies for combating desertification: A data mining approach. J. Environ. Manage. 183, 754–762 (2016).

    CAS 
    PubMed 

    Google Scholar
     

  • 49.

    Recanatesi, F. et al. A fifty-year sustainability assessment of Italian agro-forest districts. Sustainability 8(1), 32 (2016).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 50.

    Bajocco, S., De Angelis, A. & Salvati, L. A satellite-based green index as a proxy for vegetation cover quality in a Mediterranean region. Ecol. Ind. 23, 578–587 (2012).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 51.

    Smiraglia, D. et al. The latent relationship between soil vulnerability to degradation and land fragmentation: A statistical analysis of landscape metrics in Italy, 1960–2010. Environ. Manage. 64(2), 154–165 (2019).

    ADS 
    PubMed 

    Google Scholar
     

  • 52.

    Smiraglia, D., Ceccarelli, T., Bajocco, S., Salvati, L. & Perini, L. Linking trajectories of land change, land degradation processes and ecosystem services. Environ. Res. 147, 590–600 (2016).

    CAS 
    PubMed 

    Google Scholar
     

  • 53.

    Zambon, I., Benedetti, A., Ferrara, C. & Salvati, L. Soil matters? A multivariate analysis of socioeconomic constraints to urban expansion in Mediterranean Europe. Ecol. Econ. 146, 173–183 (2018).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 54.

    Zambon, I. et al. Land quality, sustainable development and environmental degradation in agricultural districts: A computational approach based on entropy indexes. Environ. Impact Assess. Rev. 64, 37–46 (2017).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 55.

    Basso, B. et al. Evaluating responses to land degradation mitigation measures in Southern Italy. Int. J. Environ. Res. 6(2), 367–380 (2012).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 56.

    Salvati, L. & Zitti, M. Land degradation in the Mediterranean Basin: Linking bio-physical and economic factors into an ecological perspective. Biota 6, 67–77 (2005).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 57.

    Qi, Y. et al. Temporal-spatial variability of desertification in an agro-pastoral transitional zone of northern Shaanxi Province, China. CATENA 88(1), 37–45 (2012).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 58.

    Sklenicka, P. Classification of farmland ownership fragmentation as a cause of land degradation: A review on typology, consequences, and remedies. Land Use Policy 57, 694–701 (2016).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 59.

    Vos, W. & Meekes, H. Trends in European cultural landscape development: Perspectives for a sustainable future. Landsc. Urban Plan. 46(1), 3–14 (1999).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 60.

    Mao, D. et al. Land degradation and restoration in the arid and semiarid zones of China: Quantified evidence and implications from satellites. Land Degrad. Dev. 29(11), 3841–3851 (2018).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 61.

    Symeonakis, E., Calvo-Cases, A. & Arnau-Rosalen, E. Land use change and land degradation in southeastern Mediterranean Spain. Environ. Manage. 40(1), 80–94 (2007).

    ADS 
    PubMed 

    Google Scholar
     

  • 62.

    Ibanez, J., Martinez Valderrama, J. & Puigdefabregas, J. Assessing desertification risk using system stability condition analysis. Ecol. Model. 213, 180–190 (2008).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 63.

    Hill, J., Stellmes, M., Udelhoven, T., Röder, A. & Sommer, S. Mediterranean desertification and land degradation: Mapping related land use change syndromes based on satellite observations. Global Planet. Change 64(3), 146–157 (2008).

    ADS 

    Google Scholar
     

  • 64.

    Sommer, S. et al. Application of indicator systems for monitoring and assessment of desertification from national to global scales. Land Degrad. Dev. 22(2), 184–197 (2011).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 65.

    Vogt, J. V. et al. Monitoring and Assessment of Land Degradation and Desertification: Towards new conceptual and integrated approaches. Land Degrad. Dev. 22(2), 150–165 (2011).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 66.

    Scarascia, M. V., Battista, F. D. & Salvati, L. Water resources in Italy: Availability and agricultural uses. Irrig. Drain. J. Int. Commiss. Irrig. Drain. 55(2), 115–127 (2006).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 67.

    Wang, H., Yuan, H., Xu, X. & Liu, S. Landscape structure of desertification grassland in source region of Yellow River. J. Appl. Ecol. 17(9), 1665–1670 (2006).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 68.

    Wang, J. et al. Spatio-temporal pattern of land degradation from 1990 to 2015 in Mongolia. Environ. Dev. 34, 100497 (2020).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 69.

    Briassoulis, H. Governing desertification in Mediterranean Europe: The challenge of environmental policy integration in multi-level governance contexts. Land Degrad. Dev. 22(3), 313–325 (2011).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 70.

    Juntti, M. & Wilson, G. A. Conceptualising desertification in Southern Europe: Stakeholder interpretations and multiple policy agendas. Eur. Environ. 15, 228–249 (2005).


    Google Scholar
     

  • 71.

    Gisladottir, G. & Stocking, M. Land degradation control and its global environmental benefits. Land Degrad. Dev. 16, 99–112 (2005).


    Google Scholar