A Diachronic Classification of Peri-urban Forest Land Based on Vulnerability to Desertification

Abstract

Land vulnerable to desertification increased in the Mediterranean basin since World War II due<br />to several interacting factors including climate variations, land-use changes and growing human pressure. It<br />was hypothesized that the increase in the level of land vulnerability is not distributed homogeneously over<br />time and space while impacting preferentially landscapes surrounding large urban agglomerations. This<br />hypothesis was tested diachronically (1960-2010) in the peri-urban area of Rome (Central Italy) to clarify<br />how different factors causing land vulnerability to desertification impact a fragile landscape close to the city<br />with one of the largest coastal forest in Italy. Four partial indicators (climate quality, soil quality, vegetation<br />quality, land management quality) developed within the Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) framework and<br />measuring the level of land vulnerability have been calculated at a detailed spatial scale. The highest growth rate in land vulnerability has been observed in cropland while coastal woodlands showed a relatively high and<br />stable land quality over time. Conservation strategies of relict forest ecosystems considered as ‘buffer zones' contrasting land degradation processes are particularly important in Mediterranean peri-urban regions.