Fabrizio Ungaro

Geomorphic features of a badland (biancane) area (Central Italy): characterisation, distribution and quantitative spatial analysis

Abstract The biancana landscapes, rather common in several Italian areas, have a very complex morphology. Different geomorphic features often occur along the same hillslope. From a morphological survey of an experimental site in southern Tuscany, the forms were classified, and their distribution analysed. Spatial analysis of the biancane provided insights into the range of forces responsible for their formation and evolution. The results confirm an evolutionary trend from an original gently sloping surface to a complex biancana landform, emphasising a trend from the taller bean forms to the terminal souffle-like and cone forms. The presence of scarp and sliding forms in the most sloping areas and along the residual surfaces supports the hypothesis of a process influenced by base level, acting initially by small mass movements. Spatial analysis did not reveal any systematic trend in the variability of the erosional features along the slopes. Variographic analysis showed that selected morphological attributes are spatially auto-correlated over a short range, suggesting that the erosive processes responsible for morphogenic evolution of biancane act mostly on a local scale. The strong geometric anisotropy detected in directions parallel to the main jointing systems also indicated a broader scale tectonic control of biancane evolution, probably in an early stage of their formation.

Influence of 150 years of land use on anthropogenic and natural carbon stocks in Emilia-Romagna region (Italy).

Changes in land use/cover that are commonly associated with urbanization can dramatically influence the amount, chemical form, and spatial distribution of carbon (C) stocks. Measured values and relative literature for composition of natural and anthropogenic materials have been compiled. These data are used in conjunction with land cover statistics and expert assessment of building design to calculate C stocks associated with 150 years of land use change and development for an area of the Po River Valley, Northern Italy. Using 4 time periods (1853, 1954, 1976, and 2003), we demonstrate that the C stocks within this densely populated area have undergone considerable modification. A 52% increase in population density has been associated with an increase in the proportion of total C stored in anthropogenic stocks from 0.2% to 6%; this has been accompanied by a one order of magnitude increase in the carbon emission per capita per unit area. These changes have also been accompanied by a major shift in stocks from organic to inorganic forms of C.

Using existing soil databases for estimating retention properties for soils of the Pianura Padano-Veneta region of North Italy

Data collected on benchmark soils from experimental sites in the Pianura Padano-Veneta, Northern Italy, stored in local soil data bases were used to test the reliability of existing pedotransfer functions to derive soil water retention properties, required as input to simulation models of pollutant transport in soils. Eight different algorithms were selected according to their principle of calculation, input variable requirements and in agreement with the different information currently existing in local soil databases. Results were validated against an experimental set of 139 retention curves. In order to assess the validity of the selected pedotransfer functions and to provide operative guidelines for their selection, quantitative error indices mean difference, and square root of the mean squared difference, were calculated and the results evaluated for the whole data set and for subsets of observations classed in terms of soil textural composition, bulk density, organic carbon content and matric potential. Non-parametric significance tests for unbalanced data were applied to assess the significance of the differences among classes. According to the kind of soil on which they were tested, the selected pedotransfer functions showed significantly different responses in terms of accuracy, providing therefore useful indications for their optimal applicability for different levels of available information.

Modelling the impact of increasing soil sealing on runoff coefficients at regional scale: a hydropedological approach

Abstract Soil sealing is the permanent covering of the land surface by buildings, infrastructures or any impermeable artificial material. Beside the loss of fertile soils with a direct impact on food security, soil sealing modifies the hydrological cycle. This can cause an increased flooding risk, due to urban development in potential risk areas and to the increased volumes of runoff. This work estimates the increase of runoff due to sealing following urbanization and land take in the plain of Emilia Romagna (Italy), using the Green and Ampt infiltration model for two rainfall return periods (20 and 200 years) in two different years, 1976 and 2008. To this goal a hydropedological approach was adopted in order to characterize soil hydraulic properties via locally calibrated pedotransfer functions (PTF). PTF inputs were estimated via sequential Gaussian simulations coupled with a simple kriging with varying local means, taking into account soil type and dominant land use. Results show that in the study area an average increment of 8.4% in sealed areas due to urbanization and sprawl induces an average increment in surface runoff equal to 3.5 and 2.7% respectively for 20 and 200-years return periods, with a maximum > 20% for highly sealed coast areas.

Assessing landscape preferences: a visual choice experiment in the agricultural region of Märkische Schweiz, Germany

Abstract Natural amenities and the aesthetic value of agricultural landscapes are important territorial assets for improving rural tourism and the quality of the living environment. To identify which characteristics shape the visual quality of a landscape, a stated-preference survey was conducted (N = 200) using photorealistic landscape visualisations of four different landscape attributes (point green elements, linear green elements, crop diversity and presence of livestock). We estimated respondents’ preferences for landscape attributes, examined the extent of agreement among respondents and identified socio-economic factors influencing their responses. Results revealed that point elements had the highest general preference. About 70% of respondents preferred diverse and highly structured landscapes, while about 30% of respondents had opposing preferences. Preferences were also found to be dependent on the individual’s sociocultural background, such as their level of education, gender or age. These results can help to improve the multi-objective targeting of policies by including an aesthetic value perspective.

Recreating Context in Spatial Modelling of Agricultural Landscapes

This study uses spatial location of farms as a case of recreating context in spatial modelling of agricultural landscapes. When working with generally available agricultural structural data such as FADN data, spatial reference on farm location is not available. This means that methods to reliable recreations of spatial context must be developed. This study recreates spatial location of farms within a German and a Danish agricultural landscape where real farm locations are known, using an approach based on indexation of structural heterogeneity. The approach can be used generally since it is based on the utilisation of generally available data across the EU countries. Based on the Danish case, it is concluded that the method leads to a close to random location of farms. An additional case study carried out in Italy concludes that initial spatial location of farms is important in an area with great spatial heterogeneity like Italy, but might mean less in spatial homogenous areas like Denmark and Germany.