The Integrated Assessment of Land Degradation

Abstract

This paper reviews recent findings on the complex field of land degradation (LD) with focus on the Mediterranean Basin and Italy, in particular. The LD definition and assessment methods are examined in the light of the most important natural and human driving forces of the phenomenon, such as land use and climate changes. Various methodological issues are dealt with from multidisciplinary perspective with the aim of providing the ground for the development of integrated approaches: monitoring needs, assessment of costs, development of mitigation strategies, etc. Factors affecting land vulnerability to degradation are classified into bio-physical and socio-economic drivers with some examples of applications in Italy. The role of determinants such as agricultural development, population growth, and urban sprawl is recognised as important but still ambiguous and thus needs further studies. Based on these findings, policy responses aimed at mitigating LD and thus reducing desertification risk are discussed and methodological proposal are presented.

Long-Term Urban Growth and Land Use Efficiency in Southern Europe: Implications for Sustainable Land Management

“…Secure tenure is essential for both effective and sustainable land use, including adequate levels of investment in enhancing land productivity and allocating land to the most efficient user(s) [5]. As the key to meeting commitments for both national and international policy targets (e.g., Agenda 21), the sustainable management and use of land resources is essential for urban sustainability [6][7][8].…”

Design and Implementation of Modern Agriculture Monitoring System

“…It is used in all kinds of applications such as cameras, medical instruments, ATM machines, industrial robots, and many more. [9] The uCOS-II includes three parts: The first part is core code, which has nothing to do with the processor. This part includes seven source code files and a header file.…”

Estimating the sensitivity to desertification of Italian forests

“…Ferrara et al (2012) evaluated the stability of the ESAI using statistical analysis and the sensitivity to changes in the composing indicators. Results of this statistical exercise indicate that the ESAI is a stable and reliable composite index, poorly affected by spatial and temporal heterogeneity in the composing indicators (Salvati et al 2009). A complete reference list of all recent ESA methodology applications can be found in Ferrara et al (2010).…”

“…Climate aridity, soil degradation, decreasing quality of the vegetation cover, along with the increasing anthropogenic pressure on land, are regarded critical factors for the intensification of LD processes especially in southern Europe ). In the Mediterranean region, specifically anthropogenic stressors and biophysical factors usually go hand in hand in the development of LD phenomena (Drake & Vafeidis 2004, Costantini et al 2009, Salvati et al 2009). …”

“…Also differences in carbon accumulation and primary production are very high, both among and intra different forest types (Maselli et al 2006, Mancino et al 2009). Thus, a combination of a great variety of biophysical conditions and of socioeconomic factors makes Italy a kaleidoscopic case study to analyze patterns of sensitivity to LD in areas covered by forests and OWL and their dynamics over time (Conacher & Sala 1998, Salvati et al 2009). …”