Towards the economic valuation of ecosystem production from cork oak forests in Sardinia (Italy)

Abstract

A spatially explicit approach for stand-scale economic valuation of current and future potential of cork forests with respect to ecosystem production is developed and presented. The approach, which relies in large part on the mensuration of stand top height and number of trees as main drivers, has been tested on the pure cork forests of Sardinia (Italy). The test was conducted to assess the effects of alternative silvicultural options on cork and fodder production, carbon sequestration, and water yield. Under current conditions, the surveyed pure cork oak forest stands in Sardinia are characterized, on average, by an annual economic production of 93 euro ha -1 yr -1 as concerns cork, 37 euro ha -1 yr -1 as concerns carbon sequestration and 261 euro ha -1 yr -1 as concerns water yield. The value of cork production on an 11-year cycle equals 1023 euro ha -1 on average. The total economic production values among the tested silvicultural alternatives have proven to be characterized by relatively small differences, due to the trade-offs among the considered goods and services. Therefore, at least under conditions similar to those surveyed, managers may safely rely on different stand density options, without any relevant detrimental effect on total economic production. The tested spatial visualization of the economic values of goods and services production can be useful in supporting forest management planning, e.g., to identify priority areas in order to maximize ecosystem production for local communities. The approach proposed here and tested to this end proves to be readily applicable to other cork contexts with similar characteristics under Mediterranean conditions.

Aliens Coming by Ships: Distribution and Origins of the Ocellated Skink Populations in Peninsular Italy

“…As for Tuscany, at least seven individuals, morphologically ascribed to C. o. tiligugu (i.e., showing light dorso-lateral bands running from the head to the tail root [10]) were detected through addressed surveys in 2021; the presence of juveniles provided support to local reproduction events. The presence of the ocellated skink in the immediate surroundings of the Piombino port area suggests that these individuals have been introduced from Sardinia, possibly via the cork trade between Sardinia and the Italian mainland [42]. This hypothesis is also confirmed by the fact that the vegetable gardens where ocellated skinks were detected in Piombino are located near a parking area for trucks of cork from Sardinia.…”

A Contingent Valuation-Based Method to Valuate Ecosystem Services for a Proactive Planning and Management of Cork Oak Forests in Sardinia (Italy)

“…According to [41], the fate of these 'traditional' landscapes depends heavily on innovative management efforts in this market. In this sense, the assessment of ecosystem services and the related mapping is absolutely essential to increase the knowledge of the value of these landscapes [42] and to define, through territorial planning and design, adequate enhancement perspectives complementary to those strictly economically productive.…”

Spatial Distribution of Toponymy in Karst Areas Giritontro

“…Nowadays, thanks to the availability of historical cadastral maps in many countries (Femenia-Ribera et al, 2022;Post & Alderman, 2014;Radding & Western, 2010;Tichelaar, 2002) the study of toponymy goes beyond the classical approach to "historical, etymological, philological, and semantics" (Ardanuy & Sporleder, 2017;Capra et al, 2015a;Conedera et al, 2007Conedera et al, , 2009Kavaratzis & Ashworth, 2008), by including the relationship between place names and cultural and traditional landscapes (Corona et al, 2018;Fagúndez & Izco, 2016;Payne, 2001;Penko Seidl, 2008). Considering toponymy as a language of landscape (Atik et al, 2022) makes an important contribution to ethnoecological studies (Capra et al, 2015b what name each object to be mapped must be known and recorded (Kavaratzis & Ashworth, 2008;Perdana & Ostermann, 2018;Tichelaar, 2002).…”