BOTANICAL CONTRIBUTION TO ARCHAEOLOGICAL LAND EVALUATION IN THE FP7 MEMOLA PROJECT

Biodiversità vegetale degli stagni temporanei della Sicilia

Gli ambienti umidi effimeri ospitano comunità vegetali specializzate e sono sede esclusiva di rare microterofite nonché autentiche stazioni di rifugio per molte specie a ciclo effimero. Per l’interesse bio-ecologico, Braun-Blanquet ha definito queste fitocenosi un gioiello floristico. Anche la Comunità Europea, con la direttiva Habitat 92/43/CEE, riconosce agli stagni temporanei mediterranei una notevole importanza e li individua come habitat prioritario (3170*). Questi ambienti, essendo stagionali, di modesta estensione, spazialmente dispersi e difficilmente cartografabili, spesso vengono trascurati negli studi a scala di paesaggio. Tali habitat, invece, rappresentano veri e propri micro-h…

Ambienti umidi temporanei:emergenze e problematiche di conservazione

Analisi della naturalità del mosaico territoriale in Sicilia

A new index (NEI - Naturalness Evaluation Index) is applied in order to evaluate the landscape degree of conservation and naturalness. Land mosaic has been classified into four different levels of conservation, taking into account the relative influence of natural processes and anthropic activities. Fitocoenoses structure and floristic composition are used as indicators. As a case study Sicily (Italy) was chosen. The methodology has been applied to reclassify Corine Land Cover data and obtain a Naturalness map. The area of study has been divided into reference units (municipalities) and the index has been calculated for each land unit. The index has proved to be very useful for visualising …

G.I.S. context analysis for environmental recovery suitability evaluation

The attributes of every single patch in a land mosaic constitute the database that landscape ecologists use for processing and analysis. Nonetheless spatial and ecological relationships between adjacent patches can play a key role in understanding the overall functionality of land mosaics. Defining the ecological role of a single tessera within an ecosystem is not possible if that patch is regarded as an insular element; on the other hand global analysis on the entire land mosaic would grant just a small amount of new information on each tessera and none on its functional role. To recognize areas susceptible of improvement through environmental recovery and to define priorities for interven…

FITODEPURAZIONE DI ACQUE CONTAMINATE AD ELEVATA SALINITÀ IN SICILIA

Ambienti umidi effimeri e naturalità del paesaggio in Sicilia

I luoghi umidi temporanei sono ambienti acquatici che alternano periodicamente una fase d’invaso ed una fase secca ed ospitano espressive fitocenosi adattate a queste peculiari condizioni. Indagini condotte tra il 2003 ed il 2009 hanno consentito di individuare, in Sicilia, oltre 200 siti, costituiti generalmente da diverse pozze o piccoli stagni. L’estrema fragilità di questi habitat li rende molto vulnerabili a qualunque tipo di alterazione ambientale e pertanto risultano essere indicatori molto sensibili della pressione antropica sul territorio. Infatti, la conservazione di questi biotopi non può prescindere da una corretta gestione del contesto territoriale che li circonda. Il presente …

Applicazione dell’analisi tridimensionale negli studi di Ecologia del paesaggio

Topography and terrain morphology play a key role in landscape structure and functionality. Landscape ecology modelling based on patch-corridor-matrix usually analyzes the area of study as a plane surface. However, this assumption could be critically far from reality, especially in mountainous areas, and lead to significant mistakes in calculation. Different areas of study were analyzed using both classical and more recent indices. Calculation was performed using a bi-dimensional terrain model and a three-dimensional model in which length and surface area values were much closer to real world values. Results were confronted to understand the different sensitivity of various analysis tools t…

Land forms, land-use and landscapes in Sicily

Landscape as we perceive it is the product of many different interacting factors: macro- and topoclimate, lithology, geomorphology, land use and human activities. The evaluation of the relative influence of each one of these factors on vegetation pattern and landscape is strongly dependent from the scale of observation. Hierarchical classification (Blasi et al. 2000) makes scale-related use of these factors as diagnostic attributes: macroclimate (over 1:250,000 scale) defines landscape regions, lithology (1:250,000 scale) defines systems and lithomorphology (1:50,000 scale) defines subsystems. At a finer scale (less than 1:10,000), land forms and land-use are the predominant landscape maker…

Geostatistical analisys on the relationship between vegetation pattern and human impact

The purpose of this work is to evaluate the vegetation pattern of a mediterranean landscape, analyzed through the shape of the patches that constitute it, and its relationship with alterations introduced by land use and human impact. As a case of study the territory of the Monti Madonie Regional Park has been chosen, since it is a very heterogeneous area from the ecological point of view and a biodiversity hotspot. Shape Index has been used to evaluate pattern geometry and has been calculated for every single polygon. Resulting data has been grouped by vegetation type. Value is 1 when the patch is maximally compact and increases as patch shape becomes more irregular. Geostatistical analysis…

DIVERSITÀ BIOCULTURALE DI ALCUNI PAESAGGI MEDITERRANEI DI MONTAGNA

The work presents a biocultural diversity interpretation of traditional Mediterranean agricultural landscapes. These landscapes are the result of complex interactions between biodiversity (at all levels, including species richness, ecosystem and biotope diversity) and cultural diversity, including material and immaterial aspects (architectural heritage, traditions, customs, local traditional agricultural practices, dialectal culture, etc.). The main theme is the traditional use of water related to traditional hydraulic systems, which in some areas date back to medieval times. Traditional agricultural landscapes grant a variety of ecosystem services and play a key role in biodiversity conser…

Carta della dinamica del paesaggio dell'area di Monte S. Calogero (Sicilia sud-occidentale)

Analisi del verde urbano della città di Palermo con tecniche di remore sensing

La dendroflora della città di Palermo è stata oggetto d’indagine da circa un trentennio. La maggior parte degli studi scientifici si è occupata principalmente del censimento delle piante dei parchi e dei giardini storici, focalizzando l’attenzione sulla caratterizzazione tassonomica, corologica ed ecologica nonché sugli aspetti storico-architettonici degli impianti. Palermo risulta essere la città siciliana con il maggior numero di parchi e giardini storici. Le prime indagini sul verde storico della città hanno riguardato le ville, originariamente appartenute ai membri della sfarzosa nobiltà e ricca borghesia siciliana, come il Parco di Villa Trabia alle Terre Rosse, il Giardino di Villa Ni…