Assessment of hydro-erosive processes in small steep coastal basins in Liguria and Sicily, Italy

The steep Mediterranean catchments underwent drastic socio economic changes in the last decades. Moreover, these basins are also subject to climate variability and potential future climate change effects. Due to mechanization in agriculture a lot of surfaces changed from terraced vineyards and olive growth to abandoned land. The terraced areas are less productive and more cost and labour intensive and hence cannot compete with a highly mechanized agriculture. Furthermore, tourism based on the natural and cultural heritage of the region is more and more important for the income of the inhabitants. The abandonment has effects on the entire landscape system in terms of hydrological dynamics, s…