Scuola di Scienze Agrarie, Forestali, Alimentari ed Ambientali, Università degli Studi della Basilicata, Viale dell'Ateneo Lucano 10, I-85100 Potenza, Italy.
Consiglio per la Ricerca e la sperimentazione in Agricoltura, Centre for Plant-Soil Relationships (CRA-RPS), Via della Navicella 2-4, I-00184 Rome, Italy.
Sci Total Environ. 2014 Apr 15;478:116-22. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.01.040. Epub 2014 Feb 12.
The present study analyzes the impact of long-term urban expansion on soil depletion in Emilia-Romagna, an agricultural-specialized region of northern Italy. Using settlement density maps at three points in time (1945, 1971 and 2001) dense and diffused urbanization trends were assessed and correlated with soil quality. Non-urbanized land decreased from 11.8% in 1945 to 6.3% in 2001. Urbanization dynamics between 1945 and 1971 reflect the increase of dense settlements around pre-existing urban centers. To the contrary, a discontinuous, low- and medium-density urban expansion along the road network and in the most fertile lowland areas was observed between 1971 and 2001. Overall, urbanization consumed soils with progressively higher quality. However, a diverging trend was observed in the two investigated time intervals: soil with high quality was occupied by compact and dense settlements during 1945-1971 and by discontinuous, medium- and low-density settlements during 1971-2001. These findings document the polarization in areas with low and high soil capital and may reflect disparities in agricultural production and increasing environmental degradation. Moreover, the analysis shows a diverging trend between land and soil consumption patterns suggesting that the edification of pervious land is an unreliable indicator of soil quality depletion. Taken together, the results of this study illustrate the (increasing) spatial mismatch between agricultural land and high-quality soils as a consequence of urbanization-driven landscape transformations and may inform measures to contain soil depletion driven by economic growth.
本研究分析了长期城市扩张对意大利北部农业专业化地区艾米利亚-罗马涅土壤耗竭的影响。利用三个时间点（1945 年、1971 年和 2001 年）的定居点密度图，评估了密集和扩散的城市化趋势，并将其与土壤质量相关联。非城市化土地从 1945 年的 11.8%减少到 2001 年的 6.3%。1945 年至 1971 年的城市化动态反映了现有城市中心周围密集定居点的增加。相反，1971 年至 2001 年期间，观察到沿着道路网络和最肥沃的低地地区出现不连续的、中低密度的城市扩张。总的来说，城市化消耗了质量逐渐提高的土壤。然而，在两个研究时间段观察到了一个发散的趋势：1945-1971 年期间，高质量的土壤被紧凑和密集的定居点所占据，而在 1971-2001 年期间，由不连续的、中低密度的定居点所占据。这些发现记录了低土壤资本和高土壤资本地区之间的两极分化，可能反映了农业生产的差异和环境退化的加剧。此外，分析表明土地和土壤消耗模式之间存在发散趋势，表明可渗透土地的建设并不是土壤质量耗竭的可靠指标。总的来说，这项研究的结果说明了城市化驱动的景观转型导致农业土地和高质量土壤之间（日益）存在空间不匹配，这可能为遏制经济增长驱动的土壤耗竭提供措施。
