Institute of Methodologies for Environmental Analysis-Italian National Research Council (IMAA-CNR), c.da Santa Loja snc, I-85050 Tito Scalo, Italy.
Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Lipová 9, CZ-370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 29;20(3):2402. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20032402.
Vulnerability to land degradation in southern Europe has increased substantially in the last decades because of climate and land-use change, soil deterioration, and rising human pressure. The present work focuses on a quantitative evaluation of changes over time in the level of vulnerability to land degradation of a Mediterranean country (Italy) using a composite indicator, the environmentally sensitive area index (ESAI), which is the final outcome of a complex model conceived to assess land vulnerability on the basis of climate, soil, vegetation, and human pressure. Considering four different levels of vulnerability to land degradation (not affected, potentially affected, fragile, and critical), the main trajectories of this index were highlighted in a long-time perspective (1960-2010), discriminating dynamics over two sub-periods (1960-1990 and 1990-2010). The empirical results at a very detailed spatial scale (1 km grid) reflect spatial consolidation of degradation hot-spots over time. However, aggregated trajectories of change indicate an overall improvement in the environmental conditions between 1990 and 2010 compared with what is observed during the first period (1960-1990). Worse environmental conditions concerned southern Italian regions with a dry climate and poor soil conditions in the first time interval, large parts of northern Italy, traditionally recognized as a wet and affluent agricultural region, experienced increasing levels of land vulnerability in the second time interval. Being classified as an unaffected region according with the Italian national action plan (NAP), the expansion of (originally sparse) degradation hot-spots in northern Italy, reflective of an overall increase in critical areas, suggests a substantial re-thinking of the Italian NAP. This may lead to a redesign of individual regional action plans (RAPs) implementing place-specific approaches and comprehensive measures to be adopted to mitigate land degradation.
在过去几十年中，由于气候和土地利用变化、土壤恶化以及人类压力不断增加，南欧地区的土地退化脆弱性大幅增加。本研究采用综合指标——环境敏感区指数（ESAI），对一个地中海国家（意大利）的土地退化脆弱性水平随时间的变化进行了定量评估，该指数是一种复杂模型的最终结果，该模型基于气候、土壤、植被和人类压力来评估土地脆弱性。考虑到土地退化脆弱性的四个不同水平（不受影响、潜在影响、脆弱和临界），本研究在长时间尺度（1960-2010 年）上突出了该指数的主要轨迹，区分了两个子时期（1960-1990 年和 1990-2010 年）的动态变化。在非常详细的空间尺度（1km 网格）上的经验结果反映了随着时间的推移，退化热点的空间集中。然而，变化的综合轨迹表明，与第一个时期（1960-1990 年）相比，1990 年至 2010 年间环境条件总体有所改善。在第一个时间间隔内，气候干燥、土壤条件较差的意大利南部地区以及传统上被认为是湿润和富饶农业地区的意大利北部大部分地区的环境条件较差；在第二个时间间隔内，这些地区的土地退化脆弱性水平不断增加。在意大利国家行动计划（NAP）中，意大利北部地区被归类为不受影响的地区，但（原本稀疏的）退化热点的扩展反映了关键区域的总体增加，这表明需要对意大利 NAP 进行实质性的重新思考。这可能导致对实施特定地区方法和综合措施的个别地区行动计划（RAP）进行重新设计，以减轻土地退化。
