Urbanization and Long-Term Forest Dynamics in a Metropolitan Region of Southern Europe (1936–2018)

Although peri-urban landscapes in Southern Europe still preserve a relatively high level of biodiversity in relict natural places, urban expansion is progressively consuming agricultural land and, in some cases, forest cover. This phenomenon has (direct and indirect) environmental implications, both...

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Autores principales:	Leonardo Bianchini, Alvaro Marucci, Adele Sateriano, Valerio Di Stefano, Riccardo Alemanno, Andrea Colantoni
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	land-use changes diachronic maps socioeconomic contexts Southern Europe Environmental effects of industries and plants TD194-195 Renewable energy sources TJ807-830 Environmental sciences GE1-350
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/21dbacfa135a43e3bc70a9f37028a2a2
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:21dbacfa135a43e3bc70a9f37028a2a2
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:21dbacfa135a43e3bc70a9f37028a2a22021-11-11T19:46:33ZUrbanization and Long-Term Forest Dynamics in a Metropolitan Region of Southern Europe (1936–2018)10.3390/su1321121642071-1050https://doaj.org/article/21dbacfa135a43e3bc70a9f37028a2a22021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/21/12164https://doaj.org/toc/2071-1050Although peri-urban landscapes in Southern Europe still preserve a relatively high level of biodiversity in relict natural places, urban expansion is progressively consuming agricultural land and, in some cases, forest cover. This phenomenon has (direct and indirect) environmental implications, both positive and negative. The present study contributes to clarifying the intrinsic nexus between long-term urban expansion and forest dynamics in a representative Mediterranean city based on diachronic land-use maps. We discuss some counterintuitive results of urbanization as far as forest expansion, wildfire risk, and biodiversity conservation are concerned. Forest dynamics were investigated at two time intervals (1936–1974 and 1974–2018) representing distinctive socioeconomic contexts in the Rome metropolitan area in Central Italy. Additionally, the spatial relationship between forest cover and urban growth was evaluated using settlement density as a target variable. All over the study area, forest cover grew moderately over time (from 18.3% to 19.9% in the total landscape), and decreased along the urban gradient (i.e., with settlement density) more rapidly in 2018 than in 1936. The diversification of forest types (Shannon H index) was higher in areas with medium-density settlements, indicating a tendency towards more heterogeneous and mixed structures in rural and peri-urban woods that undergo rising human pressure. The dominance of a given forest type (Simpson’s D index) was higher at high settlement density areas. Evenness (Pielou’s J index) was the highest at low settlement density areas. The long-term assessment of land-use dynamics in metropolitan fringes enriched with a spatially explicit analysis of forest types may inform regional planning and environmental conservation, which could delineate appropriate strategies for sustainable land management in Southern European cities.Leonardo BianchiniAlvaro MarucciAdele SaterianoValerio Di StefanoRiccardo AlemannoAndrea ColantoniMDPI AGarticleland-use changesdiachronic mapssocioeconomic contextsSouthern EuropeEnvironmental effects of industries and plantsTD194-195Renewable energy sourcesTJ807-830Environmental sciencesGE1-350ENSustainability, Vol 13, Iss 12164, p 12164 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	land-use changes diachronic maps socioeconomic contexts Southern Europe Environmental effects of industries and plants TD194-195 Renewable energy sources TJ807-830 Environmental sciences GE1-350
spellingShingle	land-use changes diachronic maps socioeconomic contexts Southern Europe Environmental effects of industries and plants TD194-195 Renewable energy sources TJ807-830 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Leonardo Bianchini Alvaro Marucci Adele Sateriano Valerio Di Stefano Riccardo Alemanno Andrea Colantoni Urbanization and Long-Term Forest Dynamics in a Metropolitan Region of Southern Europe (1936–2018)
description	Although peri-urban landscapes in Southern Europe still preserve a relatively high level of biodiversity in relict natural places, urban expansion is progressively consuming agricultural land and, in some cases, forest cover. This phenomenon has (direct and indirect) environmental implications, both positive and negative. The present study contributes to clarifying the intrinsic nexus between long-term urban expansion and forest dynamics in a representative Mediterranean city based on diachronic land-use maps. We discuss some counterintuitive results of urbanization as far as forest expansion, wildfire risk, and biodiversity conservation are concerned. Forest dynamics were investigated at two time intervals (1936–1974 and 1974–2018) representing distinctive socioeconomic contexts in the Rome metropolitan area in Central Italy. Additionally, the spatial relationship between forest cover and urban growth was evaluated using settlement density as a target variable. All over the study area, forest cover grew moderately over time (from 18.3% to 19.9% in the total landscape), and decreased along the urban gradient (i.e., with settlement density) more rapidly in 2018 than in 1936. The diversification of forest types (Shannon H index) was higher in areas with medium-density settlements, indicating a tendency towards more heterogeneous and mixed structures in rural and peri-urban woods that undergo rising human pressure. The dominance of a given forest type (Simpson’s D index) was higher at high settlement density areas. Evenness (Pielou’s J index) was the highest at low settlement density areas. The long-term assessment of land-use dynamics in metropolitan fringes enriched with a spatially explicit analysis of forest types may inform regional planning and environmental conservation, which could delineate appropriate strategies for sustainable land management in Southern European cities.
format	article
author	Leonardo Bianchini Alvaro Marucci Adele Sateriano Valerio Di Stefano Riccardo Alemanno Andrea Colantoni
author_facet	Leonardo Bianchini Alvaro Marucci Adele Sateriano Valerio Di Stefano Riccardo Alemanno Andrea Colantoni
author_sort	Leonardo Bianchini
title	Urbanization and Long-Term Forest Dynamics in a Metropolitan Region of Southern Europe (1936–2018)
title_short	Urbanization and Long-Term Forest Dynamics in a Metropolitan Region of Southern Europe (1936–2018)
title_full	Urbanization and Long-Term Forest Dynamics in a Metropolitan Region of Southern Europe (1936–2018)
title_fullStr	Urbanization and Long-Term Forest Dynamics in a Metropolitan Region of Southern Europe (1936–2018)
title_full_unstemmed	Urbanization and Long-Term Forest Dynamics in a Metropolitan Region of Southern Europe (1936–2018)
title_sort	urbanization and long-term forest dynamics in a metropolitan region of southern europe (1936–2018)
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/21dbacfa135a43e3bc70a9f37028a2a2
work_keys_str_mv	AT leonardobianchini urbanizationandlongtermforestdynamicsinametropolitanregionofsoutherneurope19362018 AT alvaromarucci urbanizationandlongtermforestdynamicsinametropolitanregionofsoutherneurope19362018 AT adelesateriano urbanizationandlongtermforestdynamicsinametropolitanregionofsoutherneurope19362018 AT valeriodistefano urbanizationandlongtermforestdynamicsinametropolitanregionofsoutherneurope19362018 AT riccardoalemanno urbanizationandlongtermforestdynamicsinametropolitanregionofsoutherneurope19362018 AT andreacolantoni urbanizationandlongtermforestdynamicsinametropolitanregionofsoutherneurope19362018
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Urbanization and Long-Term Forest Dynamics in a Metropolitan Region of Southern Europe (1936–2018)

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