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Landscape ecomosaics evolution and land use change in south-Sicilian coastal area

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7275/fabos.909

Publication Date

2010

Abstract

Intensive agriculture, urbanisation and neglected land-country often entail rapid landscape changes, losses of ecological capacity (Feranec, J., 2006) biodiversity and cultural landscape degradation (Farina, A., 1998). Sicily’s countryside is characterised by a rich diversity of cultural landscapes and was shaped by traditional land-uses. The case study covers the middle-south part of Sicily (Agrigento), the socalled Temple’s Valley, a literary territory passed through by many writers like Diodoro (I sec. a. C.), Goethe (1787). In last fifty years, the rural–urban fringe of Agrigento city have become the setting of the intense suburb growth and considerable land use change. One consequence of this development is the loss of traditional landscapes. The traditional landscape of Temple’s Valley is Almond- Olive dry culture (Barbera et al., 2000), with trees scattered in croplands and pastures. Unfortunately, neglect and inappropriate development threaten this irreplaceable landscape legacy. Too often the long-term environmental and cultural ramifications of short-term decisions are not understood and as a result we lose a unique portion of our cultural heritage. The traditional social structures embodied in the local history of rural areas have dissolved. During the last 30 years, different trends have dramatically changed this production driven development of our cultural landscapes. This disappearance risk is due to transport technology, the economy resulting in urbanisation and urban sprawl and tourism pressure. Landscape ecomosaics evolution analysis has undertaken by determining the meaning of objects in aerial photographs and then by landscape metrics use, highlighting a strong land-use change. This changes causes the network connectivity complete loss, that is why this paper discusses the concept of ecological connectivity and proposes to improve riparian vegetation as a priority, which will achieve the multiple benefits of improving river health while contributing to network connectivity.

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