Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Profiling agro-forest landscape types at the wildland–urban interface: an exploratory analysis

  • Published:
Agroforestry Systems Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A diachronic investigation of land cover changes (1990–2000) in a Mediterranean region with high human pressure (Attica, Greece) was developed in the present study with the aim to profile different agro-forest types and their evolution over time. Changes in the distribution of 31 land cover classes and their spatial relationships have been assessed using exploratory data analysis. Our results highlight the shift from a spatially-heterogeneous and diversified agro-forest landscape towards a land-use structure polarized in medium- and low-quality areas with homogeneous (natural or urban) uses of land. These transformations may impact negatively the environmental functions and determine ecological fragility on a local scale. Agro-forest landscapes around cities require permanent monitoring and dedicated conservation measures counterbalancing the increased human pressure.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Acácio V, Holmgren M, Rego F, Moreira F, Mohren GMJ (2009) Are drought and wildfires turning Mediterranean cork oak forests into persistent shrublands? Agrofor Syst 76:389–400

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alberti M (2005) The effects of urban patterns on ecosystem function. Int Reg Sci Rev 28(2):168–192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alberti M (2010) Maintaining ecological integrity and sustaining ecosystem function in urban areas. Curr Opin Environ Sustain 2:178–184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen A (2003) Environmental planning and management of the peri-urban interface: perspectives on an emerging field. Environ Urban 15(1):135–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alphan H (2003) Land use change and urbanisation of Adana, Turkey. Land Degrad Dev 14:575–586

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Antrop M (2004) Landscape change and the urbanization process in Europe. Landsc Urban Plan 67:9–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Antrop M (2005) Why landscapes of the past are important for the future. Landsc Urban Plan 70(1–2):21–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baran-Zgłobicka B, Zgłobicki W (2012) Mosaic landscapes of SE Poland: should we preserve them? Agrofor Syst 85(3):351–365

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Basso B, De Simone L, Ferrara A, Cammarano D, Cafiero G, Mei-Ling Y, Tien-Yin C (2010) Analysis of contributing factors to desertification and mitigation measures in Basilicata region. Ital J Agron 3:33–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brouwer FB, Thomas AJ, Chadwick MJ (1991) Land use changes in Europe. Processes of change, environmental transformations and future patterns. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht

    Google Scholar 

  • Cakir G, Un C, Baskent EZ, Kose S, Sivrikaya F, Keles S (2008) Evaluating urbanization, fragmentation and land use/cover change pattern in Istanbul city, Turkey from 1971 to 2002. Land Degrad Dev 19:663–675

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Canteiro C, Pinto-Cruz C, Paula Simões M, Gazarini L (2011) Conservation of Mediterranean oak woodlands: understorey dynamics under different shrub management. Agrofor Syst 82(2):161–171

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Catalàn B, Sauri D, Serra P (2008) Urban sprawl in the Mediterranean? Patterns of growth and change in the Barcelona Metropolitan region 1993–2000. Landsc Urban Plan 85:174–184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Choisis JP, Thévenet C, Gibon A (2012) Analyzing farming systems diversity: a case study in south-western France. Span J Agric Res 10(3):605–618

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chorianopoulos I, Pagonis T, Koukoulas S, Drymoniti S (2010) Planning, competitiveness and sprawl in the Mediterranean city: the case of Athens. Cities 27:249–259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christopoulou O, Polyzos S, Minetos D (2007) Peri-urban and urban forests in Greece: obstacle or advantage to urban development? J Environ Manag 18:382–395

    Google Scholar 

  • Costa A, Pereira H, Madeira M (2012) Landscape dynamics in endangered cork oak woodlands in Southwestern Portugal (1958–2005). Agrofor Syst 77(2):83–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dabbert S (1995) Agroforestry and land-use change in industrialized nations: a case study from northeastern Germany. Agrofor Syst 31(2):157–168

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Detsis V, Ntasiopoulou G, Chalkias C, Efthimiou G (2010) Recent insular Mediterranean landscape evolution: a case study on Syros, Greece. Landsc Res 35(3):361–381

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dumanski J, Pettapiece WW, McGregor RJ (1998) Relevance of scale dependent approaches for integrating biophysical and socio-economic information and development of agroecological indicators. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 50:13–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Economidou E (1993) The Attic landscape throughout the centuries and its human degradation. Landsc Urban Plan 24:33–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eichhorn MP, Paris P, Herzog F, Incoll LD, Liagre F, Mantzanas K, Mayus M, Moreno G, Papanastasis VP, Pilbeam DJ, Pisanelli A, Dupraz C (2006) Silvoarable systems in Europe—past, present and future prospects. Agrofor Syst 67(1):29–50

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • European Environment Agency (2006) Urban sprawl in Europe—the ignored challenge. EEA Report no. 10, Copenhagen

  • Feranec J, Jaffrain G, Soukup T, Hazeu G (2010) Determining changes and flows in European landscapes 1990–2000 using CORINE land cover data. Appl Geogr 30:19–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferrara A, Salvati L, Sabbi A, Colantoni A (2014) Soil resources, land cover changes and rural areas: towards a spatial mismatch? Sci Total Environ 478:116–122

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Frondoni R, Mollo B, Capotorti G (2011) A landscape analysis of land cover change in the municipality of Rome (Italy): spatio-temporal characteristics and ecological implications of land cover transitions from 1954 to 2001. Landsc Urban Plan 100:117–128

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galli M, Lardon S, Marraccini E, Bonari E (2010) Agricultural management in peri-urban areas. The experience of an international workshop. Felici, Pisa

    Google Scholar 

  • Georgiadou-Kypriaiou A (1979) L’agriculture péri-urbaine dans la région du Grand Athènes. In: OCDE (ed) L’agriculture dans l’amenagement des aires peri-urbaines. OECD, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • Geri F, Amici V, Rocchini D (2010) Human activity impact on the heterogeneity of a Mediterranean landscape. Appl Geogr 30:370–379

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jomaa I, Auda Y, Abi Saleh B, Hamzé M, Safi S (2008) Landscape spatial dynamics over 38 years under natural and anthropogenic pressures in Mount Lebanon. Landsc Urban Plan 87:67–75

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Le Houérou HN (1993) Land degradation in Mediterranean Europe: can agroforestry be a part of the solution? A prospective review. Agrofor Syst 21(1):43–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mancino G, Nolè A, Ripullone F, Ferrara A (2013) Landsat TM imagery and NDVI differencing to detect vegetation change: assessing natural forest expansion in Basilicata, southern Italy. iForest 7:75–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martín Vicente A, Fernández Alés R (2006) Long term persistence of dehesas. Evidences from history. Agrofor Syst 67(1):19–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martínez Pastur G, Andrieu E, Iverson LR, Peri PL (2012) Agroforestry landscapes and global change: landscape ecology tools for management and conservation. Agrofor Syst 85(3):315–318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marull J, Mallarach JM (2005) A GIS methodology for assessing ecological connectivity: application to Barcelona metropolitan area. Landsc Urban Plan 71:243–262

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McNeely JA (2004) Nature vs. nurture: managing relationships between forests, agroforestry and wild biodiversity. Agrofor Syst 61–62(1–3):155–165

    Google Scholar 

  • Moreno Marcos G, Obrador JJ, García E, Cubera E, Montero MJ, Pulido F, Dupraz C (2007) Driving competitive and facilitative interactions in oak dehesas through management practices. Agrofor Syst 70(1):25–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nerlich K, Graeff-Hönninger S, Claupein W (2013) Agroforestry in Europe: a review of the disappearance of traditional systems and development of modern agroforestry practices, with emphasis on experiences in Germany. Agrofor Syst 87(2):475–492

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nolè A, Collalti A, Magnani F, Duce P, Ferrara A, Mancino G, Marras S, Sirca C, Spano D, Borghetti M (2013) Assessing temporal variation of primary and ecosystem production in two Mediterranean forests using a modified 3-PG model. Ann For Sci 70(7):729–741

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ortega M, Saura S, González-Avila S, Gómez-Sanz V, Elena-Rosselló R (2012) Landscape vulnerability to wildfires at the forest-agriculture interface: half-century patterns in Spain assessed through the SISPARES monitoring framework. Agrofor Syst 85(3):331–349

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paul V, Tonts M (2005) Containing urban sprawl: trends in land use and spatial planning in the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona. J Environ Plan Manag 48:7–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pelorosso R, Leone A, Boccia L (2009) Land cover and land use change in the Italian central Apennines: a comparison of assessment methods. Appl Geogr 29:35–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petit CC, Lambin EF (2002) Impact of data integration techniques on historical land-use/land-cover change: comparing historical maps with remote sensing data in the Belgian Ardennes. Landsc Ecol 17:117–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pinto-Correia T, Ribeiro N, Sá-Sousa P (2011) Introducing the montado, the cork and holm oak agroforestry system of Southern Portugal. Agrofor Syst 82(2):99–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plieninger T, Wilbrand C (2001) Land use, biodiversity conservation, and rural development in the dehesas of Cuatro Lugares, Spain. Agrofor Syst 51(1):23–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polyzos S, Christopoulou O, Minetos D, Leal Filho W (2008) An overview of urban–rural land use interactions in Greece. Int J Agric Resour Gov Ecol 7:276–296

    Google Scholar 

  • Puddu G, Falcucci A, Maiorano L (2012) Forest changes over a century in Sardinia: implications for conservation in a Mediterranean hotspot. Agrofor Syst 85(3):319–330

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruskule A, Nikodemus O, Kasparinska Z, Kasparinskis R, Brūmelis G (2012) Patterns of afforestation on abandoned agriculture land in Latvia. Agrofor Syst 85(2):215–231

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salvati L (2014) Profiling forest fires along the urban gradient: a Mediterranean case study. Urban Ecosyst. doi:10.1007/s11252-014-0359-y

    Google Scholar 

  • Salvati L, Ferrara A (2014) Do land-use changes shape sensitivity to forest fires in peri-urban areas? Urban For Urban Green 13(3):571–575

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salvati L, Sabbi A (2011) Exploring long-term land cover changes in an urban region of southern Europe. Int J Sustain Dev World Ecol 18(4):273–282

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salvati L, Sateriano A, Bajocco S (2013) To grow or to sprawl? evolving land cover relationships in a compact Mediterranean city region. Cities 30:113–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Serra P, Pons X, Saurí D (2008) Land-cover and land-use change in a Mediterranean landscape: a spatial analysis of driving forces integrating biophysical and human factors. Appl Geogr 28(3):189–209

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharp JS, Smith MB (2003) Social capital and farming at the rural–urban interface: the importance of non-farmer and farmer relations. Agric Syst 76(3):913–927

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shibu J (2012) Agroforestry for conserving and enhancing biodiversity. Agrofor Syst 85(1):1–8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shrestha MK, York AM, Boone CG, Zhang S (2012) Land fragmentation due to rapid urbanization in the Phoenix metropolitan area: analyzing the spatiotemporal patterns and drivers. Appl Geogr 32:522–531

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soliman AM (2004) Regional planning scenarios in South Lebanon: the challenge of rural–urban interactions in the era of liberation and globalization. Habitat Int 28:385–408

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Theobald DM, Romme WH (2007) Expansion of the US wildland–urban interface. Landsc Urban Plan 83(4):340–354

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Doorn AM, Pinto Correia T (2007) Differences in land cover interpretation in landscapes rich in cover gradients: reflections based on the montado of South Portugal. Agrofor Syst 70(2):169–183

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vrahnakis MS, Fotiadis G, Pantera A, Papadopoulos A, Papanastasis VP (2014) Floristic diversity of valonia oak silvopastoral woodlands in Greece. Agrofor Syst 88(5):877–893

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weber C, Petropoulou C, Hirsch J (2005) Urban development in the Athens metropolitan area using remote sensing data with supervised analysis and GIS. Int J Remote Sens 26:785–796

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Consiglio per la Ricerca e la sperimentazione in Agricoltura, Centre for the Study of Plant-Soil Interactions (CRA-RPS), Via della Navicella 2-4, 00184, Rome, Italy

    Luca Salvati

  2. School of Agricultural, Forest, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Basilicata, Viale dell’Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100, Potenza, Italy

    Agostino Ferrara

Authors
  1. Luca Salvati
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Agostino Ferrara
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luca Salvati.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Salvati, L., Ferrara, A. Profiling agro-forest landscape types at the wildland–urban interface: an exploratory analysis. Agroforest Syst 89, 291–303 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-014-9766-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-014-9766-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation