Elsevier

Anthropocene

Volume 6, June 2014, Pages 10-25
Anthropocene

Review Article
Terraced landscapes: From an old best practice to a potential hazard for soil degradation due to land abandonment

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ancene.2014.03.002Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Overview of the available literature on terraced landscapes in different region of the world.

  • Three Italian case studies located in three different contexts were considered.

  • Critical issues (terrace failures) related land abandonment were described and analyzed.

  • Non-structural and structural management were described.

  • The review underlines also the likely future challenges about terrace management with lidar.

Abstract

Among the most evident landscape signatures of the human fingerprint, the terraces related to agricultural activities are of great importance. This technique is widely used in various parts of the world under various environmental conditions. In some areas, terraced landscapes can be considered a historical heritage and a cultural ecosystem service to be adequately preserved. However, terraced landscapes subject to abandonment can progressively increase gully erosion and cause terrace failure. Partly because of changes in societal perspective and migration towards metropolitan areas, some countries have been affected by serious and wide abandonment of agricultural lands in recent decades. This review aims to discuss the current state of agricultural terraced landscapes, underlining critical issues and likely solutions. The paper is structured in three main sections. The introduction provides an overview of the available literature on terraced landscapes and their critical issues. The second section presents three case studies: the first is located in the so-called Cinque Terre area (Liguria, Northern Italy), the second is placed in the Chianti Classico area (Tuscany, Central Italy), and the third refers to the renowned Amalfi Coast (Salerno, Southern Italy). The last section of the review relates to likely solutions (non-structural and structural management) and future challenges (use of high-resolution topography derived by lidar) for suitable management of such environments.

Section snippets

Terraces: the ancient practice of soil conservation and steep hillslopes cultivation

Terraces are among the most evident human signatures on the landscape, and they cover large areas of the Earth (Fig. 1). The purpose of terracing and its effect on hydrological processes depend on geology and soil properties (Grove and Rackham, 2003), but they are generally built to retain more water and soil, to reduce both hydrological connectivity and erosion (Lasanta et al., 2001, Cammeraat, 2004, Cots-Folch et al., 2006), to allow machinery and ploughs to work in better conditions, to make

Terraces: Italy case study

Terracing has been practiced in Italy since the Neolithic and is well documented from the Middle Ages onward. In the 1700s, Italian agronomists such as Landeschi, Ridolfi and Testaferrata began to learn the art of hill and mountain terracing, earning their recognition as “Tuscan masters of hill management” (Sereni, 1961). Several agronomic treatises written in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries observe that in those times there was a critical situation due to a prevalence of a “rittochino”

Integrated view, likely solutions and future challenges

The literature review proposed in Section 1 and the practical examples described in Section 2 underline how human actions connected to the presence and maintenance of terraced structures are capable of accelerating or diverting natural events such as landslides and land degradation. Connected to these issues, the following section is divided in three parts: first are the non-structural management suggestions for the correct management of terraces; second are the structural measures to be

Final remarks

Terraces are one of most evident landscape signatures of man. Land terracing is a clear example of an anthropic geomorphic process that has significantly reshaped the surface morphology. Since ancient times, humans have used terracing practices for agricultural activities in different environments (both hilly and mountainous areas) and regions of the world, and also for mitigating soil erosion and stabilizing hillslopes. The study of terraces represents a challenge for our modern society and

Acknowledgements

Analysis resources and terrestrial laser scanner data were provided by the Interdepartmental Research Centre of Geomatics—CIRGEO, at the University of Padova. Aerial lidar data were provided by the Italian Ministry of the Environment and Protection of Land and Sea (Ministero dell'Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio e del Mare, MATTM), within the framework of the `Extraordinary Plan of Environmental Remote Sensing' (Piano Straordinario di Telerilevamento Ambientale, PST-A).

We thank the

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