Toward forest ‘‘sprawl'':monitoring and planning a changing landscape for urban sustainability

The present study analyzes the structure and dynamics of the forest landscape in a peri-urban area （Rome, Italy） during the city＇s expansion from 1949 to 2008 using landscape metrics and change detection anal- ysis of digital maps of the area （1500 km2）. While urban settlements increased continuously from 6.5 to 27.5 % of the study area, woodlands changed less clearly, with a moderate increase （from 11.2 to 11.9 % of the total area） and a higher fragmentation as a consequence of Rome＇s expansion. The structure of forest landscape changed along the urban-to-rural gradient with patch size increasing with the distance to the inner city in 1949 and substantial landscape homogeneity in 2008. The indicators proposed in this study inform dedicated measures for conserving forest and maintaining landscape diversity. Measures adopted in Rome＇s forestation plan to counteract woodlandfragmentation were analyzed and discussed. Based on the complex landscape dynamics found for Rome, an inte- grated multiscale planning approach targeting forest con- servation is considered a key contribution to urban sustainability.

Desertification risk,economic resilience and social issues:From theory to practice

Land degradation and early forms of desertification in both advanced economies and emerging countries reflect complex socio-environmental processes driven by multiple interactions between biophysical and socioeconomic forces across different spatial scales.The present study investigates desertification risk,land degradation,and socio-demographic dynamics through the lens of“resilience,”adopting complex adaptive systems(CAS)thinking.The resilience of socio-environmental systems exposed to land degradation is defined as the capacity of a regional economy to respond to crises and reorganize by making changes to preserve functions,structure,and feedback,and to promote future development options.By reviewing the socioeconomic resilience of local socio-ecological systems exposed to land degradation,this study achieves a better comprehension of the multifaceted processes that lead to a higher risk of desertification and the intimate relationship with underlying population trends and demographic dynamics.A comprehensive approach based on resilience thinking was formulated to review both environmental and socio-demographic issues at the landscape scale,and provide a suitable foundation for sustainability science and regional development policies.

Exploratory analysis of structural diversity indicators at stand level in three Italian beech sites and implications for sustainable forest management

The present study introduces an exploratory data analysis based on structural indicators with the aim to assess the effect of silvicultural practices on tree stand structure. The study was carried out in three Italian beech forests of different ages with stand structures that originated from dissimilar regeneration and cultivation techniques(Cansiglio, northern Italy, Chiarano, central Italy,and Mongiana, southern Italy). Ten structural indicators were considered when investigating the latent multivariate relationship between stand structure attributes before and after thinning operations by using a multiway factor analysis(MFA). The MFA results identified the older stand at Cansiglio as more homogeneous for cultivation regimes,and more stable to practices when compared with the younger sites(Chiarano and Mongiana). Heterogeneous stands were sensitive to silvicultural practice thus suggesting their possible impact on forest attributes. The proposed approach proved to be an operational tool to evaluate comprehensively the response of forest structure to planned interventions.