Assessment of land cover changes and spatial drivers behind loss of permanent meadows in the lowlands of Italian Alps
Research highlights
▶ Meadows was the landcover class most affected between 1980 and 2000. ▶ Nearly one quarter of the meadows lands were definitively lost and mainly converted into human settlements, other agriculture uses, bushland and uncultivated land. ▶ Densities of urban, industrial and bushland and land capability were the significant drivers for meadows loss. ▶ Distance to meadow edge, density of meadow, distance to roads and soil degradation were the significant drivers for meadows preservation. ▶ The conflict by land in locations densely occupied by other land cover types with good land capability is the major threat to meadows and avoidance of fragmentation may be a good strategy for its preservation.
Introduction
Loss of grasslands due to alterations in land use/land cover (LUCC) affected the status of this ecosystems worldwide, resulting in loss of biodiversity (Niedrist et al., 2008), encroachment of shrubs and forest (Tasser et al., 2007), decrease of the forage production (Liu et al., 2006), altered water cycle (Mingliang et al., 2008), soil degradation (Snyman and du Preez, 2005), flood events (Flez and Lahousse, 2004) and desertification (Yong-Zhong et al., 2005). In the European Alps, loss of grasslands is a major multidimensional issue (e.g. environmental, economical and social impacts) documented since the 1950s, following the decline in agricultural activities (Gellrich et al., 2007, Hersperger and Bürgi, 2009), and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of European Union and World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations, which promoted intense farming practices and liberalization of markets (Kristensen et al., 2004). This loss in grasslands threats centuries of traditional land use and also its ecologically and economically relevant values (biodiversity, water conservation, forage production, dairy products, aesthetic tourism attractiveness) in a context of global environmental changes and increasing need for food supply (Ceballos et al., 2010).
Three major LUCC processes have been shown to reduce grasslands: (1) abandonment or extensive land use in the uplands with bush encroachment and marginalization with transformation of meadows into pastures in steep slopes (Fischer and Wipf, 2002), (2) intensification in the lowlands (agro-industry) and (3) human settlements expansion into agricultural land (Marini et al., 2007, Pimm and Raven, 2000, Sergio and Pedrini, 2008). Recent studies have shown that these processes affected plant and animal diversity (Bolli et al., 2007, Kampmann et al., 2008, Sergio and Pedrini, 2008), increased floods (Ranzi et al., 1999) and decreased soil respiration, evapotranspiration and water use efficiency (Tappeiner and Cernusca, 1998). It has also been shown that rates of land cover change vary according to landscape features (Falcucci et al., 2007, Schneeberger et al., 2007). In particular, conversions and loss in grasslands can be explained largely by topographic features (e.g. slope), soil related conditions (e.g. land capability) and local neighbourhood attributes related to proximity factors (e.g. distance to urban) (Gellrich et al., 2007, Hersperger and Bürgi, 2009, Rutherford et al., 2008).
However, while these studies documented alpine and sub-alpine regions, few studies addressed the loss in grasslands in the lowlands of mountain regions, which are the heart and last refugee for local farming systems after abandonment in uplands, and the locations most susceptible to changes due to anthropogenic pressure. In addition, in Italy, a country bounded by the Alps, these evaluations are rare and a quantification of grasslands loss is missing. This study assessed and modelled the conversion and loss of meadows in the lowlands of Valtellina, an Italian region in the Southern Alps, in order to better understand LUCC in lowlands and contribute to the creation of guidelines for the preservation and the sustainable management of this key habitat for the European Alps. In specific, for the period 1980–2000, it aims to analyse the following facets: (1) mapping of land cover for the study area (80 km2) to quantify changes and transitions in different land cover classes, focusing in meadows, (2) analysis of the spatial pattern of meadows loss according to spatial environmental features and (3) development of a GIS-based logistic regression model to identify significant drivers for meadows loss.
Section snippets
Study area
The study area (80 km2) is located in Italy, in the lowlands of middle Valtellina, Southern Alps (46.10′N, 9.50 E; Fig. 1). The elevation ranges from 250 to 750 m a.s.l. (above sea level) and slope rarely exceeds 5%. It is a U-shaped valley carved by glacial erosion during the Quaternary, with a west–east orientation, discharged by the river Adda and surrounded by high elevation mountains (>3000 m a.s.l.). Main soil types are Eutric fluvisols, Dystric and Eutric cambisols (FAO, 1988). Owing to the
Land cover change in the lowlands of Valtellina valley
The land cover analysis revealed a strong decrease in meadows within the study period 1980–2000. In 1980, the landscape was largely covered by agricultural land (65.8%), mainly meadows (36.4%) and vineyards (17.4%) (Table 2). Human settlements (urban, industrial and roads) covered 17.1% and bushland 10.7%. Twenty years later (2000), the overall composition of the landscape changed, it was less agricultural addressed (−10.5%), more human settled (+6.3%) and the presence of bushland increased
Landscape transformation and meadows conversion
This study found considerable land cover changes in the lowlands of Valtellina valley between 1980 and 2000 and confirmed the general trend for mountain regions in Europe, since the 1950s, of increasing human settlements and bushland and reduction in agricultural land. In particular, bushland expansion in lowlands, which was found in lowlands, is an unusual process since in the European Alps it has usually been registered at higher elevation, with a consequent reduction in agricultural
Conclusions
This study measured the underestimated land cover changes and spatial environmental variables behind the loss of permanent meadows within the period 1980–2000 in the lowlands of Italian Valtellina valley, European Alps. Nearly one quarter of the meadows lands were definitively lost and mainly converted into human settlements, other agriculture uses, bushland and uncultivated land. The spatial analysis denoted that local spatial environmental features are important for meadows loss and avoiding
Acknowledgments
We thank the cooperation of Fondazione Fojanini and the farmers during the field work. We acknowledge Dr. Giancarlo Graci for his support during GIS activities. We would like to thank the project CAPPA and MIUR for the financial support of this project.
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