Mapping Habitat Quality in the Lombardy Region, Italy

A methodological proposal to evaluate the health hazard scenario from COVID-19 in Italy

2019 Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) had a big impact in Italy, mainly concentrated in the northern part of the Country. All this was mainly due to similarities of this area with Wuhan in Hubei Province, according to geographical, environmental and socio-economic points of view. The basic hypothesis of this research was that the presence of atmospheric pollutants can generate stress on health conditions of the population and determine pre-conditions for the development of diseases of the respiratory system and complications related to them. In most cases the attention on environmental aspects is mainly concentrated on pollution, neglecting issues such as land management which, in some way, can contribute to reducing the impact of pollution. The reduction of land take and the decrease in the loss of ecosystem services can represent an important aspect in improving environmental quality. In order to integrate policies for environmental change and human health, the main factors analyzed in this paper can be summarized in environmental, climatic and land management. The main aim of this paper was to produce three different hazard scenarios respectively related to environmental, climatic and land management-related factors. A Spatial Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method has been applied over thirteen informative layers grouped in aggregation classes of environmental, climatic and land management. The results of the health hazard maps show a disparity in the distribution of territorial responses to the pandemic in Italy. The environmental components play an extremely relevant role in the definition of the red zones of hazard, with a consequent urgent need to renew sustainable development strategies. The comparison of hazard maps related to different scenarios provides decision makers with tools to orient policy choices with a different degree of priority according to a place-based approach. In particular, the geospatial representation of risks could be a tool for legitimizing the measures chosen by decision-makers, proposing a renewed approach that highlights and takes account of the differences between the spatial contexts to be considered - Regions, Provinces, Municipalities - also in terms of climatic and environmental variables.

Urban Forests and Green Areas as Nature-Based Solutions for Brownfield Redevelopment: A Case Study from Brescia Municipal Area (Italy)

Urban areas are experiencing major changes and facing significant sustainability challenges. Many cities are undergoing a transition towards a post-industrial phase and need to consider the regeneration of brownfield sites. Nature-Based Solutions (NBSs) are increasingly considered as tools for supporting this transition and promoting sustainable development by delivering multiple ecosystem services (ESs). Although the potential of NBSs as a cost-effective enabler of urban sustainability has been recognized, their implementation faces numerous barriers. The effective assessment of benefits delivered by urban NBSs is considered by existing literature as one of them. In order to contribute to filling this knowledge gap, we analyzed two alternative NBS-based intervention scenarios—i.e., (1) an urban forest and (2) meadows with sparse trees—for the redevelopment of an urban brownfield area within the municipality of Brescia (Northern Italy). Nine ESs were assessed both in biophysical and economic terms via a combination of modeling (InVEST, i-Tree and ESTIMAP) and traditional estimation methods. The results show that both scenarios improve ES stock and flow compared to the baseline, ensuring annual flows ranging between 140,000 and 360,000 EUR/year. Scenario 1 shows higher values when single ESs are considered, while scenario 2 shows higher total values, as it also accounts for the phytoremediation capacity that is not considered under the first scenario. All in all, regulating ESs represent the bulk of estimated ESs, thus highlighting the potential of proposed NBSs for improving urban resilience. The ES assessment and valuation exercise presented within this paper is an example of how research and practice can be integrated to inform urban management activities, and provide inputs for future decision making and planning regarding urban developments.

Conservation, Restoration, and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity Based on Habitat Quality Monitoring: A Case Study on Jeju Island, South Korea (1989–2019)

Biodiversity loss is progressing despite biodiversity being essential for human survival, prosperity, and well-being. Conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of the habitat, given that its change is the most prominent factor causing the deterioration of biodiversity, represents a highly effective way of securing biodiversity. Therefore, we assessed and monitored habitat quality as a proxy for biodiversity with habitat quantity in Jeju Island, South Korea. We used an InVEST model with data on the habitat type, suitability, sensitivity, accessibility, and threat factors. Natural habitats throughout Jeju had rapidly decreased in area by 24.9% from 1989 to 2019, and this change contributed to the degradation of habitat quality by 15.8%. We provided significant evidence on the critical degradation of habitat for a long period of over 30 years and highlighted the urgent need for policies and behaviors that enhance biodiversity. We proposed appropriate strategies to prompt people to conserve better, restore effectively, and use biodiversity sustainably. We expect that our findings will provide scientific and evidence-based guidance for policy-making on biodiversity enhancement and will further support achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and Aichi Biodiversity Targets, in addition to compliance with the New Deal for Nature and People.

Study of habitat quality assessment using geospatial techniques in Keoladeo National Park, India

Wetlands are one of the most productive ecosystems on the Earth. They are generally considered a transitional state between terrestrial-aquatic habitats and provide numerous vital ecosystem services to mankind. Wetlands are under a tremendous pressure due to growing human interference, urbanization, conventional agriculture, industrial expansions, and overexploitation of ecological services. The Keoladeo National Park (KNP) is a manmade wetland, world heritage site and a designated Ramsar site in India, widely known for its avian biodiversity. Due to insufficient amount of water supply and widespread invasion of Prosopis juliflora, notable spatio-temporal changes are observed in the land cover affecting habitat quality of the park. The present study is designed to highlight the importance of very high-resolution satellite data for characterization of the wetland ecosystem. It assesses the spatio-temporal dynamics of land use/land cover (LULC) and habitat quality, a model built in the InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs) tool, is utilized to analyze the effect of land cover changes and increase in P. juliflora on habitat quality in the park. The study concludes that drastic changes in LULC and rampant spread of P. juliflora have deteriorated the quality of habitat for bird species. Furthermore, it highlights importance of geospatial tools in mapping, monitoring, and managing wetland ecosystems.

The Utilization of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index to Map Habitat Quality in Turin (Italy)

The integration of ecosystem service mapping in decision-making is crucial to place effective urban design and sustainable planning solutions. Nonetheless, often ecosystem service maps are the product of different data inputs that influences the final modeling output thus affecting final decisions, especially when a finer and site-specific assessment is required to design practical and effective solutions. In this work, the city of Turin (Northwest Italy) was selected as a test site for an empirical experiment of ecosystem service mapping using the software Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST): two habitat quality models of the city were compared in a Geographic Information System environment, the first using the “traditional” sensitivity employed during the LIFE SAM4CP European research while the second using the natural difference vegetation index to re-assign the sensitivity scores. Results demonstrate that the integration of site-specific information in the habitat quality input model generates a different result, which is capable of differentiating all those dense built-up areas of the dense settlement system that provide ecosystem supporting functions at the city-level. These differences were analyzed to define new green hotspots in the compact city while furnishing a new perspective for sustainable city planning.