IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i1p235-d195027.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Terraced Landscapes and Hydrogeological Risk. Effects of Land Abandonment in Cinque Terre (Italy) during Severe Rainfall Events

Author

Listed:
  • Mauro Agnoletti

    (Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Systems Management (GESAAF), University of Florence, Via San Bonaventura 13, 50145 Firenze, Italy)

  • Alessandro Errico

    (Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Systems Management (GESAAF), University of Florence, Via San Bonaventura 13, 50145 Firenze, Italy)

  • Antonio Santoro

    (Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Systems Management (GESAAF), University of Florence, Via San Bonaventura 13, 50145 Firenze, Italy)

  • Andrea Dani

    (Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Systems Management (GESAAF), University of Florence, Via San Bonaventura 13, 50145 Firenze, Italy)

  • Federico Preti

    (Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Systems Management (GESAAF), University of Florence, Via San Bonaventura 13, 50145 Firenze, Italy)

Abstract

During 25 October 2011, an extremely intense rainfall event occurred in Eastern Liguria and Northern Tuscany. Severe damages were registered in the Monterosso and Vernazza basins, located in the famous area of Cinque Terre, which have been affected by hundreds of landslides, mud flows, and erosions. The main feature of the Cinque Terre landscape is the presence of terraced cultivations on steep slopes facing the sea. The area represents a remarkable cultural landscape, is a National Park, and is included in the World Heritage List of the UNESCO. This work aims to analyze the effect of abandoned terraced land on hydrogeological risks and in landslide prevention, by comparing what happened in Cinque Terre to other experiences presented in scientific literature. The cessation of maintenance of dry stone terraces due to the crisis of traditional agriculture was identified as the main cause of failure during the heavy rainfall event. However, we found some contrasting and, in some cases, unexpected results in the literature regarding the effects of the vegetation that develops on abandoned terraces. This paper compares different results in order to better understand what the future of terraced landscapes is and which are the best management strategies for such complex and fragile territories. In particular, where they represent a cultural heritage and a resource for the rural economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Mauro Agnoletti & Alessandro Errico & Antonio Santoro & Andrea Dani & Federico Preti, 2019. "Terraced Landscapes and Hydrogeological Risk. Effects of Land Abandonment in Cinque Terre (Italy) during Severe Rainfall Events," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-12, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:1:p:235-:d:195027
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/1/235/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/1/235/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mauro Agnoletti & Leonardo Conti & Lorenza Frezza & Antonio Santoro, 2015. "Territorial Analysis of the Agricultural Terraced Landscapes of Tuscany (Italy): Preliminary Results," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-18, April.
    2. Mauro Agnoletti & Leonardo Conti & Lorenza Frezza & Massimo Monti & Antonio Santoro, 2015. "Features Analysis of Dry Stone Walls of Tuscany (Italy)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(10), pages 1-17, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Leonardo Conti & Paolo Armanasco & Caterina Sottili & Stefano Camiciottoli & Donato Liberto & Michele Moretta & Alberto Masoni & Enrico Palchetti, 2025. "Agricultural Terraced Areas in the Tuscan Archipelago (Italy): Mapping, Consistency, and Territorial Analysis," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-20, April.
    2. Alieh Abadi & Mehdi Khakzand, 2022. "Extracting the qualitative dimensions of agritourism for the sustainable development of Charqoli village in Iran: the promotion of vernacular entrepreneurship and environment-oriented preservation per," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(11), pages 12609-12671, November.
    3. Salvatore Di Fazio & Giuseppe Modica, 2018. "Historic Rural Landscapes: Sustainable Planning Strategies and Action Criteria. The Italian Experience in the Global and European Context," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-27, October.
    4. García-Ruiz, J.M. & Lasanta, T. & Nadal-Romero, E. & Lana-Renault, N. & Álvarez-Farizo, B., 2020. "Rewilding and restoring cultural landscapes in Mediterranean mountains: Opportunities and challenges," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    5. Karol Król & Robert Kao & Józef Hernik, 2019. "The Scarecrow as an Indicator of Changes in the Cultural Heritage of Rural Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-23, December.
    6. Antonio Santoro & Martina Venturi & Mauro Agnoletti, 2020. "Agricultural Heritage Systems and Landscape Perception among Tourists. The Case of Lamole, Chianti (Italy)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-15, April.
    7. Michalia Sakellariou & Basil E. Psiloglou & Christos Giannakopoulos & Photini V. Mylona, 2021. "Integration of Abandoned Lands in Sustainable Agriculture: The Case of Terraced Landscape Re-Cultivation in Mediterranean Island Conditions," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-16, April.
    8. Salvatore Praticò & Francesco Solano & Salvatore Di Fazio & Giuseppe Modica, 2022. "A Multitemporal Fragmentation-Based Approach for a Dynamics Analysis of Agricultural Terraced Systems: The Case Study of Costa Viola Landscape (Southern Italy)," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-19, March.
    9. Aayush Srivastava & Tim Kinnaird & Christopher Sevara & Justin Allen Holcomb & Sam Turner, 2023. "Dating Agricultural Terraces in the Mediterranean Using Luminescence: Recent Progress and Challenges," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-19, March.
    10. Tanja Kremenić & Goran Andlar & Mauro Varotto, 2021. "How Did Sheep Save the Day? The Role of Dry Stone Wall Heritage and Agropastorality in Historical Landscape Preservation. A Case-Study of the Town of Cres Olive Grove," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-26, September.
    11. Qianru Chen & Yuyang Wen & Xinmin Zhang & Zhenhong Zhu, 2022. "Evolutionary Overview of Terrace Research Based on Bibliometric Analysis in Web of Science from 1991 to 2020," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-17, June.
    12. Emanuela Cicinelli & Giulia Caneva & Valentina Savo, 2021. "A Review on Management Strategies of the Terraced Agricultural Systems and Conservation Actions to Maintain Cultural Landscapes around the Mediterranean Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-12, April.
    13. Mauro Agnoletti & Leonardo Conti & Lorenza Frezza & Massimo Monti & Antonio Santoro, 2015. "Features Analysis of Dry Stone Walls of Tuscany (Italy)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(10), pages 1-17, October.
    14. Zdena Krnáčová & Štefan Krnáč & Mária Barančoková, 2023. "Analysis of Interrelations Structure in Agro-Systems Using the Factor Analysis Technique (FA)," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-26, January.
    15. Dušan Tomanović & Irena Rajković & Mirko Grbić & Julija Aleksić & Nebojša Gadžić & Jasmina Lukić & Tijana Tomanović, 2019. "Houses Based on Natural Stone; A Case Study—The Bay of Kotor (Montenegro)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-35, July.
    16. Elena Brunori & Luca Salvati & Angela Antogiovanni & Rita Biasi, 2018. "Worrying about ‘Vertical Landscapes’: Terraced Olive Groves and Ecosystem Services in Marginal Land in Central Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-20, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:1:p:235-:d:195027. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.