Terrace Abandonment Hazards in a Mediterranean Cultural Landscape
Publication: Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste
Volume 24, Issue 1
Abstract
The phenomenon of the abandonment of terraced landscapes compromises environmental well-being and is a preamble to hydrological instability and, consequently, the collapse of terrace retaining walls, soil erosion, and loss of agricultural lands. These problems will escalate in the coming years because of climate change (CC), especially in areas in which a rise in rainfall events is expected, such as the coastline of the Campania region, which is exposed to extreme rainfall events. This study identifies a landscape management guideline for Crapolla Fiord on the Amalfi coast (Campania region), a typical cultural landscape characterized by the presence of archaeological ruins. Potential hazards were evaluated and quantified, taking into account the flow rate and the rain intensity both at the mountainside and microbasin scale. This study shows that potential hazards have increased because of the loss of terraces and may further increase due to the abandonment of agriculture. This paper points out that supporting measures are necessary in areas in which agricultural land use is still present and that the introduction of small interventions designed to raise the infiltration capacity of the soil and/or to regenerate vegetation in areas in which terraces have been lost is a best practice.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code generated or used during the study are available from the corresponding author by request, including (1) rainfall data selected from the Annali Idrologici, and (2) LIDAR data (DTM and DSM) for the study area.
References
Agnoletti, M., M. Errico, A. Santoro, A. Dani, and F. Preti. 2019. “Terraced landscapes and hydrogeological risk. Effects of land abandonment in Cinque Terre (Italy) during severe rainfall events.” Sustainability 11 (1): 235. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11010235.
Bell, F. C. 1969. “Generalized rainfall-duration-frequency relationships.” J. Hydraul. Eng. 95 (1): 311–327.
Capolupo, A., E. Cervelli, S. Pindozzi, and L. Boccia. 2017. “Assessing volumetric and geomorphologic changes of terraces in Amalfi coast using photogrammetric technique.” In Biosystems engineering addressing the human challenges of the 21st century, 5–8. Bari, Italy: Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro.
Capolupo, A., L. Kooistra, C. Berendonk, L. Boccia, and J. Suomalainen. 2015a. “Estimating plant traits of grasslands from UAV-acquired hyperspectral images: A comparison of statistical approaches.” Int. J. Geo-Inf. 4 (4): 2792–2820. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi4042792.
Capolupo, A., P. Nasta, M. Palladino, E. Cervelli, L. Boccia, and N. Romano. 2018. “Assessing the ability of hybrid poplar for in-situ phytoextraction of cadmium by using UAV-photogrammetry and 3D flow simulator.” Int. J. Remote Sens. 39 (15–16): 5175–5194. https://doi.org/10.1080/01431161.2017.1422876.
Capolupo, A., S. Pindozzi, C. Okello, and L. Boccia. 2014. “Indirect field technology for detecting areas object of illegal spills harmful to human health: Application of drones, photogrammetry and hydrological models.” Geospatial Health 8 (3): 699–707. https://doi.org/10.4081/gh.2014.298.
Capolupo, A., S. Pindozzi, C. Okello, N. Fiorentino, and L. Boccia. 2015b. “Photogrammetry for environmental monitoring: The use of drones and hydrological models for detection of soil contaminated by copper.” Sci. Total Environ. 514 (May): 298–306. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.01.109.
Cassar, M. 2005. “Climate change and the historic environment.” In Centre for sustainable heritage, London: Univ. College.
Chow, W. T. 1980. Handbook of applied hydrology. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Di Fazio, S., and G. Modica. 2018. “Historic rural landscapes: Sustainable planning strategies and action criteria. The Italian experience in the global and European context.” Sustainability 10 (3834): 1–27. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10113834.
Florinsky, I. V. 1998. “Combined analysis of digital terrain models and remotely sensed data in landscape investigations.” Prog. Phys. Geogr. 22 (1): 33–60. https://doi.org/10.1177/030913339802200102.
Fuchs, S., K. Heiss, and J. Hübl. 2007. “Towards an empirical vulnerability function for use in debris flow risk assessment.” Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. 7 (5): 495–506. https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-7-495-2007.
Infascelli, R., S. Faugno, S. Pindozzi, L. Boccia, and P. Merot. 2013. “Testing different topographic indexes to predict wetlands distribution.” Procedia Environ. Sci. 19 (Jan): 733–746. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proenv.2013.06.082.
IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). 2014. “Annex II: Glossary.” In Climate change 2014: Synthesis report. Contribution of working groups I, II and III to the fifth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change, edited by K. J. Mach, S. Planton, C. von Stechow, Core Writing Team, R. K. Pachauri, and L. A. Meyer, 117–130. Geneva: IPCC.
Leone, A. 2011. Ambiente e pianificazione franco angeli urbanistica, 437. Milano, Italy: FrancoAngeli.
Lombardo, L., M. Cama, M. Maerker, and E. Rotigliano. 2014. “A test of transferability for landslides susceptibility models under extreme climatic events: Application to the Messina 2009 disaster.” Nat. Hazards 74 (3): 1951–1989. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-014-1285-2.
Minh Nhat, L., Y. Tachikawa, K. Takara. 2006. “Establishment of intensity-duration-frequency curves for precipitation in the monsoon area of Vietnam.” Annu. Disaster Prev. Res. Inst. 49: 93–102.
Pawłuszek, K., A. Borkowski, and P. Tarolli. 2017. “Towards the optimal pixel size of DEM for automatic mapping of landslide areas international archives of the photogrammetry.” Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci. 42 (1): 83–90.
Peres, D. J., and A. Cancelliere. 2018. “Modeling impacts of climate change on return period of landslide triggering.” J. Hydrol. 567 (Dec): 420–434. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.10.036.
Pindozzi, S., E. Cervelli, A. Capolupo, C. Okello, and L. Boccia. 2015. “Using historical maps to analyze two hundred years of land cover changes: Case study of Sorrento peninsula (south Italy).” Cartography Geog. Inf. Sci. 43 (3): 250–265. https://doi.org/10.1080/15230406.2015.1072736.
Russo, V. 2014. “Landscape as architecture.” In Identity and conservation of Crapolla cultural site, edited by V. Russo. Florence, Italy: Nardini.
Sabbioni, C., M. Cassar, P. Brimblecombe, and R. A. Lefevre. 2008. Vulnerability of cultural heritage to climate change. Strasbourg, France: European and Mediterranean Major Hazards Agreement.
Sabbioni, C., M. Cassar, P. Brimblecombe, and R. A. Lefevre. 2009. “Vulnerability of cultural heritage to climate change.” Pollut. Atmos. 202: 157–169.
Tessitore, S., D. Di Martire, R. Martino, and D. Calcaterra. 2011. “Comparison of 2D models for the simulation of the October 1954 debris flow and flood event at Maiori (Campania region, Italy).” Ital. J. Eng. Geol. Environ. 1: 513–522. https://doi.org/10.4408/IJEGE.2011-03.B-057.
UNESCO–World Heritage Center. 2017. Operational guidelines for the implementation of the world heritage convention. Paris: UNESCO.
UN/ISDR (United Nations/International Strategy for Disaster Reduction). 2004. In Vol. 1 of Living with risk: A global review of disaster reduction initiatives. New York: UN/ISDR.
Wilson, K., R. L. Pressey, A. Newton, M. Burgman, H. Possingham, and C. Weston. 2005. “Measuring and incorporating vulnerability into conservation planning.” Environ. Manage. 35 (5): 527–543. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-004-0095-9.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste
Volume 24 • Issue 1 • January 2020
Copyright
©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 20, 2019
Accepted: Jun 25, 2019
Published online: Sep 21, 2019
Published in print: Jan 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Feb 21, 2020
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.