Coastal areas are dynamic environments that easily change over time. To contribute to a better understanding of natural and anthropogenic factors that may have contributed in the past and/or control ...present-day and near-future coastline modifications, we have realised a chronologically arranged sequence of three geomorphological and geothematic maps focusing on the southern Molise coast (Adriatic coast, Italy). The first two maps concern the geomorphological and anthropogenic modifications that occurred respectively from the Holocene to the 1950s (Map 1), and from the 1950s to the Present (Map 2). The third map deals with the present-day conditions and near-future scenarios of coastal hazard considering the period from the Present to the year 2050. Results obtained and comparative observations of the three maps highlight the elevated shoreline mobility of the Biferno River alluvial coastal plain sector, and its high susceptibility to further coastal hazard due to erosion and inundation.
•Land cover should not be considered as a static parameter in susceptibility analysis.•Changes in land cover pattern lead to modification in landslide spatial probability.•Simulated land cover ...scenarios for assessing future landslide susceptibility.•Information obtained can be helpful for land management and planning actions.
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Land cover is one of the most important conditioning factors in landslide susceptibility analysis. Usually it is considered as a static factor, but it has proven to be dynamic, with changes occurring even in few decades. In this work the influence of land cover changes on landslide susceptibility are analyzed for the past and for future scenarios. For the application, an area representative of the hilly-low mountain sectors of the Italian Southern Apennines was chosen (Rivo basin, in Molise Region). With this purpose landslide inventories and land cover maps were produced for the years 1954, 1981 and 2007. Two alternative future scenarios were created for 2050, one which follows the past trend (2050-trend), and another one more extreme, foreseeing a decrease of forested and cultivated areas (2050-alternative). The landslide susceptibility analysis was performed using the Spatial Multi-Criteria Evaluation method for different time steps, investigating changes to susceptibility over time.
The results show that environmental dynamics, such as land cover change, affect slope stability in time. In fact there is a decrease of susceptibility in the past and in the future 2050-trend scenario. This is due to the increase of forest or cultivated areas, that is probably determined by a better land management, water and soil control respect to other land cover types such as shrubland, pasture or bareland. Conversely the results revealed by the alternative scenario (2050-alternative), show how the decrease in forest and cultivated areas leads to an increase in landslide susceptibility. This can be related to the assumed worst climatic condition leading to a minor agricultural activity and lower extension of forested areas, possibly associated also to the effects of forest fires. The results suggest that conscious landscape management might contribute to determine a significant reduction in landslide susceptibility.
Shoreline Dynamics and Beach Erosion Di Paola, Gianluigi; Rodríguez, Germán; Rosskopf, Carmen M.
Geosciences,
03/2023, Letnik:
13, Številka:
3
Journal Article
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Coasts are highly dynamic and geomorphologic complex systems that evolve under the increasing pressure of climate change and anthropogenic activities, having direct or indirect impacts on the coastal ...environment. Among the major adverse effects, coastal erosion represents one of the most pressing global issues, especially in flat and low-lying coastal areas that appear to be particularly susceptible to beach erosion and related shoreline retreat. This Special Issue collects a set of twelve papers on “Shoreline Dynamics and Beach Erosion”. Of course, this collection of papers does not cover all the broad number of topics concerning the dynamics and spatial-temporal evolution of shorelines and beach systems, but, in our opinion, they contribute to the growing body of knowledge. Coastal systems of variable complexity located in different geographic and climatic contexts are investigated from various points of view by using multi- and interdisciplinary approaches, as well as new experimental ones. The major topics covered concern the morphodynamics and hydrodynamics of coastal systems, the driving factors of coastal erosion, and the use of models/indexes to study coastal vulnerability and the mitigation of human/natural pressures affecting coastal ecosystems.
Coastal erosion and its impacts on the involved communities is a topic of great scientific interest that also reflects the need for modern as well as cost and time-effective methodologies to be ...integrated into or even to substitute traditional investigation methods. The present study is based on an integrated approach that involves the use of data derived from UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) surveys. The study illustrates the long- to short-term shoreline evolution of the Molise coast (southern Italy) and then focuses on two selected beach stretches (Petacciato and Campomarino beaches), for which annual UAV surveys were performed from 2019 to 2021, to assess their most recent shoreline and morpho-topographical changes and related effects on their coastal vulnerability. UAV data were processed using the Structure from Motion (SfM) image processing tool. Along the beach profiles derived from the produced DEMs, the coastal vulnerability of the selected beach stretches was evaluated by using the Coastal Vulnerability Assessment (CVA) approach. The results obtained highlight some significant worsening of CVA indexes from 2019 to 2021, especially for the Campomarino beach, confirming the importance of the periodic updating of previous data. In conclusion, the easy use of the UAV technology and the good quality of the derived data make it an excellent approach for integration into traditional methodologies for the assessment of short-term shoreline and beach changes as well as for monitoring coastal vulnerability.
The standard parasite management of horses based on regular anthelmintic treatments, now practiced for decades has resulted in a worrying expansion of resistant helminth populations, which may ...considerably impair control on the farm level. The aim of the present study was to obtain a retrospective (year 2010 - 2016) nationwide analysis of faecal egg count (FEC) data from the Swiss adult horse population, related to horse age and geographic region. Thirteen labs provided a total of 16,387 FEC data of horses aged four to 39 years (average: 13.6 years). The annual number of performed FEC tests increased from 38 to 4,939 within the observation period. Independent of the annual sample size the yearly patterns of the FEC were very similar. Seventy-eight percent (n = 12,840) of the samples were negative and 90 % (n = 14,720) showed a FEC below 200 strongyle eggs per gram (EPG) of faeces. The annual mean strongyle FEC ranged between 60 and 88 EPG with a total mean of 75 EPG. Horses aged 4-7 years showed a significantly (p < 0.00001) higher mean FEC compared with the other age groups, differences were not significant among the older horses. Based on ZIP codes, samples were allocated by 70.0 %, 6.0 % and 0.2 % to the German-, French- and Italian-speaking regions of Switzerland, respectively. With 222 EPG the mean FEC in the French part of Switzerland was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than in the German-speaking region (60 EPG). Eggs of Parascaris spp., anoplocephalids and Strongyloides westeri were found in 0.36 %, 0.32 % and 0.01 % of the samples, respectively. Based on 3,813 questionnaire feedbacks from owners in 2017 covering a total of 12,689 horses, sixty-eight percent (n = 8,476) were dewormed without diagnosis, two percent (n = 240) were not dewormed at all, whereas for 30 % (n = 3,721) the selective anthelmintic treatment (SAT) concept was applied. The SAT implementation rate differed significantly (p < 0.0005) between regions, with 33 %, 20 % and 25 % for the German-, French- and Italian-speaking areas, respectively. The rate of horses spending 16-24 h on pasture per day was significantly higher in the French-speaking region compared to the German-speaking part of Switzerland (p < 0.0001). In addition, pasture hygiene was practiced at a significantly lower rate in the French-speaking part compared to the German- and Italian-speaking regions (both p < 0.0001). Overall, the shift towards the SAT-concept represents a very promising development with respect to mitigating the further spread of anthelmintic resistance.
The Molise region (southern Italy) fronts the Adriatic Sea for nearly 36 km and has been suffering from erosion since the mid-20th century. In this article, an in-depth analysis has been conducted in ...the time-frame 2004–2016, with the purpose of discussing the most recent shoreline evolution trends and individuating the climate forcings that best correlate with them. The results of the study show that an intense erosion process took place between 2011 and 2016, both at the northern and southern parts of the coast. This shoreline retreat is at a large extent a downdrift effect of hard protection systems. Both the direct observation of the coast and numerical simulations, performed with the software GENESIS, indicate that the shoreline response is significantly influenced by wave attacks from approximately 10° N; however, the bimodality that characterizes the Molise coast wave climate may have played an important role in the beach dynamics, especially where structural systems alternate to unprotected shore segments.
Punta Licosa promontory is located in the northern part of the Cilento coast, in the southern Tyrrhenian basin. This promontory is bordered by sea cliffs connected to a wide shore platform sloping ...slightly towards the sea. This area has been considered stable at least since Late Pleistocene, as testified by a series of evidence well known in the literature. The aim of this research is to reconstruct the main coastal changes that have occurred in this area since the middle Holocene by means of the literature data, aerial photo interpretation, satellite images, GPS measurements, direct underwater surveys, GIS elaborations of high-resolution DTMs, bathymetric data and high-resolution orthophotos taken by UAV. Particular attention was paid to the wide platform positioned between −7.2 ± 1.2 m MSL and the present MSL, this being the coastal landform interpreted as the main consequence of sea cliff retreat. The elevation of this landform was compared with the GIA models calculated for the southern Tyrrhenian area, allowing establishing that it was shaped during the last 7.6 ± 1.1 ky BP. Moreover, the interpretation of archaeological and geomorphological markers led to the reconstruction of the shoreline evolution of this coastal sector since 7.6 ky BP. This research evaluates the cliff retreat under the effect of Holocene RSL variation on Cilento promontories, located in the western Mediterranean and characterised by the presence of monophasic platforms, and the applied method can be considered more effective and less complex and expensive if compared to other effective approaches such as those based on the usage of cosmogenic nuclides.
The map is aimed at illustrating the relationships between landscape evolution and human occupation in the Isernia basin since the Middle Pleistocene. We carried out a detail scale ...geological-geomorphological investigation integrated with archaeological data. Overall data suggest enhanced landscape modification related to the long-term evolution of the Isernia basin. Moreover, during the Middle Pleistocene an alluvial plain environment was present, as testified also by the famous Lower Palaeolithic site of Isernia La Pineta dated to ca. 600 ky. From 600 ky onwards, extensional tectonics and related valley incision reshaped the Isernia basin, with the formation of terraced surfaces and the deposition of a travertine plateau. Archaeological findings from the Lower Palaeolithic up to the Chalcolithic Age testify to pre- and protohistoric settlements on these surfaces. In historical times, Romans settled on the Isernia terrace ridge taking advantage of the outcropping travertines to support wall foundations and to extract construction material.
Soil erosion on mountain trails threaten the sustainability of soils and vegetation. There is a wide theoretical knowledge about the effects produced by mountain recreational activities, but ...particularly for soil erosion there is a shortage of field data. This is why it is necessary to properly survey the soil losses on mountain trails. The most widely applied method in scientific literature is the Cross-Section field survey as is easy-to-apply and low-cost. However, there is a doubt about its accuracy and the development of the new technologies may improve the quality and accuracy of the measurements. Aerial and terrestrial photogrammetric methods are difficult to apply when vegetation is present but, an opportunity arises to apply this method when fire takes place. This paper analyses the soil losses in a recently fire-affected land to check the accuracy of the three methodologies to assess soil loss on mountain trails. The results obtained show an average soil loss between 1287 and 1404 Mg ha−1 of trail erosion for the three methodologies applied, which implies that the Cross-Sectional-Area method, aerial photography and terrestrial photography provide very similar values. Therefore, the conventional Cross-Section field surveys method is useful and adequate to evaluate the impacts generated on mountain trails as it provides accurate measurement and can be repeated any time and below different vegetation covers. The terrestrial photogrammetric methods are accurate too, but they can only be used when there is very little vegetation cover such as in semiarid and arid landscapes or after forest fires. Moreover, they are more expensive and time consuming.
•Mountain trails show high erosion rates and risk soil sustainability.•There is a need to survey soil erosion on trails and to find the best method.•Average trail erosion rates were 1287.33 Mg ha−1•Three different assessment methods provided similar results.•The cross-sectional method surveys properly and efficiently the soil losses.
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