Erosion and use of the Coast in the Northern Sardinia (Italy)

AbstractThe study provides an overview of coastal erosion of northern Sardinia, indicating the causes and the effects of the most relevant and identifies critical areas to the possible scenarios of extreme events. The knowledge of the state of natural balance of the coasts is essential for planning and protection in the medium-long term and requires careful evaluation of the risks and potential dangers, obtainable through geomorphological, sedimentological and meteomarine data interpretation, and degree and the human settlement type. Many of sardinians waterways are torrential and have poor solids discharges due to existence of the dams, was 393 (56 large reservoirs and 336 small reservoirs) that remove sediment to natural beach nourishment. It is enough to calculate the volume of sediment trapped from the reservoir to have a phenomenon dimension, total 4,372,933.5 m3 for Cedrino in use from 1989 to 1,085,700.0 m3 for Cixerri in activity since 1992 and 2498.226,2 m3 for Bidighinzu in use since 1959. An interference with such significant contributions to the sea involves a sedimentary deficit in the system which leads to an inevitable retreat of shorelines. For the evaluation of the areas with greater sensitivity and vulnerability, it is over considered the human load resulting from the infrastructure presence and activities along the coast and next to the river banks. It has also been decided through a questionnaire meant to assess the value of an environmental asset (in this case a stretch of coastline) which is understood as a "sense of well received" by the people, because it has become clear that the remediation or enhancement cannot be delegated to a mere technical-scientific approach but there has to be shared with the community. The integrated analysis of these factors helped to identify critical situations and vulnerabilities along the coasts of Northern Sardinia that led to the mapping of areas at risk

El Papel de la Web y las Redes Sociales en la Promoción Turística de un Bien Patrimonio Mundial. El Caso del Alcázar de Sevilla (España)

The information and communication technologies have revolutionized tourism and the promotion of cultural attractions. They constitute a tool with which to enhance the cultural heritage and economy of a territory in the context of tourism innovation. The article aims to analyze the potential of the website and social media of the Alcazar of Seville—declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO—in promoting tourism. The quality of this official website and social media was analyzed and evaluated through the 7 Loci model and the Nvivo tool, with weaknesses and strengths being identified. The analysis highlighted weaknesses in areas such as the content, which needs to be optimized, the impossibility of viewing the information in other languages, and the global management of the website and social media, which should be reviewed. The study also presents strengths, including excellent visibility and good positioning in the main search engines, links from the website to social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube) and the adequacy of the time needed to download the pagesLas tecnologías de la información y la comunicación han revolucionado el turismo y la promoción de atractivos culturales. Estas son herramienta para potenciar el patrimonio cultural y la economía del territorio a partir de la innovación turística. El artículo tiene como objetivo analizar el potencial de la web oficial y las redes sociales del Alcázar de Sevilla en la promoción turística, Patrimonio Mundial de la UNESCO. La calidad del sitio oficial y sus redes sociales fue analizada y evaluada a través del modelo 7 Loci y la herramienta Nvivo, identificando sus debilidades y fortalezas. El análisis destacó entre las debilidades, el contenido a optimizar, la imposibilidad de visualizar la información en otros idiomas y una gestión global para revisar. El estudio presenta fortalezas como excelente visibilidad y buen posicionamiento en los principales buscadores, enlaces a redes sociales (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram y Youtube) y que los tiempos para descargar las páginas son los adecuados

The Willingness to Pay for Beach Scenery and its Preservation in Italy

In order to understand the multiple values of landscape, this paper suggests an evaluative methodology that takes into account a quantitative approach, public opinion, and an economic estimation. This study analyzes the coastal scenery of 40 Italian beaches using a fuzzy logic and a Contingent Valuation (CV). Each site was classified into five categories: Class I beaches were littorals with high natural settings; Class II sites were natural and semiurban beaches having low influences by anthropic structures; Classes III, IV, and V had lower evaluations due to poor physical and human condition. A questionnaire survey analyzed beach users’ preferences, judgment, and Willingness to Pay (WTP). Results suggest that landscape judgment is directly correlated to scenery assessment; therefore, beaches of Class I and II were judged beautiful while beaches of Class IV and V had poor judgments. Similarly, the importance given to the landscape was highest in Class I and II than in the others. WTP for the conservation of the selected beaches was about €16 per season. Our findings suggest that people are disposed to pay more for a beach with the top-grade of scenery (Class I and II) and low grade of urbanization. Moreover, WTP would rise for females and for nonresident users with an academic degree, which appreciated the coastal landscape

Modeling high-resolution climate change impacts on wheat and maize in Italy

Abstract The Mediterranean basin has been identified as a prominent hotspot of climate change, with expected negative impacts on crop productivity, among others. Given the primary role that agriculture has to sustain cultural values, economic opportunities, and food security, it is crucial to identify specific risks in agriculture due to climate change, which can address more effective adaptation strategies and policies to cope with climate change. This study aims to evaluate the high-resolution impacts of climate change on the length of the growing cycle and yield of durum wheat, common wheat, and maize in Italy by using the CERES-Wheat and CERES-Maize crop models implemented in the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) software. A digital platform (GIS-DSSAT) was developed to couple crop simulation models with dynamically downscaled climate projections at high resolution for Italy, which can better represent the Italian landscape complexity and the spatial distribution of different pedological and crop management features, providing more detailed information on the expected impacts on crops respect to previous studies at a coarser resolution. The projections have been extended for two climate change scenarios and accounting for uncertainty, either considering or not the potential direct effects of increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations ([CO2]). Results show that climate change may affect Italian cereal production in the medium to long term periods. Maize is the main affected crop, with yield reductions homogeneously distributed from North to South Italy. Wheat yield is expected to decrease mainly in southern Italy, while northern Italy may benefit from higher precipitation regimes. Higher levels of atmospheric CO2 concentrations may partially offset the negative impact posed by climate change and increase the benefits in the northern regions, especially for common and durum wheat

Data for the analysis of willingness to pay for Italian beaches

The data presented herein relates to the article entitled \u201cWillingness to pay for management and preservation of natural, semi-urban and urban beaches in Italy\u201d [1]. Data of several Italian beaches are collected considering shape, anthropogenic characteristics, use, activity and urbanization levels. Descriptive statistics of beach characteristics and beach users are presented, on the basis of about 5,000 interviews

Good Practices and Sustainable Tourism of Marginal Mountain Areas. The Case of Wine Cannonau in Mamoiada, Sardinia – Italy

Abstract: Mountain regions have been modified by human activity for centuries, which lead to more or less of significant changes in their ecosystems and consequently in landscapes. Some of these changes have been generated by traditional farming practices, such as the viticulture, giving distinctive shapes and identities of the space. Even if in many areas, the farming traditions have been abandoned as the consequences of technological progress applied in agriculture, Sardinia is a good example of vineyards cultural heritage preservation. Thus, linking this cultural heritage to the wine tourism, and promoting good practices at local initiatives, Sardinia limited the depopulation of the mountain areas. A very successful example of the increasing of positive tourism impact on territory planning, over the past few years, is the municipality of Mamoiada, in central Sardinia. The paper highlights the role of the using of environmental, cultural and identity tourist resources of Sardinian territory as far as they are part of good practices and furthermore, they could be the basis of sustainable development strategy. Moreover, the aim of our work is to investigate how the cultural, identity, landscape and socio-economic impact on the wine sector plays an important role for the rural community of Mamoiada

Vulnerability Analysis of the Cultural Heritage Sites—The Roman Edifice with Mosaic, Constanta, Romania

Heritage monuments are religious, historical, strategic, or civil edifices and could be deteriorated or even damaged due to their exposure to natural and anthropogenic hazards. The Roman Edifice with Mosaic (II-IV A.D.), the largest civil edifice (2040 m2) in Eastern Europe, is an ancient civil edifice built on the steep cliff in the western part of the Black Sea, Constanta, Romania, and is exposed to geomorphological and hydrogeological processes, which are affected by degradation. The main objective of this paper is to assess the current state of this ancient historical site in relation to environmental instability and offer scientific support for the rehabilitation process through interdisciplinary and non-destructive methods. Geophysical methods had been applied to comparatively analyze the spatial variations and flows of groundwater around the Roman Edifice with Mosaic in 2008 and 2019. Geomorphological hazards had already been inventoried and mapped. The results emphasize the state of degradation of the Roman mosaic pavement and ancient walls, mainly through high variations in the deposits’ moisture due to poor maintenance, which caused suffosion, and slip processes, bringing the mosaic into a high vulnerability range. The vulnerability map of the Roman Edifice with Mosaic environment is a necessary tool for continuously improving risk management because it clearly emphasizes the sectors that still have hazards

Chapter Distribuzione del marine litter nelle spiagge della Sardegna: il caso di Cala dei Ponzesi e di Cala Spalmatore nell’isola dell’Asinara

The study aims to analyze and quantify compositions of marine litter along 2 beaches of Asinara Island-Italy during 3 surveys (winter’17, spring-summer‘19). Method used was based on guidelines of UNEP, JRC and DEFISHGEAR project. Preliminary results show that 1917 items were collected at Cala dei Ponzesi, while 816 were identified in 2019 surveys. 289 items were collected in 2 2019 surveys at Cala Spalmatore. It appears that plastic is the most important category of litter and plastic fragments, lolly sticks, plastic caps/lids unidentified, string and cord (<1 cm) are the most frequent debri

Bitti (Sardaigne) : du risque nul à l’urgence nationale

peer reviewedLe 28 novembre 2020, en pleine pandémie de Covid-19, une pluie initialement ‘banale’ estimée à 50-60 mm va mettre les quelque 3.000 habitants de la commune de Bitti (province de Nuoro, en Sardaigne) sous des torrents d’eau et une couche de boue pouvant atteindre jusqu’à trois mètres d’épaisseur. Les dégâts sont nombreux sur les infrastructures publiques et les biens privés – rapidement évalués à plus de 40 millions d’euros – et trois victimes sont à déplorer. Dans les heures qui suivent la catastrophe, le désastre est reconnu – fait rare – comme une « urgence nationale de la protection civile ». Cet article raconte comment une bourgade « sans histoire » classée au début du 21e siècle par la Région autonome de Sardaigne comme à « risque nul » face à l’exposition aux risques naturels – tous stress confondus – a été très sévèrement impactée à deux reprises en moins d’une décennie (2013 et 2020) ; jusqu’à devenir un exemple national en termes de gestion de crise, de reconstruction post-catastrophe et de mitigation des risques naturels. Pour ce faire, une série de données ont été collectées – depuis les relevés pluviométriques jusqu’à un très long entretien avec le maire de la commune de Bitti, Giuseppe Ciccolini – pour caractériser quantitativement et qualitativement l’exposition aux risques naturels, les perceptions et la gestion de crise.13. Climate actio

Heavy metals: teeth as environmental biomarkers

Aim of this study was to measure the concentration of heavy metals in tooth matrix and to determine the factors that affect their presence. During tooth development and mineralization several metals can be absorbed in the tooth matrix, thus allowing us to use them as biological markers