A proposal for modifying coppicing geometry in order to reduce soil erosion in the forest areas

A key factor to reduce soil erosion and soil instability is the conservation of forest areas. In the last years, in all Europe, forest logging has increased. The Italian situation is paradigmatic because more than 70% of the broadleaved forests are managed as coppices and new exploitations concerning biomass for energy production have tripled since 2001. The common coppicing method leaves standards uniformly distributed on the ground, but this geometry has proven to not play an effective role in soil erosion control. In this paper, we propose a different method for coppicing geometry, aimed to decrease the soil erosion risk. In particular, the theoretical framework of the model is presented here, employing the USLE framework and discussing a real case study, while the results of the experimental tests, which are in progress, will be discussed in future papers. The theoretical results seem to demonstrate the method’s validity, which is expected to reduce soil erosion amount in the range 29-42%

Prioritizing areas for ecological restoration: A participatory approach based on cost-effectiveness

1. Landscape-scale prioritization models are powerful decision-making tools in ecological restoration. Yet, they often fail to integrate multi-stakeholder perspectives and socio-ecological criteria. 2. We designed a new methodology to identify high-priority areas for landscape-scale restoration. This participatory cost-effectiveness analysis model is based on execution and maintenance costs and the potential increase in the supply of multiple ecosystem services. 3. We tested the model in a 181,000 ha heavily anthropized semi-arid landscape in southeastern Spain. Restoring the whole area would cost 221 million EUR and enhance the supply of ecosystem services by 39%. The cost-effectiveness of restoring pine forest and abandoned and irrigated crops were higher than restoring other Landscape Units. Restoring the least degraded sites was more cost-effective than the most degraded areas or randomly selecting sites, even when potential recovery was incomplete. 4. Synthesis and applications. The cost-effectiveness of restoration actions depends on the type of ecosystem and degradation state. Visualizing the outcomes of alternative restoration scenarios needs participatory prioritization maps based on financial costs and the potential supply of ecosystem services. We propose a participatory prioritization protocol that is flexible and adaptable and can help government agencies, environmental managers, investors, consultancies and NGOs' plan restoration actions at the landscape scale and optimize the effectiveness of restoration programs.This research has been financially supported by the Ministry of Science, Education and Universities, the Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Competitiveness of the Spanish Government, and European Regional Development Funds (FEDER; projects TERECOVA CGL2014-52714-C2-1-R and COSTERA, RTI2018-095954-B-I00), and Conselleria d'Innovació, Universitats, Ciència i Societat Digital, Generalitat Valenciana (Project R2D, CIPROM/2021/001)

A proposal for modifying coppicing geometry in order to reduce soil erosion in the forest areas

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Comparative evaluation of rainfall erosivity in the Rieti province, Central Italy, using empirical formulas and a stochastic rainfall generator

Soil erosion caused by intense rainfall events is one of the major problems affecting agricultural and forest ecosystems. The Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) is probably the most adopted approach for rainfall erosivity estimation, but in order to be properly employed it needs high resolution rainfall data which are often unavailable. In this case, empirical formulas, employing aggregated rainfall data, are commonly used. In this work, we select 12 empirical formulas for the estimation of the USLE rainfall erosivity in order to assess their reliability. Moreover, we used a Stochastic Rainfall Generator (SRG) to simulate a long and high‐resolution rainfall time series with the aim of assessing its application to rainfall erosivity estimations. From the analysis, performed in the Rieti province of Central Italy, we identified three equations which seem to provide better results. Moreover, the use of the selected SRG seems promising and it could help in solving the problem of hydrological data scarcity and consequently guarantee major accuracy in soil erosion estimation.7n