Drought events at different timescales in southern Italy (Calabria)

<div><p>This study reports an analysis of the spatial drought patterns for a region of southern Italy (Calabria) based on a homogenous monthly precipitation data set of 129 rain gauges for the period 1916–2006. Drought was expressed using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), and drought events were analyzed using both the short-time (3 and 6 months) and the long-time (12 and 24 months) SPI. In particular, in order to characterize the SPI spatial pattern, index data of the three most severe drought events were interpolated and mapped using a geostatistical approach. Results show that these heavy drought episodes have widely affected the Calabria region and the drought that occurred in 2002 was the worst in terms of spatial extent both at short- and long-time scales.</p></div

Organic carbon and total nitrogen topsoil stocks, biogenetic natural reserve ‘Marchesale’ (Calabria region, southern Italy)

<p>It is essential estimating the spatial distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil total nitrogen (STN) stocks and their spatial-temporal variations to understand the role of soil in ecosystem services and in the global cycles of carbon and nitrogen. This work was aimed to quantify and map the stocks of SOC and STN in topsoils in an area of the Biogenetic Natural Reserve ‘Marchesale’ (Calabria region, southern Italy). Forest soil samples (0–20 cm depth) were collected at 231 locations and analysed in laboratory for SOC and STN. Moreover, in all samples, bulk density (BD) and soil coarse fragments (SCFs) were determined. Geostatistics was used to map all soil properties (SOC, STN, BD and SCFs) and the stocks of SOC and STN. The mean stock values were 86.3 Mg ha⁻¹ for SOC and 5.1 Mg ha⁻¹ for STN. The total amounts stored in the study area (33.2 ha) were 2865.2 Mg for SOC and 170.1 Mg for STN. Although only the topsoil was considered, the accompanying maps (1:4000 scale) will be useful for the sustainable management of the Biogenetic Natural Reserve ‘Marchesale’ and for undertaking appropriate conservation plans to mitigate the emissions of greenhouse gases.</p