Ministry of Environment and Protection of Land and Sea

Farmland zoning is a critical initiative for differentiated protection of farmland and promoting sustainable regional development. Landscape pattern index was predominantly utilized to reflect farmland landscape patterns, while the morphological characteristics did not receive enough attention. Additionally, the zoning methods were difficult to balance the evaluation results of multiple factors. To address these issues, this study conducted Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA) on peri-urban farmland in the main urban area of Changzhou City and evaluated it from the perspectives of production capacity, location condition, landscape pattern, and policy. A Particle Swarm Optimization-based K-Means clustering algorithm was then applied to farmland zoning. The results of the morphological analysis indicate that peri-urban farmland located in the direction of urban expansion and closer to the city is more susceptible to occupation and less spatially continuous. The multi-perspective evaluation results with obvious spatial differentiation characteristics were divided into four regions using the clustering algorithm, with villages as the minimum cluster unit in the study area. Finally, targeted management suggestions were proposed based on the clustering indicator characteristics. Overall, MSPA and the clustering algorithms leveraged in this study offer valuable methods for analyzing and zoning farmland. The findings are helpful in promoting the diversified protection and sustainable utilization of farmland resources.

A combined method of solid-phase alkali activation and surface precipitation was used to prepare the lithium/aluminum layered double hydroxides-SiO2 loaded bauxite (LDH-Si-BX) and applied to adsorb Li⁺ in brines. In the study, various characterization techniques such as SEM, XRD, BET, Zeta potential, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were applied to characterize and analyze the adsorbents. The adsorption-desorption performance of LDH-Si-BX for Li⁺ in brines was systematically investigated, including adsorption temperature, adsorption time, Li⁺ concentration, and regeneration properties. The results indicated that the adsorption kinetics were better fitted by the pseudo-second-order model, whereas the Langmuir model could match the adsorption isotherm data and the maximum Li⁺ capacity of 1.70 mg/g at 298K. In addition, in the presence of coexisting ions (Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, and Mg²⁺), LDH-Si-BX showed good selective adsorption of Li⁺, and the pH studies demonstrated that the adsorbents had better Li⁺ adsorption capacity in neutral environments. In the adsorption process of real brines, LDH-Si-BX had a relatively stable adsorption capacity, and after 10 cycles of adsorption and regeneration, the adsorption capacity decreased by 16.8%. It could be seen that the LDH-Si-BX adsorbents prepared in this report have the potential for Li⁺ adsorption in brines.

Waders (Charadriiformes) are birds sensitive to change in water levels in wetlands. In this paper, we report a multi-year trend in abundance of adults, nesting pairs and chicks of a biogeographically isolated population of pied avocet ( Recurvirostra avosetta L., Aves, Charadriiformes) localized in a salt-water wetland of central Italy where restoration interventions were carried out in 2009. Our hypothesis is that the actions aimed to regulate water levels have allowed the establishment of a stable local population of this rare species. We used a standardized transect methods to obtain values of abundance during the breeding periods (April-July) along the 2006–2022 time range. Comparing data before and after the interventions, we observed an increasing trend in the abundance following the water regulation interventions leading to the establishment of a stable population. The difference in abundance between before and after the restoration was also evident by controlling for rainfalls. When comparing the effects of wetland restoration with rainfall data, we observed as the former was the main predictor (multiple regression) in determining the abundance of pied avocets. The logistic GLM analysis indicates a threshold of 20 individuals comparing before and after the restoration suggesting as the interventions exceed the threshold for the establishment of a stable population. Pied avocet may be an indicator of restoration effort in salt wetlands, since this wader meets many of the typical criteria requested for a biological indicator.

Antimony (Sb), a toxic metalloid, is ubiquitous in the environment and threatens human and ecological health. Soil arylsulfatase (ARS) activity indicates heavy metal pollution. However, the enzyme’s substrate concentration can affect the toxicity evaluation of heavy metals using enzyme activity. Enzyme kinetic parameters directly reflect the potency of heavy metals, and the magnitude of these parameters does not change with the substrate concentration of soil enzyme. In this work, seventeen soils were exposed to Sb contamination to investigate the change of kinetic parameters of soil arylsulfatase under Sb stress. Results showed that Sb inhibited soil arylsulfatase activity. The maximum reaction rate (Vmax) of soil arylsulfatase was reduced by 11.58–46.72% in 16 tested soils and unchanged in S15 when exposed to Sb. The Michaelis constant (Km) presented three trends: unchanged, increased by 28.46–41.27%, and decreased by 19.71–29.91% under Sb stress. The catalytic efficiency (Ka as the ratio of Vmax to Km) decreased by 12.56–55.17% in all soils except for S12 and S16. Antimony acted as a non-competitive and linear mixed inhibitor by decreasing ARS activity in S1–S12, S14, and S17–S18 soils, as an uncompetitive inhibitor in S13 and S16 soils and as a competitive inhibitor in S15. The competitive and uncompetitive inhibition constants (Kic and Kiu) were 0.058–0.142 mM and 0.075–0.503 mM. The ecological dose values of Sb to catalytic efficiency (Ka) of ARS (ED10-Ka) ranged from 50 to 1315 mg kg−1. Soil pH and total phosphorus (TP) contents were the dominant factors responsible for Sb toxicity on Ka by affecting the interaction of inhibitor (Sb) with enzyme-substrate (ES) complex. The findings of this study advance the current knowledge on Sb toxicity to soil enzymes and have significant implications for the risk assessment of Sb in soils.

Migratory behaviour in birds shows a remarkable variability at species, population and individual levels. Short-distance migrants often adopt a partial migratory strategy and tend to have a flexible migration schedule that allows a more effective response to extreme environmental variations. Weather seasonality and environmental heterogeneity have been reported as significant factors in the diversification of migratory behaviour for Mediterranean migrants, but relatively few studies investigated the migration patterns of non-passerine birds migrating within the Mediterranean basin. In this study, we investigated the migratory strategy of 40 Eurasian Stone-curlews Burhinus oedicnemus tagged with geolocators and GPS-GSM tags and belonging to continental and Mediterranean populations of the Italian peninsula. The proportion of migrants was higher in continental populations, but we observed a significant variability also within Mediterranean populations. All birds spent the winter within the Mediterranean basin. Continental Stone-curlews departed earlier in spring and later in autumn and covered longer distances than those from Mediterranean areas. The speed of migration did not change between seasons for continental birds, while Mediterranean individuals migrated faster in spring. The likelihood of departure for autumn migration of GPS-tagged birds increased when temperatures were near or below 0 °C suggesting that Stone-curlews tend to delay departure until weather conditions worsen abruptly. As a consequence of global warming in the Mediterranean, the frequency of migratory birds in the considered populations might decrease in the near future. This could affect the distribution of species throughout the year and should be taken into account when targeting conservation measures.

Loggerhead turtles are a globally vulnerable species of marine turtle. Broad-scale patterns of distribution and abundance can provide regional managers a tool to effectively conserve and manage this species at basin and sub-basin scales. In this study, combined aerial and shipboard line transect survey data collected between 2003 and 2018 were used to estimate distribution and abundance throughout the Mediterranean Sea. Approximately 230,000 linear kilometers of survey effort, from seven different surveying organizations were incorporated into a generalized additive model to relate loggerhead density on survey segments to environmental conditions. Two spatial density models estimating loggerhead density, abundance, and distribution were generated – one a long-term annual average covering 2003-2018 and another covering the summer of 2018, when a basin-wide aerial survey, the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area Survey Initiative, was performed. Both models were adjusted for availability bias using dive data from loggerhead turtles tagged with time depth recorders. Mean abundance for the long-term average model was estimated as 1,201,845 (CV=0.22). The summer 2018 abundance estimate was 789,244 turtles and covered a smaller area than the long-term average. These estimates represent the first basin-wide estimates of abundance for loggerhead turtles in the Mediterranean not based on demographic models. Both models predicted similar distributions, with higher abundance predicted in the northern Adriatic Sea, central Mediterranean basin, Tyrrhenian Sea, and south of the Balearic Islands. Lower densities were predicted in the eastern Mediterranean Sea and the Aegean Sea. The highest density areas generally did not coincide with previously established adult loggerhead turtle foraging areas, which are typically neritic, indicating the models are predominantly predicting oceanic distributions, where most of the survey effort occurred. Juvenile loggerhead turtles are predominantly oceanic and comprise most of the population, but care must be taken when using these models as they may not accurately predict distribution of neritic foraging areas, where subadult and adult loggerheads can often be found. Despite this limitation, these models represent a major step forward for conservation planning and understanding basin-wide distribution and abundance patterns of this species.

Among all the emerging contaminants, fragrances are gaining more relevance for their proven allergenic and, in some cases, endocrine-disrupting properties. To date, little information exists on their concentration in the air. This study aims to fill this gap by developing a method for the determination of semivolatile fragrances in the indoor gaseous phase with sampling protocols usually adopted for the collection of atmospheric particulate matter (sampling time 24 h, flow rate 10 L min−1) and instrumental analysis by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. The method was developed on 66 analytes and tested at three concentration levels: 20 compounds showed analytical recoveries ≥72% with percentage standard deviations always better than 20%. For most compounds, negligible sampling breakthroughs were observed. The method was then applied to real samples collected in a coffee bar and in a private house. Considering the fragrances for which the method has shown good effectiveness, the highest concentrations were observed for carvone in the coffee bar (349 ng m−3) and camphor in the house (157 ng m−3). As concerns certain or suspected endocrine disruptors, lilyal and galaxolide were detected at both sites, α-isomethylionone was the second most concentrated compound in the house (63.2 ng m−3), musk xylene and musk ketone were present at lower concentration (≈ 1 or 2 ng m−3).

In this paper, a procedure for the detection of the sources of industrial noise and the evaluation of their distances is introduced. The above method is based on the analysis of acoustic and optical data recorded by an acoustic camera. In order to improve the resolution of the data, interpolation and quasi interpolation algorithms for digital data processing have been used, such as the bilinear, bicubic, and sampling Kantorovich (SK). The experimental tests show that the SK algorithm allows to perform the above task more accurately than the other considered methods.

An innovative technique based on beamforming is implemented, at the aim of detecting the distances from the observer and the relative positions among the noise sources themselves in multisource noise scenarios. By means of preliminary activities to assess the optical camera focal length and stereoscopic measurements followed by image processing, the geometric information in the source-microphone direction is retrieved, a parameter generally missed in classic beamforming applications. A corollary of the method consists of the possibility of obtaining also the distance among different noise sources which could be present in a multisource environment. A loss of precision is found when the effect of the high acoustic reflectivity ground interferes with the noise source.

The interest in sustainability, within the wine sector, is growing simultaneously with the awareness of the environmental impacts on climate change generated by the sector itself. In this context, environmental methodologies need to be applied: Carbon Footprint of a Product (CFP) is a quantitative expression of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) emissions that plays an influent role in emission management and evaluation of mitigation measures over the full life cycle of a product. Moreover, CFP application in the agri-food sector remains scarce due to complex, expensive, and difficult data collection. This paper aims to determine the main factors that contribute to the CFP of 33 Italian wines from 16 wineries and compare and evaluate the results obtained using all the inventory data or results obtained using a simplified model with fewer inputs. The results per Function Unit (0.75 bottle of wine) have been obtained using a unique methodology. Considering system boundaries from cradle to grave, at 90% confidence interval, CFP results ranged between 0.899 kg CO2 eq./FU and 1.882 kg CO2 eq./FU. The study underlines that most of the impacts can be related to few inventory data, in fact the main contributors of GHGs emissions are: glass bottle (29%), electricity used in the winery stage (14%), transport and distribution of the final product (13%), heat used in the winery phase (9%) and fossil fuels used in vineyard (8%). The results can be helpful to support the development of a simplified CFP and to obtain a benchmark for the CFP of the Italian wine sector. Furthermore, the present study can help businesses, policy makers and consumers in making decisions that lead to a better environmental outcome.

The millimetre accuracy of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) measurements and related multi-temporal data analyses provide fundamental information on surface displacements caused by strong earthquakes. The multi-temporal analysis of SAR interferometry (InSAR) data allows for the geometry, kinematics and temporal behaviour of earthquake-generating faults to be better constrained, and is being acknowledged as a promising technique in the field of earthquake precursors. We used SAR data obtained by multi-temporal interferometric techniques such as Permanent Scatterers Interferometry for the investigation of pre- to post-seismic ground displacements in the region struck by the Mw 6.3, 2009 L'Aquila earthquake. We analysed ERS and Envisat PS-datasets from ascending and descending orbits, and COSMO-SkyMed PS-datasets from descending orbit, collectively covering a > 20-year long time span. On a yearly scale, a reversal of motions that affected the hanging-wall and footwall blocks of the earthquake-generating fault is detected. In particular, the hanging-wall block is characterized by preseismic uplift – that we document as being independent of any hydrological control – and eastward horizontal motion for about 6 years, followed by subsidence and westward motion (starting 8-6 months prior to the earthquake). We suggest that such a ground displacement pattern may represent an earthquake precursor signal. Supplementary material: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5289357

Italy has a rich natural heritage, which is dangerously under pressure. In recent years, there is an increased awareness of the crucial role of plants in ecosystem functioning and in providing ecosystem services. Consequently, an updated Red List of the Italian vascular flora was compiled in this work, at the request of the Ministry for Environment, Land and Sea Protection, with the scientific support of the Italian Botanical Society. The IUCN Red List criteria were applied to 2,430 Italian native vascular plant taxa to assess their current extinction risk and to highlight the major threats affecting the Italian flora. Our results revealed that 54 taxa (2.2% of the assessed taxa) are extinct or possibly extinct at regional level, while 590 taxa (24.3%) were assigned to a risk category. Moreover, 404 taxa (16.6%) were categorized as Data Deficient. The Italian vascular flora is primarily threatened by habitat modifications due to anthropic disturbance and especially to agriculture, tourism and residential development. Coastal areas and lowlands, where anthropogenic impacts and ecosystem destruction are more pronounced, host the greatest number of extinct or declining taxa. Our results represent an d important baseline to establish conservation priorities, legislative choices and intervention strategies on a national scale.

Interest in small scale composting systems is currently growing, and this in turn raises the question of whether the compostable bags are as suitable as in industrial composting facilities. In this work the physical degradation percentage of compostable lightweight bioplastic bags in two types of composter was examined. The main goal was to understand whether the mild biodegrading conditions that occur in electromechanical or static home composters are sufficient to cause effective bag degradation in times consistent with the householders’ or operators’ expectations. Bags, which complied with standard EN 13432, were composted in a number of 600 L static home composters, which were run in different ways (e.g., fed only with vegetables and yard waste, optimizing the humid/bulking agent fraction, poorly managed) and a 1 m³ electromechanical composter. Six months of residence time in static home composters resulted in 90–96 wt% degradation depending on the management approach adopted, and two months in the electromechanical composter achieved 90 wt%. In the latter case, three additional months of curing treatment of the turned heaps ensured complete physical degradation. In conclusion, in terms of the level and times of physical degradation, the use of compostable bioplastic bags appeared promising and consistent with home composting practices.

A growing number of companies around the world have already adopted sustainable practices as the majority of consumers are increasingly concerned with environmental and health issues. Despite this, lack of knowledge in sustainability can represent a limit to a sustainable conversion of Italian wine companies. This paper focuses on the development and suitability assessment of TERRITORY, a qualitative framework that assists sustainable management of winery farms with respect to biodiversity, neighbouring land use, agrochemical use, soil management, water management, landscape, site selection, heritage-cultural and aesthetic aspects, product quality and safety, human resource management, health of employees, community and consumers, economic repercussion of structures and territories, resource depletion, procurement practices and traceability. 47 wine companies have adopted the framework and its suitability has been tested and validated in a ten years trial. The present work reports the results of TERRITORY framework adoption in a winemaking cooperative, a grape and wine producer and a bottling firm, that respectively performed 76%, 92%, 62% (where 100% is maximum implementation of sustainable practices), with lower adherence in water, landscape and human resources management. The framework has driven wine companies towards improvements implementation: most relevant deal with a more effective communication to local community and consumers about health and safety, protection of biodiversity (towards a deeper knowledge of its territorial features), territorial values enforcement and improved communication. From the results it emerges that the framework guides the structural transformation of wine farms towards sustainable production and management by assisting the wine producers in identifying emerging opportunities in wine sector, such as fostering network with local communities, defining better soil, and water management through a multi-actor approach. Furthermore, it has been adopted in addressing the selection of quantitative indicators to adopt and monitoring campaigns.

Multiple recreational seawater pollution episodes affected the coasts of Campania region (Southern Italy) during the 2019 summer season (May through September). The region’s population detected evidence of this pollution by a change in the water colour (to green–brown). This pollution was only partially revealed by conventional monitoring and standardized indicators performed by the Campania Region Environmental Protection Agency (ARPAC). Starting with this evidence, a multidisciplinary team that included representatives from both Italian and United States universities, the Regional Environmental Protection Agency, and the Italian Coast Guard, studied the phenomenon and found all three actors of the environmental model source-path-target. The research was performed using the Multi-level and Multi-parametric monitoring (MUM3) framework, following a bottom-up approach, comprising both onsite and remote sampled and sensed data, that begins at the surface level and scales up to determine the extent as well as the source of the pollution. By this approach, the presence of a microalgae bloom (Pyramimonas spp. and Euglena spp.) has been disclosed and it has been related to the higher amount of nutrients loading by river inflows, due to the precipitation anomalies occurred in May 2019 in that site. This study represents the first application of a real testbed of the MUM3 framework that follows a bottom-up approach showing the added value of this multi scale and multiparameter methodology for environmental monitoring and assessment, where conventional methods often fail.

Background and Objectives: Over the last few decades, the European mountain environment has been characterized by the progressive abandonment of agro-pastoral activities and consequent forest expansion due to secondary succession. While woody encroachment is commonly considered as a climate change mitigation measure, studies suggest a still uncertain role of the soil organic carbon (SOC) pool in contributing to climate change mitigation during this process. Therefore, the objective of the study is to investigate the possible SOC variations occurring as a consequence of the secondary succession process at the provincial level in an Alpine area in Italy. Materials and Methods: A chronosequence approach was applied to identify, in five different study areas of the Belluno province, the land use/land cover change over four different stages of natural succession, from managed grazing land to secondary forest developed on abandoned grazing land. In each chronosequence stage, soil samples were collected down to the bedrock (0–60 cm depth) to determine the changes in the SOC stock due to the woody encroachment process. Results: In all areas, small or no significant (p < 0.05) SOC stock changes were observed during the secondary succession in the upper 30 cm of mineral soil, while significant changes were evident in the 30–60 cm compartment, with the SOC stock significantly decreasing from 30% to 60% in the final stage of the succession. This fact indicates the great importance of considering also the subsoil when dealing with land use/land cover change dynamics. Conclusions: The recorded trend in SOC has been proved to be the opposite in other Italian regions, so our results indicate the importance of local observation and data collection to correctly evaluate the soil contribution to climate change mitigation during woody encroachment.

Changing the economy to meet the goals posed by the Paris Agreement implies a financial system aligned to this end. This debate also involves a reconsideration of aims and tools of banking regulation although, for now, the discussion is still not very operational. In a previous work we introduced the ‘environment-risk weighted assets’ to internalize the pollution risk of the borrower that here we expand empirically to calculate the ‘external costs footprint’ of Italian corporate lending and to cover virtually every part of banks’ business. Moreover, we analyse whether our proposal is aligned to the European Union taxonomy on environmentally sustainable activities. We show that our framework can help to put on a working track the discussion on banking regulation for sustainable finance.

Elemental carbon (EC), a ubiquitous component of fine atmospheric aerosol derived from incomplete combustion, is an important player for both climate change and air quality deterioration. Several policy measures have been implemented over the last decades to reduce EC emissions from anthropogenic sources, but still, long-term EC measurements to verify the efficacy of such measurements are limited. In this study, we analyze the concentration of EC suspended in fog water samples, collected over the period 1997–2016 in a rural background site of the southern Po Valley. The comparison between EC in fog water and EC atmospheric aerosol concentration measured since 2012 allowed us to reconstruct EC atmospheric concentration from fog water chemical composition dating back to 1997. The results agree with the EC atmospheric observations performed at the European Monitoring and Evaluation Program (EMEP) station of Ispra in the northern part of the Po Valley since 2002, and confirm that the Po Valley is a pollution hotspot, not only in urban areas, but also in rural locations. The reconstructed trend over the period 1997–2016 indicates that EC concentration during the winter season has decreased on average by 4% per year, in agreement with the emission reduction rate, confirming the effectiveness of air quality measures implemented during the past 20 years.

An application of the Weather Research and Forecasting mode aiming to estimate wind and 18 photovoltaic energy resources over Lesotho is presented. To this scope, the whole year 2015 was 19 simulated in a two-way nesting mode reaching 1 km horizontal resolution. Different model 20 parameterizations were tested and compared to available observations, then the best performing 21 simulation was used to elaborate wind and photovoltaic potential maps over Lesotho. Concerning 22 the photovoltaic potential, Lesotho presents a good potential countrywide, having values ranging 23 from around 1600 kWh/kWp to 1750 kWh/kWp, with maxima in the highlands. The results also 24 show that there are many promising areas for wind power exploitation. Zones with higher wind 25 potential are mainly found all along the eastern border with South Africa, from north to south and in 26 general in the highlands. The wind potential exhibits much more variability respect to the 27 photovoltaic one, with estimated energy production ranging from 1000 kWh/kW up to 4000 28 kWh/kW. Finally, an evaluation of complementarity of wind and solar electricity generation was 29 done at different time scales, showing that some areas with negative correlation coefficient exist, 30 where it is possible to minimise intermittent production and allowing an optimal integration in the 31 electricity grid.

This study investigates the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus, Montagu 1821) habitat use in the Portofino marine protected area (NW Italy) and adjacent waters, a core area for the dolphins and a highly touristic area in the Mediterranean Sea. A permanent automated real-time passive acoustic monitoring system, able to detect and track dolphins continuously, was tested in the area within the activities of the Life+ Nature project ARION. The habits of bottlenose dolphins was investigated considering the resident rate inside the area, which quantifies the amount of time dolphins spent in these waters, by means of random forest regression. The dependency of dolphin resident rate was analyzed in relation to four explanatory variables: sea surface temperature, season, time of day, and proximity to the coast. Dolphins spent more time in the area during spring and when sea surface temperature ranged between 15–16°C. Summer resulted the season with lower dolphin residency with significant difference between working day and weekend, in the last the lowest residency was recorded. Main findings provide important information to properly manage the area in order to protect bottlenose dolphins.