Angelo Nole

University of Basilicata | UniBas · School of Agricultural, Forestry and Environmental Sciences

Process-based Forest Models (PBFMs) offer the possibility to capture important spatial and temporal patterns of both carbon fluxes and stocks in forests, accounting for ecophysiological, climate and geographical variability. Yet, their predictive capacity should be demonstrated not only at the stand-level but also in the context of large spatial an...

Wildfires represent one of the primary disturbance agents in the Mediterranean, significantly affecting theecological integrity of forests. Therefore, understanding the spatial patterns of post-fire vegetation recovery iscrucial to improving forest restoration planning and assessing the regeneration capacity of different forest standsthat have been...

Process-based Forest Models (PBFMs) offer the possibility to capture important spatial and temporal patterns of both carbon fluxes and stocks in forests, accounting for ecophysiological, climate and geographical variability. Yet, their predictive capacity should be demonstrated not only at the stand-level but also in the context of large spatial an...

Extreme climate events such as late spring frosts (LSFs) negatively affect productivity and tree growth in temperate beech forests. However, detailed information on how these forests recover after such events are still missing. We investigated how LSFs affected forest cover and radial growth in European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) populations locate...

The Mediterranean basin is a well-known drought-prone region, nevertheless it has been affuected by unprecedented extreme climate events over the last decades which are projected to lead to an even drier and warmer climate in this region. Process-based forest models are versatile tools being able to simulate forest stand growth and structure under...

Gross Primary Productivity, tree growth and carbon reserve under climate change: the modelling case study of a dieback Quercus forest in San Paolo Albanese (Pollino National Park) The interplay between gross primary productivity and plant growth under the impact of summer drought events is mediated by the tree carbon reserves. To investigate how pl...

Wildfires have large-scale and profound effects on forest ecosystems, and they force burned forest areas toward a wide range of post-fire successional trajectories from simple reduction of ecosystem functions to transitions to other stable non-forest states. Fire disturbances represent a key driver of changes in forest structure and composition due...

Wildfires have large-scale and profound effects on forest ecosystems, and they force burned forest areas toward a wide range of post-fire successional trajectories from simple reduction of ecosystem functions to transitions to other stable non-forest states. Fire disturbances represent a key driver of changes in forest structure and composition due...

Wildfire disturbances severely modifies the ecosystem structure and natural regeneration processes. Predicting mid- to long-term post-fire vegetation recovery patterns, is pivotal to improve post-fire management and restoration of burned areas forest ecosystems management. Currently, many research efforts have been conducted, in order to monitor an...

The cover image is based on the Research Article Updating the MEDALUS‐ESA Framework for Worldwide Land Degradation and Desertification Assessment by Agostino Ferrara et al., https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.3559.

Supplementary material and Methodological aspects of the article 'Updating the MEDALUS‐ESA Framework for Worldwide Land Degradation and Desertification Assessment'

The disturbance and recovery of European Forest ecosystems are greatly affected by wildfires, requiring continued monitoring to observe vegetational structure altered over time. One of the most important parameters is "fire severity" defined as magnitude of environmental change caused by wildfires. Due to correlation between severity and post-fire...

The Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) methodology (originally proposed in the framework of MEDALUS ‐ Mediterranean Desertification and Land Use ‐ a series of international cooperation research projects funded by the EU) is used worldwide to identify ‘sensitive areas' that are potentially threatened by land degradation and desertification. The di...

Landsat 8 is the most recent generation of Landsat satellite missions that provides remote sensing imagery for earth observation. The Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) images, together with Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared sensor (TIRS) represent fundamental tools for earth observation due to the optimal com...

A major component of climate change is an increase in temperature and precipitation variability. Over the last few decades, an increase in the frequency of extremely warm temperatures and drought severity has been observed across Europe. These warmer and drier conditions may reduce productivity and trigger compositional shifts in forest communities...

The future trajectory of atmospheric CO2 concentration depends on the development of the terrestrial carbon sink, which in turn is influenced by forest dynamics under changing environmental conditions. An in‐depth understanding of model sensitivities and uncertainties in non‐steady‐state conditions is necessary for reliable and robust projections o...

Understanding the dynamics of organic carbon mineralization is fundamental in forecasting biosphere to atmosphere net carbon ecosystem exchange (NEE). With this perspective, we developed 3D-CMCC-PSM, a new version of the hybrid process based model 3D-CMCC FEM where also heterotrophic respiration (R h ) is explicitly simulated. The aim was to quanti...

Key message A remote sensing-based approach was implemented to detect the effect of a late spring frost on beech forests in the Mediterranean mountain region. The analysis of spatio-temporal variability of frost effects on normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) highlighted the distribution of the canopy damage across the forest according to...

Changing climate represents the most important driver of change for mountain forests in the Mediterranean region, by affecting forests vitality and productivity. Increased intensity and frequency of temperature extremes such as late spring frost and heat waves represents the main driver affecting forest ecosystem structure and composition, with con...

Increased forest vulnerability is being reflected as more widespread and severe drought-induced decline episodes. In particular, the Mediterranean area is revealing a high susceptibility to phenomena of loss in tree vitality across species. Within tree species, oaks (Quercus spp.) are experiencing extensive decline in many countries. However, in th...

Understanding the dynamics of organic carbon mineralization is fundamental in forecasting biosphere to atmosphere net carbon ecosystem exchange (NEE). With this perspective, we developed 3D‐CMCC‐PSM, a new version of the hybrid process based model 3D‐CMCC FEM where also heterotrophic respiration (R h ) is explicitly simulated. The aim was to qua...

Understanding the dynamics of Organic Carbon mineralization is fundamental in forecasting biosphere to atmosphere Net Carbon Ecosystem Exchange (NEE). With this perspective, we developed 3D-CMCC-PSM, a new version of the hybrid Process Based Model 3D‐CMCC FEM where also heterotrophic respiration (Rh) is explicitly simulated. The aim was to quantify...

Understanding the dynamics of Organic Carbon mineralization is fundamental in forecasting biosphere to atmosphere Net Carbon Ecosystem Exchange (NEE). With this perspective, we developed 3D-CMCC-PSM, a new version of the hybrid Process Based Model 3D‐CMCC FEM where also heterotrophic respiration (Rh) is explicitly simulated. The aim was to quantify...

Understanding the dynamics of Organic Carbon mineralization is fundamental in forecasting biosphere to atmosphere Net Carbon Ecosystem Exchange (NEE). With this perspective, we developed 3D-CMCC-PSM, a new version of the hybrid Process Based Model 3D‐CMCC FEM where also heterotrophic respiration (Rh) is explicitly simulated. The aim was to quantify...

Based on evidence collected in 22 village communities from nine study sites situated in Spain, Italy, Greece, Morocco and China, this study analyses the complex interlinkages between social memory, community resilience and land degradation. Social memory is seen as an important explanation regarding the ability of a local community to manage and co...

Assessing the resilience of communities is assuming greater importance at a time of global economic upheaval, climatic and socio-demographic changes. The past 10–15 years have seen a significant increase in the number of studies addressing resilience issues at community level from a variety of perspectives, and although the resilience of communitie...

Regional approaches to estimate the carbon budget of Italian forest ecosystems using Process-Based Models (PBMs), have been applied by several national institutions and researchers. Gross and net primary productivity (GPP and NPP) have been estimated through the PBMs simulations of carbon, water, and elemental cycles driven by remotely sensed data...

We present a global assessment of the relationships between the short-wave surface albedo of forests, derived from the MODIS satellite instrument product at 0.5° spatial resolution, with simulated atmospheric nitrogen deposition rates (Ndep), and climatic variables (mean annual temperature Tm and total annual precipitation P), compiled at the same...

The NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) differencing method using Landsat Thematic Mapping images was implemented to assess natural expansion of forests in the Basilicata region (southern Italy) for the period 1984 through 2010. Two Landsat TM (Thematic Mapper) images (1984-2010) were georeferenced and geographically corrected using the f...

Forest ecosystems are characterized by high spatial heterogeneity, often related to complex composition and vertical structure which is a challenge in many process-based models. The need to expand process-based models (PBMs) to take in account such structural complexity led to development and testing of a new approach into Forest Ecosystem Models (...

Context. Forest ecosystem carbon uptake is heavily affected by increasing drought in the Mediterranean region. Aims. The objectives of this study were to assess the capacity of a modified 3-PG model to capture temporal variation in gross primary productivity (GPP), and ecosystem net carbon uptake (NEE) in two Mediterranean forest types. Methods. Th...

A number of studies have dealt with the assessment of potential and actual desertification risk using composite indices. The Environmental Sensitivity Areas (ESA) approach, developed in the framework of MEDALUS project funded by the European Community, is one of the most used procedures to monitor land vulnerability to degradation in the Mediterran...

1. Plants exhibit a wide variety in traits at different organizational levels. Intraspecific and interspecific studies have potential to demonstrate functional relationships and trade-offs amongst traits, with potential consequences for growth. However, the distinction between the correlative and functional nature of trait covariation presents a ch...

The variability of Pinus sylvestris growth over two geographic transects across Europe has been explored through a process-based forest growth model (Hydrall: HYDRaulic constraints on ALLocation) which accounts for the effects of environmental conditions not only on short-term gas exchanges, but also on allocation and tree structure. The model has...

In this study we assessed carbon sequestration by Italian forest ecosystems at a regional level. We applied a monthly time-step process-based model (3-PGS), coupled with a modified soil respiration model, to predict both gross primary production (GPP3-PGS) and net ecosystem production (NEP3-PGS). To evaluate the general reliability of model estimat...

Significant decrease in precipitation up to 15–20% has been observed in the Mediterranean area in the last two decades as a consequence of climate change. To simulate an analogous scenario, the precipitation regime was altered in replicated experimental plots in a Mediterranean macchia dominated by Arbutus unedo L. species. Two different levels of...

* The variability of branch-level hydraulic properties was assessed across 12 Scots pine populations covering a wide range of environmental conditions, including some of the southernmost populations of the species. The aims were to relate this variability to differences in climate, and to study the potential tradeoffs between traits. * Traits measu...

In order to investigate bio-physical parameters associated with water quality, a model based on calibrated and atmospherically corrected Remotely Sensed data has been implemented. Secchi Disk depth and chlorophyll concentration parameters were estimated in a system of very small lakes at Monticchio (Italy) using Landsat TM data. The model was devel...

Atmospheric nitrogen deposition over the last century has resulted in substantial changes in soil C:N ratios in many regions, with potentially important effects on site fertility and plant nutritional status. This is expected to reflect in forest leaf N concentration and forest productivity, and eventually in an increase in forest C sequestration....

I Sistemi a Indicatori Chiave (Key Indicator Based Systems) permettono di analizzare, in maniera efficiente e dettagliata, le caratteristiche di sistemi territoriali anche molto vasti e di individuare le componenti di criticità o di peculiarità presenti in tali ambiti. Tra questi sistemi la metodologia ESA (Environmental Sensitive Areas) per l’indi...

A comment is made on a recent paper published on Science (Strand et al. 2008), in which authors demonstrate an irreconcilable difference in fine-root life spans estimation with two different methodological strategies. In this paper authors point out on major discrepancies and errors from carbon isotopes based analysis and direct observations based...

In this study, tree hydraulic conductance (K tree) was experimentally manipulated to study effects on short-term regulation of stomatal conductance (g s), net photosynthesis (A) and bulk leaf water potential (Ψleaf) in well watered 5–6years old and 1.2m tall maritime pine seedlings (Pinus pinaster Ait.). K tree was decreased by notching the stem an...

The process-based model HYDRALL has been applied to simulate growth pattems and carbon balance of three Pinus radiata and one Pseudotsuga menziesii plantations growing in different sites in Italy, under current climate and climate change scenarios. In three out of four cases, growth patterns simulated by the model under current climatic conditions...