On the Role of Natural and Induced Landscape Heterogeneity for the Support of Pollinators: A Green Infrastructure Perspective Applied in a Peri-Urban System

Giulia Capotorti, Simone Valeri (), Arianna Giannini, Valerio Minorenti, Mariagrazia Piarulli and Paolo Audisio
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Giulia Capotorti: Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Simone Valeri: Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Arianna Giannini: Department of Biology and Biotechnologies ‘Charles Darwin’, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Valerio Minorenti: Research Centre of Agriculture and Environment, CREA-Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, 70125 Bari, Italy
Mariagrazia Piarulli: Research Centre of Agriculture and Environment, CREA-Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, 70125 Bari, Italy
Paolo Audisio: Department of Biology and Biotechnologies ‘Charles Darwin’, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 2, 1-29

Abstract: Pollinators are key ecosystem components and their conservation represents a critical target for both nature and human health. In a world of increasing urbanisation, cities and peri-urban areas have to be active players in addressing this target, and in-depth knowledge of the effects of the urbanisation gradient and related landscape features on pollinators has to be acquired. Accordingly, an experimental study on the relationships between bee communities and natural vs. human-induced environmental heterogeneity has been carried out in a transitional peri-urban landscape of the Metropolitan area of Rome (Italy). A multi-step procedure was adopted, arranged into plant and bee communities field sampling, detailed mapping of actual and potential ecosystems, and combined processing and modelling of the respective results. The potential contribution of experimental findings to the deployment of a pollinator-friendly Green Infrastructure (GI) has been then explored, with statistical correlations between bee diversity and landscape metrics adopted for defining conservation and restoration actions and a multi-criteria analysis adopted for site prioritisation in the study area. Such a planned GI could represent an effective solution for enhancing resilience and resistance of peri-urban landscapes against land take and agricultural intensification, as local expressions of global biodiversity loss drivers.

Keywords: bee communities; urban-rural gradient; ecosystem mapping and assessment; conservation and restoration priorities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:2:p:387-:d:1052789

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