Investigating ‘Land-Use Trajectories’ in Mediterranean Rural Areas with Official Statistics and a Multiway Factor Analysis

Marco Maialetti, Clio Ciaschini, Giovanni Quaranta, Rosanna Salvia, Donato Scarpitta, Stefano Bigiotti, Francesco Maria Chelli () and Luca Salvati
Additional contact information
Marco Maialetti: Independent Researcher, I-00195 Rome, Italy
Clio Ciaschini: Department of Economics and Social Science, Polytechnic University of Marche, Piazza R. Martelli 8, I-60121 Ancona, Italy
Giovanni Quaranta: Department of Mathematics, Computer Science and Economics, University of Basilicata, I-85100 Potenza, Italy
Rosanna Salvia: Department of Mathematics, Computer Science and Economics, University of Basilicata, I-85100 Potenza, Italy
Donato Scarpitta: Independent Researcher, I-84067 Santa Marina, Italy
Stefano Bigiotti: Department of Agricultural and Forest Science (DAFNE), Tuscia University, Via S. Camillo de Lellis, I-01100 Viterbo, Italy
Francesco Maria Chelli: Department of Economics and Social Science, Polytechnic University of Marche, Piazza R. Martelli 8, I-60121 Ancona, Italy
Luca Salvati: Department of Methods and Models for Economics, Territory and Finance (MEMOTEF), Faculty of Economics, Sapienza University of Rome, Via del Castro Laurenziano 9, I-00161 Rome, Italy

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 17, 1-16

Abstract: While displaying diversified economic values, agro-ecosystems remain a relevant component of rural landscapes in Southern Europe. Coupled with the expansion of ecologically fragile areas because of climate warming, intensification and simplification of rural landscapes—e.g., in lowland—represent frequent trajectories of rural land-use change (RLUC) in the Mediterranean region and demonstrated to harm ecosystem functionality and ecological quality, especially in a context of socioeconomic transformations of landscapes. Additionally, an incipient ‘extensivation’ of geographically remote and economically marginal agricultural systems was also observed, likely following depopulation and land abandonment. The present study elaborated in this direction, providing an integrated RLUC evaluation scheme based on a multivariate analysis of land-use indicators derived from official statistics. This approach was applied to a continuous, long-term RLUC monitoring of a rural landscape in an ecologically complex Mediterranean region (Latium, Central Italy) experiencing multiple trends (e.g., lowland urbanization, crop intensification in gently sloping areas, and land abandonment/depopulation in steep zones) with diversified environmental implications. Based on administrative inventories, such evaluation was carried out over fifty years (1970–2020) in the study area, considering trends over time in selected crop surfaces at the municipal scale as inputs of a multiway factor analysis (MFA). This analysis quantifies stability in the main rural land-use types and possible changes in the dominant farming systems. Simplified indicators of land configuration (namely a crop intensity index and a rural woodland index reflecting ‘intensification’ or ‘extensivation’ of local farming systems) made available at the same spatial and temporal scales completed the informative picture corroborating MFA results. Taken together, our findings delineate multiple changes in rural landscapes, discriminating land-use trajectories in coastal and inland districts. These development trajectories were basically dependent on processes of (i) land abandonment in relict and remote areas, (ii) crop intensification in dynamic rural districts, and (iii) fringe urbanization along the coastal strip.

Keywords: agro-ecosystems; indicators; crop intensification; exploratory data analysis; Italy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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