Using chorographic sources to reconstruct past agro-forestry systems. A methodological approach based on the study case of the northern Apennines

Giovanna Pezzi, Davide Donati, Enrico Muzzi, Marco Conedera and Patrik Krebs

Landscape Research, 2020, vol. 45, issue 3, 359-376

Abstract: Historical-geographical (chorographic) descriptions provide some of the earliest formal documentation about landscape. We propose a methodological approach aimed at reconstructing a spatial-explicit picture of the agroforestry system of a eighteenth-century landscape, detecting the main land-use drivers, and analysing existing legacies of past agro-forestry productivity in the present landscape. The study area was the Bologna Apennines, and our data source was a chorographic dictionary from 1781–83. We obtained a matrix of 240 administrative units per 18 agro-forestry products with related productivity indices. Multivariate analysis showed that environmental constraints influenced products and productivity. Agricultural areas (and related products) mainly shaped the hillside, while forests and semi-natural areas (and related products) characterized the mountainside. Such former clustering is still recognizable: agricultural land mostly changed to artificial land-cover, whereas semi-natural areas and forests still exist. The proposed approach confirms that chorography can be a useful tool as a primary source in landscape research.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1080/01426397.2019.1624700

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