Assessing Karst Landscape Degradation: A Case Study in Southern Italy

Abstract

Karst regions are peculiar due to their environmental and ecological features and hold a rich abundance of natural resources; nonetheless, they represent one of the most endangered areas in the world as a result of human activity. Further, urbanization and modernization of agricultural practices over the years determined an acceleration in the degradation of the karst environment. For a long period in the Apulia region, humans used to live in a sustainable equilibrium with the karst landscape; however, during the 1980s and 1990s, an intense conversion of land cover interested the area, determining a high disturbance of the karst landforms and landscape degradation. In this article, we propose an insight into a case study placed in the Alta Murgia area (Apulia, Italy) to analyze the evolution of the karst landscape over a period of 50 years (1954–2006) by means of geomorphological analysis and multi-temporal photo interpretation. Landcover mapping is carried out to catch landscape modification, and further, obliteration of the karst features through time is also detected. Changes are quantified, and related statistics are derived. Furthermore, to better characterize the area, the main morphometric parameters are also computed for doline. Finally, extensive fieldwork is carried out to verify the current state of the mapped elements and to check the most peculiar observed cases of land cover and karst landform transformations. Results show the intensive transformation experienced by the study site in the period 1973–2006, determined by the substantial land cover transition from pasture and permanent crops to cultivated areas. Further, the main karst features, such as doline and shallow valleys with flat bottoms, also locally known as lame, are partially or totally obliterated by agricultural practices.