Among rewilding mountains: grassland conservation and abandoned settlements in the Northern Apennines

Figures & data

Figure 1. The location of the study area in the Northern Apennines.

Table 1. Population changes in the municipalities of the Foreste Casentinesi National Park. The formerly separated municipalities of Pratovecchio and Stia form the Comune di Pratovecchio Stia since 2014. Source: Istituto Nazionale di Statistica (1981, 1991, 2001, 2011) and author’s calculations.

	Inhabitants [persons]	Population changes [%]
Municipality	1981	1981–1991	1991–2001	2001–2011	1981–2011
Bagno di Romagna	6353	−1.58	−2.39	0.49	−3.38
Portico e San Benedetto	1034	−7.04	−11.94	−12.22	−25.63
Premilcuore	1062	−11.67	−6.97	−10.71	−24.39
Santa Sofia	4381	−3.20	0.72	−1.98	−4.29
Tredozio	1619	−11.35	−10.40	−4.61	−22.24
Bibbiena	10,663	2.79	4.30	6.69	15.20
Chiusi della Verna	2292	−3.10	0.09	−8.11	−10.21
Pratovecchio-Stia	6058	0.44	0.21	−1.45	−0.78
Poppi	5713	−2.00	4.63	5.21	8.45
Londa	1089	10.44	27.14	8.65	67.77
San Godenzo	1162	−5.16	6.91	3.57	5.94

Figure 2. Shrub encroachment on grasslands (view from the locality of Briganzone/San Godenzo). Photo: Andreas Haller (2017).

Table 2. Accuracy assessment of the 2010 land cover classification on the basis of 373 reference points from 2014 very high-resolution imagery. Changes between grassland (GRL), wood or shrubland (WSL), and other are shown.

	Reference data
Classified data	WSL	GRL	Other	Total	User’s accuracy [%]
WSL	245	6	2	253	96.84
GRL	19	37	5	61	60.66
Other	9	7	43	59	72.88
Total	273	50	50
Producer’s accuracy [%]	89.74	74.00	86.00
Overall accuracy [%]	87.13
Allocation disagreement [%]	6.97
Quantity disagreement [%]	5.90

Table 3. Portions and changes of land cover classes 1990–2001 and 2001–2011 in the Foreste Casentinesi National Park (in percent of the total area of 408,998 pixel).

	Gain		Loss		Total change		Swap		Absolute value of net change
	1990–2001	2001–2010	1990–2001	2001–2010	1990–2001	2001–2010	1990–2001	2001–2010	1990–2001	2001–2010
WSL	17.65	3.44	1.13	4.49	18.78	7.92	2.26	6.87	16.52	1.05
GRL	1.12	3.84	18.08	3.66	19.2	7.5	2.24	7.33	16.96	0.17
Other	0.44	0.88	0	0	0.44	0.88	0	0	0.44	0.88
Total	19.21	8.15	19.21	8.15	19.21	8.15	2.25	7.1	16.96	1.05

Table 4. Land cover change during 1990–2001 and 2001–2011 (in percent of the total area of 408,998 pixel). Bold figures represent the observed values, and figures in italics show the difference between observed and expected values in terms of gains and losses.

	2001							2010
1990	WSL	GRL	Other	Total 1990	Gain 1990–2001	Loss 1990–2001	2001	WSL	GRL	Other	Total 2001	Gain 2001–2010	Loss 2001–2010
WSL	65.87	1.12	0.01	67.01	17.65	1.13	WSL	79.04	3.84	0.65	83.53	3.44	4.49
gain	0	0.05	−0.29	−0.24	0	−0.24	gain	0	0.15	−0.11	0.04	0	0.04
loss	0	0.22	−0.22	0	0.27	0	loss	0	0.43	−0.43	0	−0.05	0
GRL	17.65	11.99	0.43	30.07	1.12	18.08	GRL	3.44	9.45	0.23	13.11	3.84	3.66
gain	1.56	0	0.29	1.85	0	1.85	gain	0.7	0	0.11	0.81	0	0.81
loss	0.27	0	−0.27	0	0.22	0	loss	−0.05	0	0.05	0	0.43	0
Other	0	0	2.92	2.92	0.44	0	Other	0	0	3.36	3.36	0.88	0
gain	−1.56	−0.05	0	−1.61	0	−1.61	gain	−0.7	−0.15	0	−0.85	0	−0.85
loss	0	0	0	0	−0.49	0	loss	0	0	0	0	−0.38	0
Total 2001	83.53	13.11	3.36	100	19.21	19.21	Total 2010	82.47	13.28	4.24	100	8.15	8.15
gain	0	0	0	0	0	0	gain	0	0	0	0	0	0
loss	0.27	0.22	−0.49	0	0	0	loss	−0.05	0.43	−0.38	0	0	0

Figure 3. Grasslands in the Foreste Casentinesi National Park. The municipalities of Bagno di Romagna (BRO), Portico e San Benedetto (PSB), Premilcuore (PRE), Santa Sofia (SSO), Tredozio (TRE), Bibbiena (BIB), Chiusi della Verna (CHV), Pratovecchio-Stia (PST), Poppi (POP), Londa (LON), and San Godenzo (SGO) are indicated.

Figure 4. Altitudinal distribution of grassland areas that disappeared during 1990–2010. The highest values are found in the submontane zone (600–1000 m asl), which covers 63% of the park, and where 77% of the park disappeared and 81% of the park’s 2010 grassland is located. Source: Authors’ calculation.

Figure 5. Abandoned settlements (2014) on stable/not on stable grassland are indicated. The municipalities of Bagno di Romagna (BRO), Portico e San Benedetto (PSB), Premilcuore (PRE), Santa Sofia (SSO), Tredozio (TRE), Bibbiena (BIB), Chiusi della Verna (CHV), Pratovecchio-Stia (PST), Poppi (POP), Londa (LON), and San Godenzo (SGO) are indicated.

Figure 6. Abandoned settlement at the Romiti plain (now property of the Foreste Casentinesi National Park). Photo: Andreas Haller (2017).

Istituto Nazionale di Statistica. (1981). XII censimento generale della popolazione e delle abitazioni. Rome, Italy: Istat.

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Istituto Nazionale di Statistica. (1991). XIII censimento generale della popolazione e delle abitazioni. Rome, Italy: Istat.

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Istituto Nazionale di Statistica. (2001). XIV censimento generale della popolazione e delle abitazioni. Rome, Italy: Istat.

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Istituto Nazionale di Statistica. (2011). XV censimento generale della popolazione e delle abitazioni. Rome, Italy: Istat.

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