Agricultural Land Degradation in Italy

Abstract

We present an updated state of the art about the land degradation in the Italian agriculture. After preliminary outlines about the main characteristics of the Italian climate and soils, we analyse the risks of desertification, erosion, salinization, sealing/compaction, contamination and organic matter reduction of soils. Minor factors of soil degradation (overgrazing, forest fires, pollution due to microplastics and agrochemicals) are also discussed. This review shows that, in the Italian agricultural soils, the rates of sealing, compaction and organic matter decline are close to the values recorded in several European countries. Soil erosion and landslides are the major degradation factors in steeper agricultural areas of the mid mountains and hills, and particularly in the internal areas of Southern Italy. High erosion rates are the main reason of reductions in soil organic matter, which worsens soil fertility and induces biodiversity loss. Unsuitable soil management and unsustainable agricultural exploitation aggravate these land degradation factors. In contrast, natural areas have been subjected to severe environmental regulations (e.g. the national and regional parks) for many years, and these environments are not particularly vulnerable. The final considerations provide insight regarding the possible countermeasures to limit the land degradation rates in the affected areas and ensure soil conservation in the other zones.