233

sPa, Willern Vosb rculture and Forestry, Fhrence, /tai>

~~~t~t~t~~~~ Forestry and Nature Research, U’ugcnrngen, Netherlands

(Accepted 8 January 1993 )

in compiling a ‘Red List’ of landscapes. (a ) the identtfication of a ‘landscape’ elements; (a>) the relevance of the landscape in relation to its area; (c) the

st be endangered; rther identification of areas where the particular features of the landscape are ere are three main types of landscapes to be included in a Red List. They may be classified scapes, f 2 ) wtst.a& ‘-n+~n rCTzs J.1.L.6* !anbscapes, aid ( 3 ) mttastable ‘strained’ iandscapes. Three selected to exemplify each of the types listed above: the lower Farma Valley in southern

art of tbe SoEano Valley in northeastern Tuscany as a ‘vanishing landscape*, and parts of c Orcia Valley in southeastern Tuscany as a ‘strained landscape’.

es

riteria could be followed in

rent coordination of the dif- well as existing functions of

landscape features. (b ) The rele- cape in relation to its area.

(c) The landscape must be endangered. (d) The further identification of areas where the particular features of the landscape are well represented.

In Europe there are three main types of land- scapes to be included in a Red List. They may be classified as follows.

( 1) Landscapes originating from natural conditions substantially different from those of today (climatic conditions, etc. ) which, for

*Corresponding author.

various reasons, have survived as ‘relicts’ in the current natural and cultural environment ( metastable ‘relict’ landscapes) a

( 2 ) Cultural landscapes originatin ferent social and economic conte

e or aI% of the functions that prod landscape no longer exist and need to be re- placed by new functions (unstable ‘vanishing’ landscapes ) .

(3) Cultural landscapes determined by an- thropic functions still evolving, which, if they continue to expand, may overwhelm other nat- ural or cultural elements, unbalancing the overall characteristics of the landscape (meta- stable ‘strained’ landscapes).

Three Tuscan landscapes have been selecte to exemplify each of the types described above (se- p 1 p Fig. 1): the lower Farrna Valley in zouth- ern Tuscany as a ‘relict landscape’, part of the Solano Valley in northeastern Tuscany as a ‘vanishing landscape’, and parts of the Pli-

0 1993 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. All rights reserved 0159-2035/93j$G5.00

Fig. 1, Location of the example areas.

ocene clay hills lan scape near Siena and in t y in southeastern Tuscany as a

d to the specific geologic

cane), with minor outcrops of piroclastic (Ignimbrites) and cal- careous rocks ( Calcare Cavemoso ), and on the other hand to the limited human interventions.

he valley forms the drainage basin of the ver Farma that is a fast mountain stream for st of its course; the Farma Valley is about

tion in forest vegetation types (see Figs. 2 and ost of the basin is forested: deciduous oak

forest in the east and on drier sites intermixed evergreen oak tion stages wit

restations of Piit-~zrs p~naster, riparian forests e main streams, and forests of beet , as well as various transitional forest

types. The occurrence of beech (Fagus SJT/W- tica ) and yew ( Ta.ws ha ta) at low altitudes is a very remarkable nomenon because normally, in the Appennines, beech forest is found above approximately 1000 m. The fauna in the area is quite varied as well, including some species that are rare or very rare in Italy, like the wild cat, the porcupine, the otter and the Italian Alpine newt.

provided by plant communities in the lower Farma Valley; the more plant communities per unit area. the the more i~f~~at~on (after Pedroli et al., 1988 ).

e Solano Valley is pa Basm, which is drained by th the Amo River. The landsca

alley has been studied in a very detailed way y Vos and Stortelder ( 1992) and the recent

transformations in this landsca anges in land use, are also discussed by Vos

( 1993) in this issue. In this valley a typical landscape of the so-

called ‘mountain society’ is still well repre- sented, a kind of economy developed in the late Middle Ages, thanks to the extension of the

cultivation of the sweet chestnut that made food self-sufficiency possibl %. In this ‘culture’ there was a clear trend to use the specific re- sources of the mountain in the most systematic way possible: the highest fields vJere used for grazing and the wood for fuel and food. Water power was used too. In the mountains ir was available in summer as well. In some valleys it was used for the ‘ferriera’, a factory for work- ing pig-iron, but mainly for the ‘gualchiera’, a mill for working cloth; the gualchieras in fact, though far from town markets, were also closer to wool, the raw material (Greppi, 1990).

In contrast with other places in the Tuscan

bM

where settlements are or fo~~~~ed villages, in t mcnts are quite

the ccntrc of the vario local resources with a in the lowest position, chestnut ods in the middle and a pasture

schematic model of this type of

The climatic di3erences within the So’lano basin are strongly determined by the altitudi- rral rz.Wge, Ifrom level. The area i ranean climate, and it ranges from submedi- terranean, in the lower parts. to temperate-hu-

N Kihr~, I$ I 0~ l,~~nti~~dp~ i_dntl I dun Phnnrnp ?4 (1UO.l) ? $3-?3(3

mid ontane above about 1000 m above sea level.

chestnut forestry with ;

oned: commercial charcoal -

Fig. 4. Simplified model of the spatial arrangement of ‘traditional’ land use in a valley of the Solano Basin (after Vos and Stor- telder. 1992 ).

237

1

CN

IMl

IM4

IM5

IT2

IT3

caftle qrar~nq

-- REPLACEMENT

IPl r!t.r.ifl .‘,U’ ~,l,,I,t,!flf,n

IF: I :,n,‘r.r ,l,‘, ; I !T,<,‘, I

Fig. 5. Transf0 ations of Bznd use in the Solano Basin, from 1937 to 1982 (after Vos and Stortelder, 1992).

e latter the cultivation ms a possib!e way for

aintaining the terracettes. analysis carried ou h 992 ), it appears

a~a~gement of some functionally in- t old agricultural landscapes is

being gradually b en up and replaced by a coarse pattern, wi a serious decrease in the pattern diversity and in the number of the land unit types of the Solano Valley landscape. Tlle changes observed are a direct consequence of the land use transformations mentioned above; the new activities and elements that are replac- ing the former ones do not seem to be concor- dant with the pre-existing spatial arrangement; in the great majority, in fact, they tend to be spread practically over the whole area (as con- iferous stands). However, it is the secondary succession on abandoned pastures and fields that is the most equalizing development of the landscape ecology (i.e. of the landscape con- figuration at land unit level), as it causes the same forest type to develop everywhere within

the same climatic zone. If we are not able to find new functions for various landscape ele- ments that characterize these traditional Tus- can mountain landscapes, and that are still present as remnants, in the near future their patterns will have changed radically and, con- sequently, those landscapes may vanish.

A strained landscape: Crete senesi and Valley

The landscape of the Pliocene clay hills of the Province of Siena is a cultural landscape whose scenery is well known and highly appre- ciated. It is characterized by a rolling to undu- lating relief with a rapid succession of rounded hills, covered by vast extents of wheat and fod- der, dotted with isolated farmhouses, marked by rows of cypresses, and cll~nllnd~d bv cmntl U UYIIVYIIYVY “J “XLIUI. medieval towns and fortified villages. This scenery, as it changes from season to season, can be dramatic and bright and at the same time inspire feelings of restfulness and unlim- ited space. The main characteristics of this

se erosion

not cover-e

ret2 senesi' are

they give a special taste to the milk, and thus Fqg 6. Symbol of the proposed ‘anlstlc natural park’ of the Orcia Valley.

Fig. 7. Sketch of the ‘biancane’ landscape of the ‘Crete senesi‘, the Pliocene clay hills in the Province of Siena.

occasionally ‘calanques9 and

eavy extensive mechanization of agriculture m the area. As mechanization grew, many ir- regular terrains could be worked and Ievelled radically. This ‘reclamation’ was done mainly on the ‘biancane’, which had previously sur-

because ofthe high costs of the operation. Another problem is due to sheep grazing on

the ‘biancane’; b0tanist.s think that grazing helps to conserve vegetation diversity, oppos- ing the development of shrubland from the Ar- temisia vegetation. From the point of view of

soil and fandform conservation, leads degradation of the ‘bianca starts

ully erosion. Nevertheless, this hat the peculiarities of this

ape are lost and that the trend cannot be stopped; in fact, the need for intervention is felt on the part of the population and local govern-

nt. The first steps of protection have al- ready been taken by the unicipalities of the

rcia Valley and by the unicipality of Asci - in the area where the majority of the cane’ of the Crete senesi are located,

ees

Bigi, L., Gonnelli, I. and Rossi, R.. 1984. Le condizioni pae- saggistico-ambientali dell’area delle Crete di Camposodo e dell’area delle Crete di Asciano e di Monte Oliveto Maggiore (Siena ). In: R. Rossi ( Editor ), A misura d’am- biente. Regione Toscana - Marsilio Editori. V.nice, pp. 27-35.

Branconi, S., De Dominicis. V., Boscagli. A. : _’ ’ s:-ii, L., 1979. La vegetazione dei terreni argiilosi p&.-3 ;.:ci della Toscana meridionaie. I. Vegetazione pioniera ad -‘ !rtem- isia cwtacea”. Atti Sot. Toscana Sci. Nat.. Mem.. Ser. B. 86: 163-183.

Greppi. C. (Editor), 1990. Quadri ambient&ii dclla Toscana. 1: Paesaggi dell’Appennino. Regione ‘ioscana - Marsilio Editori, Venice, 237 pp.

Guasparri, 6.. 1978. Calanchi e biancane ne! L-s- +l !-is senese: studio geomorfologico. L’Universo ( Floreli ,e I, 58: Y7- 140.

Pedroli. G.B.M., Vos, W., Dijkstra, H. and Rossi, R. (Edi- tors), 1988. The Farma river barrage effect study: a land- scape impact assessment procedure applied to the Farma Valley derivation plans (Tuscany, Italy). Doubie lan-

* ” .nnn It~l,qn_c gua6L fi~~114bb.d ,;.ghsh edition, Regione Toscana - - Mar- silio Editori, Venice, 369 pp.

Vecchio, B.. 1986. Novita e permanenze nella geografia agraria delle Crete senesi. In: Le Crete senesi nel tempo della sem- ina. Mostra fotografica di Marcello Stefanini. Catalogue of the Exhibition. Amministrazione provinciale di Siena Assessorato alla cultura, Siena. pp. 13-45.

Vos, W., 1993. Recent Iandscape transformatrons in the Tus- can Appennines caused by changing land use. Landscape Urban Plann., 24: 69-76.

Vos, W. and S? -telder, A.H.F., 1992. Vanishing Tuscan Landscapes. Landscape ecology of a Submediterranean- Montane area (Sc!ano Basin, Tuscany, Italy) Pudoc,

Wageningen, 404 pp.