Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 11.1
Selected vineyard sites (
circle
Eddy Covariance sites;
square
Sicilian site for land use
change studies)
cause of C emissions after fuel consumption (Watson et al.
2000
). Over millennia,
the vagaries and complexities of the social, political and economic conditions have
transformed the Mediterranean basin ecosystems through land use and land use
changes (Wainwright
1994
; Grove
1996
; Margaris et al.
1996
). Moreover, industri-
alization and pressure from tourism activities during the last century led to an impor-
tant socio-economic change in rural areas, due to land abandonment (Puigdef￡bregas
and Mendizabal
1998
; Thornes
1995
). The area of permanent crops (vineyards,
orchards) in Europe has therefore reduced substantially since the mid 1970s
(Rounsevell et al.
2002
). This was mostly due to the reduction between 1980 and
1995 of the vineyard covered area, which was strongly favoured by the European
Community aid for the grubbing-up of vines. In order to analyze the effect of land
use change on vineyard soil carbon stock, an area has been investigated in the south-
west of Sicily where old vineyards were abandoned or replanted in the last decades
(Fig.
11.1
) (see Sect.
11.2
).
11.1.1 Negrisia (Ponte di Piave, TV) Site
The FLUXNET station of Negrisia has been established in July 2005 in an exten-
sive vineyard located close to Ponte di Piave (see Sect.
2.2.14
for a description).
The vineyard is well suited for MODIS satellite platform observations. The station
was intended for long-term monitoring of energy, water and CO
2
fluxes on a rep-
resentative vineyard for North-Eastern Italy and has been operated continuously
until 2011, with few gaps due to power failures or sensor maintenance. Leaf area
