**Environmental Evaluation and Monitoring of Agro-Ecosystems Biodiversity**

Fabio Taffetani, Michele Rismondo and Andrea Lancioni

*Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Ambientali (3A) Università Politecnica delle Marche Via Brecce Bianche, Ancona Italy* 

#### **1. Introduction**

332 Ecosystems Biodiversity

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> Agroecosystems are open systems, whereby continual human intervention is needed for the maintenance of an equilibrium created by man himself with the aim of maximising the production provided by a few domesticated plant and animal species. In these systems, the equilibrium is maintained through energy input from outside that makes the operations possible, which are designed to create optimal conditions for the growth of the cultivated plants and the animals raised.

> The individual agricultural systems can be very different depending on the pedoclimatic characteristics of the territories, the types of cultivation practiced, and the intensive practices used, although in all cases, to maintain specific productive characteristics there is the need for human intervention. If they are abandoned to their natural evolution, these systems tend to recover their natural state, with increases in the areas occupied by spontaneous vegetation and with substantial changes in the population dynamics of the various species that make up the wild fauna, obviously at the expense of the species that benefit from the human actions.

> Despite being characterised by a specific level of structural simplicity and by a decrease in their natural state that is caused by the modifications to the original environment that had the aim of obtaining animal and plant production for mainly food and energy uses, these agroecosystems cover a large part of the Community area. For this reason, the conservation of the biodiversity on a large scale needs interventions that are aimed at the preservation of the contexts that are most hard hit by human activities.

> As well as having less value with respect to the areas characterised by a higher natural state, in various situations, the agricultural systems can provide great heterogeneity of the environment, and in cases in which the actions of man have not had a great impact, they can contain and maintain a considerable biodiversity patrimony.

> For extensive agricultural systems, which are generally more common in the medium-high hilly and low mountain areas and are associated with agricultural systems of low impact, with good diversity of cultivation and the presence of semi-natural elements, these can provide a reasonable variety of habitats and large areas of contact between environments with different ecological characteristics (the ecotones). In these cases, the animal and plant

Environmental Evaluation and Monitoring of Agro-Ecosystems Biodiversity 335

indexes specifically designed for this. This system allows precise measures to be carried out, which can be integrated with other fauna bioindicators. It has been applied at different scales, which go from hydrographic basins of individual farms to small herbaceous areas. The analytical instrument that we present is particularly useful for the monitoring of the conservation state of agroecosystems, and in general it provides a tool for the better

The study of the vegetation represents the best-suited method for interpretation of the ecological potential of a territorial context. The arrival and establishing of one specific vegetational typology rather than another are phenomena that are mainly linked to the particularities of the climate, pedology and use of a specific area. The phytosociological method is a rapid and efficient analytical procedure based on floristic and statistical measures that is widely used throughout the World (Westhoff & Van der Maarel, 1978;

It is based on phytosociological sampling that is carried out in the field following the individuation of an ecologically homogeneous area. It consists in the forming of a list of all of the plants that are found in the chosen site and the assignment of coverage and interactive values to all of these following specifically designed scales (range, + 5 for the coverage, and 1 5 for the interactions). A re-evaluation of the relevés of the area then follows, through comparisons with Tables of previously defined relevés or through

The association is the basic unit upon which phytosociology is based, which is found within a unit of territory that is ecologically homogeneous and is represented by significantly repeated floristic components. The phytocoenoses are organised according to a hierarchical system. The upper level of the association is represented by the alliance, which in turn is included in an order. At the apex of the hierarchical organisation there is the vegetation class, which expresses the structure, evolution and phytogeographical significance of the

The identification and description of the plant communities represents the first level of investigation, which goes under the name of classical phytosociology analysis. The study of the vegetation is, however, expressed according to two further levels: synphytosociological

The synphytosociological investigation is based on the identification of vegetation series. This phase studies the dynamic relationships between the various associations within the same sigmetum, which consists of a portion of the territory characterised by the same pedoclimatic particularities and within which there is therefore space for a single typology of potential vegetation (the climax). This level allows identification of the interactions between the different phytocoeneses, as evolutive or regressive, that occur within a "tessella" of ecologically homogeneous territory (Biondi, 1996). The tessella therefore represents the biogeographical environmental unit of a hypothetical mosaic and it is defined on the basis of

Within each tessella, the associations are organised in serial interactions and the areas occupied by the same plant communities are not constant with time, but can vary according

various factors: the nature of the substrate, the altitude, the exposure, and the slope.

statistical analyses, with the aim of defining the plant associations.

management of rural territories.

**2.1 Study of the plant landscape** 

Gèhu & Rivas-Martinez, 1981).

various typologies that are referred to it.

to the management practices that are followed.

and geosynphytosociological.

**2. Vegetation of the agroecosystem** 

biodiversity levels are high and their maintenance is strictly linked to the management practices adopted by man, whereby the traditional activities favour such biodiversity.

On the other hand, the agricultural systems that are subjected to intensive cultivation that are generically represented in the plain or low hilly areas are poorer overall in landscape elements that are useful for the protection, survival and reproduction of the wild animal and plant species.

Over the last ten years, a greater environmental awareness has guided public opinion towards a re-evaluation of the role of man in the management of the agroecosystems on which the maintenance of a satisfactory level of biological complexity depends. From the agricultural point of view, we have therefore passed from a largely productive approach to management strategies that are aimed at an increase in the quality of the products and the rural environment.

Today, the recovery of ancient cultivated varieties or autochthonous races is encouraged and has taken on crucial importance from the politico-economic and social points of view within specific rural contexts. The appreciation and commercialisation of these products, together with the official recognition that guarantees their quality, can return the original identity to the rural territories of high landscape value. Given their specific characteristics, such territories would have been progressively excluded from the commercial networks of intensive and industrialised agriculture.

The return of the original production and local traditions is allowed by the measures introduced with the regulatory practices that are a part of agriculture today. The Common Agricultural Policy that is applied at a regional level through the Regional Plans for Rural Development, and the regulation of the Cross Compliance favour the modernisation of the sector and of the individual farms, the improvement of the socio-economic conditions of the rural populations, and the protection of the environment within which these populations live and work.

In this sense, the farms take on a multifunctional role: as well as providing quality production, and in some cases services such as refection, or educational or recreational activities (e.g., holiday and educational farms), are especially required to manage and maintain their environment. This guarantees periodic maintenance of the non-productive infrastructure, the presence of which has fundamental importance in the correct ecological functioning of the agroecosystem.

This non-productive infrastructure of the agricultural landscape serves many functions, among which there is the conservation of biodiversity, the management and filtering of the water, the protection from pollution, erosion, and hydrogeological problems, and the fixation of CO2. Moreover, these constitute an excellent indirect opportunity for the farms, because they allow the farms themselves to identify with a varied productive context that is rich in life and well maintained.

It is obvious that the actions of those who operate in agriculture must be evaluated periodically in order to verify the effective validity and efficacy of their practices. For this, there is the need for indicators or indexes that provide a sufficiently detailed measure of the quality of the rural environment.

With the present study, following on from a description of the main vegetation typologies of an agroecosystem context, we will illustrate a method for the evaluation of the functionality of the rural contexts that we have applied in past years to various territories examined. The system that we have adopted is based on vegetation analysis and on the application of indexes specifically designed for this. This system allows precise measures to be carried out, which can be integrated with other fauna bioindicators. It has been applied at different scales, which go from hydrographic basins of individual farms to small herbaceous areas.

The analytical instrument that we present is particularly useful for the monitoring of the conservation state of agroecosystems, and in general it provides a tool for the better management of rural territories.
