IIn the context of the MAES (Mapping and Assessments of Ecosystem Services) process, this study is aimed at mapping and assessing the main Regulating Ecosystem Services (ES) provided by the Green Infrastructure (GI) of the Metropolitan City of Rome (5352 Km2). Different regulating Ecosystem Services (ES) will be considered such as particulate matter (PM10) and tropospheric ozone (O3) removal by different forest and shrub ecosystems, the mitigation of the Urban Heat Island effect (UHI), and the estimation of the urban Carbon stock,. The approach will involve the characterization of the main land cover and ecosystems using Sentinel-2 images, allowing for a detailed assessment of this ES. Different policy levels and environmental contexts will be considered within the Metropolitan city of Rome and a monetary valuation, on the basis of externality values, will be assessed. Moreover to assess the relationship between the accumulation and chemical speciation of PM with plant functionality, magnetic properties of tree leaves (collaboration with Dr. Aldo Winkler, INGV), as well as chemical characterization of PM adsorbed on leaves, will be measured concurrently with photosynthetic traits (chlorophyll a fluorescence measurements). The combination of such different measurement approaches could contribute to assess if PM can act as a stressor of the main tree species used in the urban forestry. The multidisciplinary approach that will be developed in this project can provide an exhaustive overview on how Green Infrastructure Strategy can improve ecosystems and human health in urban context.
The present Project will provide a quantitative and spatially explicit estimation of the main Regulating Ecosystem Services provided by GI of the Metropolitan City (MC) of Rome, and their total monetary value (EEA, 2014). With a surface extended for 5352 Km2, Rome is one of the largest Metropolitan Cities in Italy, including not only urban parks and gardens, but also natural forest areas such as oak forests, and beech forests growing in mountainous territories included within its borders (Manes et al., 2016).
The Project outcomes can have several scientific and technical impacts, as well social/economic impacts in supporting the Stakeholders to reach the international targets set, also in the context of Horizon 2020. In particular, the following potential impacts can be highlighted:
- contribute to a spatial representation and monitoring of ES, that is a pillar of the EU Biodiversity strategy to 2020 that, through Action 5, promotes to map and assess the state of ecosystems and their services in Member States, in order to achieve an accounting and reporting system at the EU and at the national level by 2020.
- contribute to the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and in particular to some targets considered in the 3rd, 11th, 13th, and 15th goal.
- use of Sentinel-2 images to map land cover since this is among the most advanced mission promoted by European Commission in the context of remote sensing. In fact, Sentinel-2 images provide a reliable tool for discriminating between different land cover types, including several vegetation physiognomic types, at a high spatial and temporal resolution, and with a relatively limited cost;
- the development of experimental approach at different spatial-temporal scales for the analysis and monitoring of the urban and natural environment;
- increase of the awareness about environmental issues in urban areas and the importance of nature based solutions, assessing the monetary value of the Regulating Ecosystem Services provided by GI;
- have a positive feedback on social dimension and human wellbeing, analyzing the provision of ES. These evaluations provide important layer of information to support the stakeholders at city level in order to implement actions to improve the environmental quality in our cities, through planning and management of the GI network. Furthermore, the monetary evaluation of the Regulating Ecosystem Services provided by GI in urban and peri-urban areas will contribute to the natural capital accounting.
Bibliografia essenziale
EEA, 2014 - EEA Technical report No 20/2014
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/info/pubs/docs/brochures/2020%20B...
https://www.unric.org/it/agenda-2030