Towards a 'polycentric' landscape? Reconnecting fragments into an integrated network of coastal forests in Rome

Preserving relict coastal forests from urban ization is a priority target for sustainable land management. Monitoring forests through remote-sensing diachronic ap proaches is an important tool to identify networks of nat ural areas and to inform conservation policies for high quality wood patches. The present study applies the monitoring approach proposed by Hansen et al. (Science 342(6160):850–853, 2013) to the forest landscape in coastal Rome, central Italy, providing indicators assessing forest cover and short-term wood loss and gain. Forest land (with 1 to 100 % cover) extends through 16.9 % of the total area with prevailing classes at 21–40 % and 71–100 % density.