Human impact on erosion dynamics of Italian badlands over the last 70 years: insights from the BAD2BED Project

This study investigated the changes in erosion dynamics across three Italian badlands’ sites over the last 70 years as part of the BAD2BED Italian National Project PRIN2022, titled “BADland morphodynamics assessment and hillslope- channel BED coupling in the context of global change.” The project’s primary objective is to identify potential trends in the morphodynamics of Italian Mediterranean badlands, aiming to support decision-making actions in erosion- prone areas affected by land mismanagement and to inform the development of best practices for sustainable management of rural areas. Taking into account the diverse climatic conditions of the Italian temperate zone, characterized by increasingly drier and longer dry seasons from north to south, three study areas were investigated: the Rio della Rocca catchment in the Reggio Emilia Apennines (northern Italy), the Upper Orcia Valley in southern Tuscany (central Italy) and the Agri catchment in the Basilicata region (southern Italy). We defined standardized criteria for geomorphological mapping of multitemporal hillslope landforms, based on photointerpretation of historical aerial photographs. This allowed the creation of an inventory of key sediment source areas. In addition, we mapped planform morphology and temporal changes along the river corridors in the main channels, with special attention to landforms influencing lateral (dis)connectivity and to indicators of human impact on historical channel dynamics. A multitemporal land use mapping was carried out to quantify changes in land cover over the same period. This analysis on catchment-scale, human-induced modifications provided insights into the recent morphoevolution of these landscapes, highlighting both reductions in hillslope denudation and variations in the fluvial system connectivity, driven by external factors such as human activity. The selected Italian areas represent “open air laboratories” for research on erosion processes. The apparently decline in badlands landscapes presents valuable opportunities for disseminating knowledge on geomorphological dynamics. Their high educational significance makes them key sites for understanding, and communicating, landscape evolution processes.