Environmental Indicators for Farmland Habitats: the Situation in Italy

The aim of this paper is to define and quantify environmental indicators for farmland habitat in Italy. Based on OECD works and recent developments by the Joint Working Party in the area of agrienvironmental indicators, we classify agricultural habitat in three main categories: intensive, semi-natural and uncultivated (natural or man-made) habitats located within, at the border and adjacent of agricultural areas. We discuss the importance of using an appropriate index to quantify the total agricultural land area and compare habitat indicators over different periods of time. For each habitat category, we propose additional or alternative indicators that may contribute to better represent Mediterranean regions and agriecosystems. We compare the definition of semi-natural habitat to alternatives criteria (high nature value farmland habitats, low input agricultural systems, extensive agricultural production systems, etc.) and indicate which might be the most appropriate criterion to quantify indicators for agri-environmental policies evaluation. The critical issue of the minimum dimension of uncultivated (natural or man-made) habitat within farmland ecosystems is also discussed. In line with the OECD approach, we quantified each indicator for the territory of Italy at different periods (from 1970 to 1995), underscoring problems related to data constraints caused by the insufficiency of available national statistics and the use of alternatives instruments of habitats quantification (aerial photos and satellite images).