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Additional file 2: Timing of the drugs administered to the patients regarding the calculation of the ALDEN score [10].

Additional file 1: Details regarding the calculation of the ALDEN score [10].

Thanks to their ability to produce ecosystem services, forest ecosystems have a significant social, economic and environmental impact on the development of many regions in the world, especially when located in urban and peri-urban areas. Today, increased forest vulnerability is being reflected in a larger number of severe decline episodes associated mainly with drought. In this context, the Mediterranean area shows high forest vulnerability and a subsequent decline in its natural renewal rate. In this scenario, the aim of the present research is to assess sustainability of a protected pristine deciduous oak forest near Rome, developing a forest health condition monitoring tool based on the application of multispectral satellite data, and through the identification of silvicultural models appropriate for promoting natural forest renewal. The preliminary results of this research indicate how the exclusion of wildlife through fenced areas significantly favors the natural renewal of the forest, especially when silvicultural actions such as thinning are carried out. It has also been ascertained through the use of multispectral satellite data that there is a widespread decline in the health vegetative state of the deciduous oak surfaces, due to a widespread senescence of the forest. In the addressed study area, the Natural State Reserve of Castelporziano (Rome), data and results from this research can work as an important decision tool for sustainable forest management.

The recent record of the number of wild ungulates in Italy shows that in some areas there is a deleterious animal density. Among the ungulates, the number of wild boars has been increasing considerably, during past decades in Italy as well as in many European countries; somewhere the number has reached the overabundance level, causing conflict between wild fauna and human activities. The implications of wild game overpopulation are manifold and mainly related to the sanitary risk and to the intensification of conflicts between agricultural practices and humans activities. As a consequence an increased compensation budget has to be allocated by local public authorities. Damages to agriculture, livestock and other economic activities catch the farmers’ attention and that of the local communities. Management authorities, however lack of an integrated approach, and often tend to adopt ex post reimbursement schemes without appropriate management plans. The wild boar population growth is likely to increase the number of requests for reimbursement that would make heavier the financial burden of public administrations up to a critical point. The present paper aims for a first definition of the potential damage. The value is assessed on the basis of a GIS definition of area where wild boars rest and on the potential damage to cultivations Outcomes will be of help for those actors involved in wild board management plans as well as for public authorities responsible for compensating wild fauna damages to human activities. Conclusions shall drive public actions in order to minimize wild boar negative effects on areas potentially affected by the highest rate of damage.

The Multi-Spectral Instrument (MSI) aboard the ESA Sentinel-2 (S-2) allows satellite the Normalized Different Vegetation Index (NDVI) to be measured at much higher spatial resolution (10 m) than has been previously possible with space-borne sensors such as Medium Resolution Imaging Spec- trometer aboard ENVISAT or Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus aboard Landsat. Therefore, multi-spectral analysis of remote sensing data today represents an efficient tool for monitoring vegetation in a Mediterranean environment, where spatial resolution often represents a limiting factor due to high fragmentation and spatial distribution of forest stand. The aim of this study has been to map the health conditions of the Castel- porziano coastal pinewood forest (Roma). To this aim, we used a diachronic NDVI index, provided by ESA Sentinel-2 images andfield observations, to monitor the health status in a historic pinewood forest that has recently been affected by a rapid diffusion of pests (Tomicus destruensWoll.). The monitoring performed allowed us to map the pinewood forest in risk classes and at the same time to provide data concerning the localization of areas showing a strong decline. Thus, we provide information useful for the correct management and planning of forestry thinning to preserve those areas of the pinewood forest not involved in the decline process.

Il presente contributo è il risultato della progettazione di tre SITL per redigere i piani di gestione delle risorse forestali all’interno di altrettante piccole aree protette della provincia di Viterbo. Alla luce delle esperienze acquisite e soprattutto delle difficoltà pratiche incontrate, lo scopo di questa tesi è quello di contribuire a fornire indicazioni per l’applicazione di metodi e protocolli applicativi corretti, facili e sbrigativi di elaborazione dei dati geografici a grande scala con il GIS ai fini di fornire a coloro che dovranno effettuare i piani di gestione dei boschi nelle aree protette di piccola e media dimensione (