Search

The European Landscape Convention (ELC) suggests the population’s perception is the main factor in landscape assessment and planning. As a result, this subjective approach assumes differences among the population’s visual perception according to their personal factors, e.g. socio-demographic characteristics, which have to be studied in several areas in order to improve landscape management. In this regard, the goal of this paper is to know if the population’s visual perception of Mediterranean landscapes is similar to other environments previously studied. In addition, we sought to determine whether certain socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents (age, gender and education level) influenced their visual preferences. We assessed the population’s landscape preferences through several photographs of representative Mediterranean landscapes shown in an online survey. We then evaluated the average score of each photograph according to the landscape shown and the socio-demographic characteristics of the population. The final results demonstrate that water bodies and vegetation fundamentally contribute to a positive evaluation of whole landscape scenes. In contrast, human impact on landscapes (industrial or mining areas) reduces their scenic beauty. Despite the fact that these findings are consistent with previous research with respect to people in Mediterranean areas that have the same visual preferences as those in other locations, we did not find that any respondents’ socio-demographic characteristics significantly influenced their general landscape perception. However, for certain landscapes several differences under the same socio-demographic characteristic were found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sicily has a long tradition in citrus fruit cultivation that, with vineyard and olive tree, represents the main Mediterranean tree crops. Since many Sicilian farmers in recent years have decided to abandon conventional lemon orchards, in this paper we have evaluated the financial sustainability of organic lemon production by comparing it with the conventional one. Financial analysis has been carried out in a case study on the northwestern coast of Sicily, considering a 50-year economic life of an orchard. The results, per hectare of area, showed a clear advantage of organic lemon orchard. This was due to fewer labor requirements and to greater market appreciation for organic products that better ensured a premium price. Moreover, financial indicators of organic lemon orchards and the deployment of environmental-friendly inputs in the production process render these farms competitive and eco-friendly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the nurse effect of Cistus salvifolius and Myrtus communis on holm-oak seedling recruitment in Mediterranean savanna-like ecosystems. Changes in microenvironmental conditions beneath the shrubs canopies, leaf phenology and nurse effect of the two shrubs on holm-oak seedlings emergence and survival in the field were studied. C. salvifolious exhibited a null effect on holm-oak seedlings recruitment in the field, showed a high seasonal variability in leaf area (52% decrease during summer), and high variability in photosynthetic photon flux density (PPF) beneath the understory. By contrast, M. communis exhibited the opposite characteristics: had a positive effect on holm-oak seedlings recruitment in the field and showed big changes on air temperature and PPF beneath the understory (94% reduction), small seasonal variability in leaf area, and small variability in PPF beneath the understory. It is discussed that grazing abandonment that leads to the expansion of C. salvifolus and other early succesional chamephites does not guarantee sexual self-regeneration of holm-oaks in dehesas. Strategies to enhance late-successional evergreen and some different potentially occurring, pioneer shrub species that facilitate holm-oak seedling recruitment should be taken into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conversion from conventional to organic management of olive growing has many benefits, such as increase of biodiversity, reduction of soil erosion and lower environmental impact. Since olive represents a main crop in the Mediterranean area, from a social, economic as well as environmental point of view, the aim of this paper has been to determine if the conversion from conventional to organic olive growing can increase the profitability of the farmer in Sicilian farms. Economic analysis has been carried out by means of cost-benefit analysis and financial indicators (NPV, B 0 / C 0 , IRR) show that organic growing would allow a better profitability for organic olive farms respect to conventional ones. This is primarily due to CAP subsidy and to market price of organic olive oil, which is currently 21% higher than the conventional olive oil price. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]