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The authors applied the MEDALUS-Mediterranean Desertification and Land Use - procedure to the most representative sicilian habitat by extension, socio-economic and environmental importance, in order to assess the risk of desertification. Thanks to the ESPI, Environmentally Sensitive Patch Index, in this paper the authors estimate the current and future regional levels of desertification risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors continue testing the Environmentally Sensitive Index Patch - ESPI -to the whole region of Sicily for a comprehensive interpretation of the sensitivity of the areas to desertification under the Protocol MEDALUS (MEditerranean Desertification Areas and Land USe). They apply the index ESPI to three scenarios - to the first half of the twentieth century, the second half of the twentieth, the twenty-first century and to their three respective indices of Quality Climate. From the application of ESPI the authors deduce that the improvement of sensitivity to desertification in Sicily, between the first and second half of the last century, is not due to the climate constant deteriorates between the three periods analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]