title: Avoiding social traps in the ecosystem stewardship: The Italian Fontanile lowland spring.
abstract: Fontanile is a Po Valley (Italy) quasi-natural lowland spring built in the middle age. This paper identifies options for the conservation of the Fontanile water dependent ecosystem, using scenarios and simulations, and exploring different policy options. Three modeling analysis have been performed: the first was carried out for estimating groundwater contamination and recharge from above, the second for evaluating the function of vegetative filter strip on the surface water quality and the last one for testing pesticide drift reduction due to the vegetative filter strip. Uncertainty characterization included climate change projections. Despite the nitrate concentration in water could favorite the eutrophication phenomena, this not occurs because of the low phosphate concentration in water and of the presence of arboreal shade. Therefore, the protection strategies must focus on sustaining desirable water quantity conditions. Water saving and conservation technologies that improve the agricultural productivity but reduce the Fontanile water flow and large buffer strips that have a limited efficacy due to the Fontanile hydrological settings can be judged as ecological traps. Inefficient irrigation systems, good agricultural practices, integrated pest management and arboreal filter strip can preserve the quality of those ecosystems.
authors.affiliation: Università cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Istituto di chimica agraria e ambientale, Via Emilia Parmense 84, 29122 Piacenza, Italy. Electronic address: matteo.balderacchi@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Balderacchi
authors.affiliation: Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Department of Sustainable Crop Production, Via Emilia Parmense, 84, 29122 Piacenza, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Perego
authors.affiliation: Università cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Istituto di chimica agraria e ambientale, Via Emilia Parmense 84, 29122 Piacenza, Italy; University of Florida, Agricultural & Biological Engineering, Hydrology & Water Quality, 287 Frazier Rogers Hall, P.O. Box 110570, Gainesville, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lazzari
authors.affiliation: University of Florida, Agricultural & Biological Engineering, Hydrology & Water Quality, 287 Frazier Rogers Hall, P.O. Box 110570, Gainesville, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Muñoz-Carpena
authors.affiliation: University of Milan, Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, via Celoria 2, 20133 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Acutis
authors.affiliation: University of Parma, Department of Life Sciences, Viale G.P. Usberti 33/A, 43124 Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Laini
authors.affiliation: University of Milan, Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, via Celoria 2, 20133 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giussani
authors.affiliation: University of Milan, Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, via Celoria 2, 20133 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Mattia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sanna
authors.affiliation: Enviresearch Ltd., Nanotechnology Centre, Herschel Building, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU England, UK.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kane
authors.affiliation: Università cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Istituto di chimica agraria e ambientale, Via Emilia Parmense 84, 29122 Piacenza, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trevisan
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D017753:Ecosystem; D005068:Eutrophication; D007558:Italy; D060985:Natural Springs; D014881:Water Supply
keywords: Climate change; Irrigation; Leaching; Modeling; Nitrate; Pesticide; Vegetative filter strip