title: Integration of land use and land cover inventories for landscape management and planning in Italy.
abstract: There are both semantic and technical differences between land use (LU) and land cover (LC) measurements. In cartographic approaches, these differences are often neglected, giving rise to a hybrid classification. The aim of this paper is to provide a better understanding and characterization of the two classification schemes using a comparison that allows maximization of the informative power of both. The analysis was carried out in the Molise region (Central Italy) using sample information from the Italian Land Use Inventory (IUTI). The sampling points were classified with a visual interpretation of aerial photographs for both LU and LC in order to estimate surfaces and assess the changes that occurred between 2000 and 2012. The results underscore the polarization of land use and land cover changes resulting from the following: (a) recolonization of natural surfaces, (b) strong dynamisms between the LC classes in the natural and semi-natural domain and (c) urban sprawl on the lower hills and plains. Most of the observed transitions are attributable to decreases in croplands, natural grasslands and pastures, owing to agricultural abandonment. The results demonstrate that a comparison between LU and LC estimates and their changes provides an understanding of the causes of misalignment between the two criteria. Such information may be useful for planning policies in both natural and semi-natural contexts as well as in urban areas.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Bioscienze e Territorio, Università degli Studi del Molise, Contrada Fonte Lappone snc, 86090, Pesche, IS, Italy. lorenzo.sallustio86@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9204-5123
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sallustio
authors.affiliation: Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), Via V. Brancati 48, I-00144, Rome, Italy. michele.munafo@isprambiente.it.|Department of Civil, Building and Environmental Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Eudossiana 18, I-00184, Rome, Italy. michele.munafo@isprambiente.it.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Munafò
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Architettura e Progetto, Facoltà di Architettura, Università di Roma "Sapienza", Via Flaminia 359, 00196, Rome, Italy. nicola.riitano@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Riitano
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Bioscienze e Territorio, Università degli Studi del Molise, Contrada Fonte Lappone snc, 86090, Pesche, IS, Italy. lasserre@unimol.it.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lasserre
authors.affiliation: Department of Economic and Statistics, University of Siena, Piazza San Francesco 8, 53100, Siena, Italy. lorenzo.fattorini@unisi.it.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fattorini
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Bioscienze e Territorio, Università degli Studi del Molise, Contrada Fonte Lappone snc, 86090, Pesche, IS, Italy. marchettimarco@unimol.it.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marchetti
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D007558:Italy; D014507:Urbanization / Q000639:trends
keywords: Double classification; Estimation; Monitoring; Point sampling; Stratified allocation