The Venice lagoon - the largest Mediterranean coastal lagoon connected to the Adriatic Sea – comprises a set of 30 “valli da pesca ”, sort of artificial ecosystems that mime the ecological processes of a transitional water environment through the management of water flows and landscape arrangement. Born centuries ago to maximize provisioning Ecosystem Services (ESs), such as fishing and hunting, the valli da pesca today represent an important element within the context of the lagoon conservation. In order to analyze the role played and the effects of different management strategies, nine ESs (climate regulation, water purification, lifecycle support, aquaculture, hunting, edible plants & honey, tourism, information for cognitive development, and birdwatching) have been analyzed along with landscape indicators. We found that different management conditions influence the landscape pattern so much so the valli da pesca that maximize the same ES appear to have similar landscape indicators (e.g., landscape heterogeneity, land and water ratio, saltmarshes and land ratio, and freshwater and brackish water ratio). Moreover, the comparison between managed and non-managed valli da pesca highlights the importance of the private contribution to the maintenance and conservation, since the abandoned ones show a loss of landscape heterogeneity and provisioning ESs. Nevertheless, the persistence of geographical and morphological connections intrinsic to the very nature of these ecosystems still emerges, if considering the spatial distribution of multiple ESs capacity and flow: indeed, the provisioning ESs which are not taking place in the abandoned valli da pesca seem to be replaced by cultural ones, so that the total ESs capacity and the total flow among all the areas appear to be balanced in depicting their contribution to human wellbeing. The results are discussed considering the relevance to the ecosystem-based management of the Venice lagoon and considering the effects of private land conservation both on ESs and landscape features.
Looking for balance: Ecosystem Services and landscape features in the valli da pesca of the Venice lagoon
Stocco Alice
;Pranovi Fabio
2022-01-01
Abstract
The Venice lagoon - the largest Mediterranean coastal lagoon connected to the Adriatic Sea – comprises a set of 30 “valli da pesca ”, sort of artificial ecosystems that mime the ecological processes of a transitional water environment through the management of water flows and landscape arrangement. Born centuries ago to maximize provisioning Ecosystem Services (ESs), such as fishing and hunting, the valli da pesca today represent an important element within the context of the lagoon conservation. In order to analyze the role played and the effects of different management strategies, nine ESs (climate regulation, water purification, lifecycle support, aquaculture, hunting, edible plants & honey, tourism, information for cognitive development, and birdwatching) have been analyzed along with landscape indicators. We found that different management conditions influence the landscape pattern so much so the valli da pesca that maximize the same ES appear to have similar landscape indicators (e.g., landscape heterogeneity, land and water ratio, saltmarshes and land ratio, and freshwater and brackish water ratio). Moreover, the comparison between managed and non-managed valli da pesca highlights the importance of the private contribution to the maintenance and conservation, since the abandoned ones show a loss of landscape heterogeneity and provisioning ESs. Nevertheless, the persistence of geographical and morphological connections intrinsic to the very nature of these ecosystems still emerges, if considering the spatial distribution of multiple ESs capacity and flow: indeed, the provisioning ESs which are not taking place in the abandoned valli da pesca seem to be replaced by cultural ones, so that the total ESs capacity and the total flow among all the areas appear to be balanced in depicting their contribution to human wellbeing. The results are discussed considering the relevance to the ecosystem-based management of the Venice lagoon and considering the effects of private land conservation both on ESs and landscape features.
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