Anthropogenic soil sealing is one of the most worrying soil degradation factors to European level. Its development is a persistent threat in Mediterranean environments where socio-economic changes have produced the concentration of most productive activities in the alluvial coastal plains. Such trends may also affect soils in protected coastal lagoons, being considered one of the major impacts on soils and producing the loss of fertility and the alteration of the water regime due to imperviousness of the top soil layers. The research were developed according the following assumptions: (1) municipal artificial surfaces trends may expand to the area of the nearby protected natural park; and (2) soil sealing trends will be reflected also in the environmental functions, particularly in the Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) stocks of soils. The general aim of this research is the development of a framework based on landscape metrics to assess the spatial and temporal dynamics of artificial surfaces producing soil sealing. Specific objectives are the application of spatial metrics to analyze historical trends in (1) anthropogenic soil sealing trends, and (2) its influence on SOC stocks.

Poster presentado en el 3rd SCARCE Annual Conference celebrado en Valencia el 26 y 27 de noviembre de 2012

Peer Reviewed