CHANGE IN LANDSCAPE PATTERNS IN S.C.I. TABURNO (SOUTH ITALY) FROM 1954 TO 1998.

Understanding the implication of past, present and future patterns of human land use for biodiversity and ecosystem function is increasingly important in landscape ecology. The aims of this paper are to determine how landscape patterns in natural site “Taburno” have changed through time and whether the spatial patterns varied by physiographic unit. Historical aerial photographs were used to analyze spatial patterns of land use from 1954 to 1998. Forest cover increased in mean patch size. The mean size of agricultural patches increased in the base of the relief unit and decreased in the mountain unit. Index of diversity and dominance differed through time and among units. A geographic trend of decreasing diversity and increasing dominance was observed from the mountain unit to the lower base of the relief unit. Landscape patterns exhibited the greatest changes in mountain and at the base of the relief units.