Wildfires cause serious effects on the ecosystem with consequences for soil functionality which may require long recovery. The identification of specific soil indicators for nutrient cycles and the application of remote sensing might contribute to better quantify the soil degradation and to assess the post-fire recovery. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of fire on soil properties in two Mediterranean forests and to identify suitable soil indicators that, coupled with remote sensing, would allow an efficient monitoring of soil health status and nutrient cycles during the natural regeneration process. two forest stands dominated by Pinus pinaster L. and Castanea sativa L. were monitored over time following a destructive fire event occurred in 2018 on Monte Pisano (Tuscany, Italy). Fire severity and geomorphology produced different effects between the two stands, therefore burned and unburned sites were selected in both pine and chestnut stands and compared in terms of soil properties, mycorrhizal abundance, stable N isotopes, and enzyme activities after two and five years from the fire event. the satellite data indicated a higher fire severity and a slower vegetation recovery in pine sites than chestnut sites. Although a soil recovery in terms of available nutrients occurred, N isotopes and enzyme activities indicated an alteration of nutrient cycling, especially in pine sites, where the mycorrhizal colonization was also lower than in the chestnut soil. Soil enzymes, N isotopes and mycorrhizal colonization were effective for monitoring the progress in natural restoration of ecosystem functionality.

Isotopic analyses of carbon (δ¹³C) and oxygen (δ¹⁸O) are widely applied in biogeosciences to investigate biogeochemical cycles, ecosystem functioning, and environmental dynamics. Elemental analyzer-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (EA-IRMS) represents one of the most widely applied systems for bulk samples. The laser ablation-IRMS (LA-IRMS) provides the possibility to resolve spatial and temporal variability at high resolution, but also presents some limitations due to gas handling, signal stability, and analytical comparability with conventional approaches.For this study, we present a methodological comparison between δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O measurements obtained using EA-IRMS and an improved LA-IRMS configuration. In our configuration, the LA is coupled with the IRMS through a greenhouse gas (GHG) analyzer specifically modified to concentrate, purify, and stabilize CO₂ and CO generated during ablation to improve the gas signal for isotope measurements.Analyses were conducted on hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) wood slices for EA-IRMS and tree-ring increments for LA-GHG-IRMS. The comparison between the two methods showed main differences related to sampling resolution and analytical configuration. The LA-GHG-IRMS system provided high-resolution isotope measurements that allowed investigations of intra-seasonal patterns.The application of the LA-GHG-IRMS system extends the analytical utility of laser-based stable isotope measurements in biogeosciences, providing new opportunities for high-resolution studies of ecological processes in terrestrial ecosystems.

Improving air quality in cities is a social challenge related to human health. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) have been shown to effectively remove air pollutants such as particulate matter (PM) from the atmosphere, with the PM removal capacity appearing to be largely dependent on the species morphological traits. However, other factors, such as chemical interactions and atmospheric and microclimatic parameters, can also affect the PM removal efficiency. To test this hypothesis, we compared the PM accumulation in five plant species with different morphological traits (Chlorophytum comosum, Hedera helix, Monstera deliciosa, Nephrolepis exaltata, Tradescantia zebrina) upon their installation in three different green walls (GWs) located outdoor (OGW), indoor (IGW), and in a closed chamber with a forced ventilation (active green wall - AGW). Leaf surfaces were analysed through Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to characterise their micromorphological features associated with PM accumulation. The deposited PM load was estimated by combining gravimetric and conductimetric approaches, and the PM chemical composition was assessed by Microwave Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (MP-AES). Statistical differences between species in PM capture were observed. Species exhibited distinct PM accumulation patterns across the green walls, with notable species-specific affinities for certain potentially toxic elements, demonstrating that PM retention is not driven by leaf morphology alone. Among species, Chlorophytum comosum best performed in OGW and IGW while Tradescantia zebrina in AGW. In AGW, the presence of the plants reduced PM concentration by approximately 50% and high humidity enhanced wet deposition and increased fine-particle capture, confirming the relevance of microclimatic factors for air-purification.

Urban forests are not merely green amenities; they support critical ecosystem functioning and services vital for healthy, resilient cities. Recognising urban forests as core infrastructure is essential to reversing the loss of mature trees, preserving biodiversity, and maintaining liveability amid increasing climate and environmental pressures. Although the benefits of urban forests for climate resilience, biodiversity, and public health are broadly acknowledged, policies to protect and enhance these vital ecosystems are often limited, underfunded, and inadequately enforced. As mature canopy loss today takes decades to be replaced (if ever), immediate and sustained investment is crucial to safeguard urban forests. This urgency reveals four interconnected gaps in current urban forest management and stewardship. First, urban forests require recognition, investment, and maintenance as essential infrastructure contributing to urban resilience, including biodiversity support, and to maximise the delivery of key ecosystem services such as cooling and carbon sequestration. Second, equitable access to greenspaces across all communities must be ensured to redress long-standing social and environmental injustices. Third, integrating urban forests into broader climate and biodiversity governance frameworks is critical to mainstreaming their management and protection. Lastly, resilience must be strengthened through evidence-based management practices responsive to evolving environmental changes and social contexts. These priorities must be complemented with strong legal protections, rigorous enforcement of legislation against illegal tree removal, and robust community engagement supported by integrated urban planning and improved monitoring. Without these, the ecological, social, and economic benefits provided by urban forests will remain threatened. By reframing urban forests as essential living infrastructure embedded in legal, financial, and planning frameworks, cities can become cooler, healthier, more biodiverse, and socially just. This framework offers timely guidance for policymakers to prioritise urban forests within climate resilience and sustainability strategies, securing benefits for current and future generations.

Urban and peri-urban soils are increasingly degraded by land consumption and surface sealing, with adverse consequences for ecosystem functioning, climate regulation, and human health. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) combining reconstructed soils with urban tree and shrub planting have emerged as promising strategies for land restoration, yet their system-wide environmental and health implications at metropolitan scale remains poorly understood. This study develops an ex-ante, time-dependent Consequential Life Cycle Assessment (CLCA) to evaluate a large scale technosol-based NbS programme in Turin (Italy) and its first-belt municipalities, covering ~200ha of degraded land. The intervention was modelled through a 15-year phased roll-out followed by a 60-year operational lifetime, explicitly accounting for marginal material supply activation, capacity-constrained supplier switching, transport dynamics, and end-of-life activities. Environmental impacts on human health were balanced against the benefits associated with carbon sequestration and air pollution removal. Results show that NbS implementation entails substantial environmental burdens during the deployment phase, primarily driven by technosol production and material handling. These impacts peak within the first 15 years, after which a growing supply of ecosystem services generate net annual climate and air quality benefits. Carbon break-even is reached after approximately 45 years, while air pollution-related impacts become net negative after about 61 years. This study demonstrates the long-term benefits for human health and the material-related tradeoffs associated with large scale technosol-based NbS, advancing the methodological foundation for policy-relevant urban land restoration assessment.

Sphagnum mosses regulate peatland carbon storage, hydrology, nutrient cycling, and ecosystem functioning. However, the links among their surface chemistry, photosynthesis, responses to submersion and pH remain poorly understood. We quantified surface-chemical properties and biosorption potential in 20 field-collected species and four axenically cultivated conspecific clones. We measured gas exchange and Chl fluorescence in five representative species under submerged conditions across pH gradients. All Sphagnum species shared basic surface-chemical characteristics but differed in surface charge and abundance of reactive sites involved in proton and gas exchange, with generally higher biosorption potential in the Acutifolia and Sphagnum subgenera. Photosynthesis was maintained under waterlogging, although it varied among species and pH conditions. Reactive surface groups enhanced CO2 assimilation. Sphagnum palustre showed the broadest physiological tolerance, maintaining stable photosynthesis and photoprotection across all pH levels. In vitro cultivation reduced chemical variability among species but preserved the main surface-chemical properties. These results demonstrate that surface chemistry contributes to species-specific photosynthetic responses and ecological strategies under variable environmental conditions, while supporting the use of Sphagnum clones as standardized models for physiological research and environmental applications.

Measuring root growth presents significant challenges. Integrating temporal data from root and stem dendrometers offers considerable potential to improve our understanding of the physiological relationships between aboveground and belowground compartments. In this study, we analysed long-term dendrometer data from coarse roots and stems of Abies balsamea and Picea mariana across two boreal sites in Canada to (1) assess how diel and seasonal growth patterns differ between organs, and (2) identify the environmental factors driving radial increment.Stems showed higher hourly increments rates, whereas roots displayed greater cumulative radial increment at daily, weekly, and seasonal scales due to higher number of growth hours. During the growing season, roots experienced more hours of increment (323 ± 76 h) compared to stems (150 ± 41 h). This pattern can be related to the greater capacity of roots to maintain the turgor threshold necessary for cell division and enlargement, likely supported by reduced diel fluctuations in root water content and buffered by soil water availability. Consistently, Vapor Pressure Deficit influenced radial increment occurrence at high temporal resolution, with stronger effects on stems, indicating greater short-term sensitivity of stem growth to atmospheric water demand.Photosynthetically active radiation was the main driver of increment rate at broader temporal scales, highlighting the importance of carbon availability for growth.Overall, our findings demonstrate that the climatic regulation of growth is strongly scale-dependent, with high-frequency observations revealing rapid physiological responses that are not captured at coarser temporal resolutions. These results improve our understanding of whole-tree growth responses to environmental variability and can provide new insights into forest adaptation under changing climates.

Ground-mounted photovoltaic systems are expanding rapidly to meet decarbonisation targets, but their growth raises concerns about land take, farmland conversion, and biodiversity impacts. Addressing the lack of tools to monitor local land-use change across Italian municipalities, this study presents an open-access application developed on Google Earth Engine. Through an interactive interface, users can select an Italian municipality, define the year and compositing method for Sentinel-2 imagery, draw training and validation polygons, and choose among three classifiers to generate land-cover maps. The tool automatically evaluates classification accuracy, filters pixels, and converts the photovoltaic class into vector polygons. Users can then select the dataset (CORINE Land Cover + Backbone or EUCropMap) and reference year to reconstruct previous land cover and agricultural use. All results, including classified maps, photovoltaic polygons, summary tables, and charts, can be exported. Developed for Montalto di Castro (Lazio), the workflow achieved 91.05% overall accuracy and mapped 762.14 ha of installations, covering 4.02% of the entire municipal territory. Results show that most installations replaced herbaceous farmland. The workflow was successfully tested in the municipality of Guillena (Andaluc & iacute;a, Spain), confirming its adaptability. The application offers a practical, scalable solution for quantifying photovoltaic expansion and supporting spatial planning in Italy and across Europe.

Trait-based functional ecology often assumes that plant organs (e.g. leaf, stem, root) having dense tissues (high dry matter content; DMC) are carbon (C)-expensive. However, this assumption remains largely untested. Here, we examine whether 1) C-allocation traits co-vary forming coordinated functional strategies, 2) isotopic composition of leaf carbon (δ13C) can be effectively traced across organs and can estimate C present in upper soil layers thereby forming a plant-soil continuum, and 3) easy-to-collect traits can predict key soil ecosystem functions (C stock, nutrient status). We focused on three widely distributed Mediterranean woody species (Cistus salviifolius, Erica arborea, Quercus ilex), measuring plant traits and soil parameters from three sites in Italy. We applied a Bayesian analytical framework considering the co-varying effects of biotic (species, developmental stage) and abiotic (site, fire disturbance) factors. Trait co-variation indicates integrated functional strategies for C allocation, especially for δ13C across organs. However, DMC of different organs is decoupled from

Science-based indicators are needed to monitor ecosystems at different scales, especially with increasing climate change and anthropogenic pressures, and varying impacts according to the scale of analysis. Ecosystem functional properties report on key ecosystem processes and dynamics at multiple scales, from community to biome level, providing a dynamic view of ecosystem carbon- and energy-related processes, useful for monitoring short-term changes. These quantities can be derived from flux measurements, such as those collected by the Integrated Carbon Observation System flux tower network. Here, modeling of selected ecosystem functional properties with hyperspectral satellite data was carried out at fifteen European sites belonging to five different plant functional types. The results, compared to those obtained using a dense Sentinel-2 time series, highlight the potential of hyperspectral narrowbands. Gross primary productivity, light use efficiency and net ecosystem exchange have been predicted with reasonable accuracy, independently by the plant functional type or site latitude . Two different modeling approaches have been compared: Random Forests and Extreme Gradient Boosting. The potential of monitoring ecosystems using the EFPs approach is discussed in consideration of the pros and cons in data use, and the future increased availability of hyperspectral missions.

Cities pursuing nature-based solutions to mitigate heatwaves need tools to estimate cooling benefits from increased tree canopy cover. This study applied the i-Tree Cool Air model and a heatwave degree day (HWDD) metric to quantify reductions in heatwave severity if neighborhoods in 10 Italian cities achieved the recommended minimum 30

Approximately eight billion people are living on Earth today with more than half (55%, ∼4.2 billion) living in cities—a proportion predicted to increase to 70% (∼6.6. billion) by 2050. As the human population grows, urban residents will face increasingly extreme temperatures under future climate change, which will affect human well-being, health, and mortality. However, nature-based solutions offer promising strategies to mitigate these impacts. Here, we analyst future projections of the maximum temperature of the warmest month, as a proxy for extreme heat exposure across 5646 cities in 218 countries. We show that by mid-century, this climate metric is projected to increase by an average of +1.7 °C (± 0.5 °C), with the largest increases (∼4 °C) projected to occur in mid-to-high latitude cities of Europe, North America, and Australia. We highlight the urgent need to adopt nature-based solutions to mitigate projected increases in urban heat and contribute to net-zero CO _2 emissions goals.

The constant growth of population living in urban areas creates new opportunities for urban forest to provides ecosystem services for human wellbeing such as, cooling effect, and carbon neutrality of cities. Nevertheless, experimental observation of carbon and energy exchange in urban forest have been so far fragmented, limited to short period of time, and never spatially distributed. While a considering amount of remote sensing and modelling studies indicates the potential cooling capacity and carbon uptake of urban forest, the impact of climatic extreme events on it is still unclear. Through multiple years of unique Eddy Covariance (EC) observations of a mature urban forest located in southern Europe we highlighted how carbon and water fluxes respond differently, almost as if uncoupled, with evaporative cooling maintained during the climatic drought and net carbon sequestration reversed. A long term EC observation, coupled with modeling simulations, highlight the role of urban forest as potential tool for climate and microclimate mitigation with and without drought limitations. Our results have important policy implications for urban forest management and planning and more generally for strategies, on urban forest, in relation to carbon neutrality and thermal comfort. While the urban forest had an annual net loss of CO2 to the atmosphere, its above- and below- ground biomass and the soil represent a relevant carbon reservoir, and its summer uptake of atmospheric CO2 enabled evaporative cooling of the microclimate. However, the impact of summer drought reduced the levels of cooling benefits compared to non-drought summers. Our results represents the first long term, and continuous experimental observation to demonstrate that the urban forest cooling capacity in warm seasons can decouple from net CO2 uptake and will be limited by the amount of water available, either from precipitation or irrigation sources.

Indoor green walls (IGWs) are innovative Nature-based Solutions to enhance air quality and thermal comfort in indoor spaces through bio-friendly design. At the same time, they can promote the improvement of human cognitive performance and socio-psychological wellbeing. A case study was developed and implemented in a primary school in Turin (Italy), through a collaborative process involving people from school, municipality, and academia, to prove the environmental and socio-psychological benefits of IGWs, based on impact assessment. The performance of IGW on air quality and human well-being was monitored, showing a positive impact of the IGW on indoor air quality through particulate matter (PM) removal, also highlighting interesting correlations between plant species, PM size fractions and their chemical composition. On the contrary, a low impact on the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) concentration was observed. Regarding the socio-psychological impact, despite the undoubtedly importance of the collaboration between various sectors of the public administration and of the use of IGW as a training tool for students, the impact evaluated by measuring changes in pupils’ pro-environmental attitude and behaviour was positive but lower than expected. In conclusion, this real-life case study provides results to be further used for evidence-based decision making about the implementation of IGWs in schools. However, the study also revealed some limitations and barriers in the effective implementation of impact monitoring in living context, such as primary schools. These challenges could provide valuable lessons learned for the implementation of similar projects in the future.

The European Natura 2000 network is composed by >50 % of forest, for about 37.5 million of hectares, hosting unvaluable biodiversity. Reporting the conservation status of the Natura 2000 network is mandatory. but the monitoring of sites is based on a variable approach among different countries; accurate spatially explicit data are scarce, and often derived by manual photo interpretation and dated surveys. The increasing climate change impacts on forests and biodiversity, especially in the Mediterranean area, calls for improved monitoring and EU-harmonized procedures. Furthermore, assessing the spatial distribution and extent of natural habitats is another urgent requirement, that can be framed into the wider concept of Essential Biodiversity Variables. Here hyperspectral PRISMA data are used, together with canopy height information from lidar, to map the ecosystem diversity of a Mediterranean Natura 2000 forest site, at very high thematic resolution. The task is not trivial, considering the presence in the study area of different Quercus spp. dominated forest types. The classification tests were conducted with different algorithms and number of classes, to detect optimal solutions. Random Forests was capable to map 14 classes (overall accuracy >80 %) after input features reduction, similarly to Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis that instead ingested the full dataset. Even if characterized by higher spatial resolution, models based on Sentinel 2 data provided much lower accuracy than PRISMA. Considerations about the use of this satellite hyperspectral and lidar data, in the framework of improved ecosystem monitoring, were provided. This research illustrates the potential of using hyperspectral and lidar data to assess the forest habitat diversity in the Natura 2000 network, thus supporting the adoption of innovative data and approaches, based on remote sensing, to monitor natural resources and Essential Biodiversity Variables.

Global warming and urbanization growth are accelerating and fuelling typical urban stressors including microclimate alterations with an intensification of urban heat islands (UHI). UHI areas are characterized by warmer temperatures with respect to the surrounding rural areas, affecting human health and mortality. Trees and urban green areas (UGAs) have been shown to be crucial in reducing the UHI because of the canopy transpiration-induced cooling: by turning liquid water to vapor absorbing heat energy from the surrounding environment, solar radiation is converted into latent heat flux, which lowers air temperatures surround. In this study conducted over 10 European cities we investigated if and how much UGAs impact latent heat fluxes and the related ambient air cooling, and how UGAs could be used to develop more habitable and sustainable urban environments. Specifically, the objectives of the study are to: 1) assess the impact of the green areas in cooling down the air temperature in summer months using in situ eddy covariance (EC) measurements and 2) assess the role of the environmental factors driving the latent heat fluxes and, consequently, the related cooling of urban microclimate. Results confirm that green areas within urban environments are key elements for enhancing the summer air cooling and thus the well-being of local inhabitants.

Addressing the planetary crisis associated with climate change, biodiversity loss, global pollution, and public health requires novel and holistic approaches. Here, we present the methodology and initial results of an experiment conducted in Rome within the framework of the National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC) project, Spoke 6. The major objective of this study was to outline the planetary health approach as a lens to assess urban health. This transdisciplinary case study explored the relationship between urban traffic-related external exposome and pro-oxidative responses in humans and plants. This methodology is based on the integration of atmospheric dynamics modeling, state-of-the-art aerosol measurements, biomonitoring in human cohorts, in vitro cellular assays, and the assessment of functional trait markers in urban trees. The results indicate that short-term exposure to urban aerosols, even at low concentrations, triggers rapid oxidative and inflammatory responses in bronchial epithelial cells, modulates gene and miRNA expression, alters gut microbiota diversity, and induces functional trait changes in urban trees. This study also highlights the feedback mechanisms between vegetation and atmospheric conditions, emphasizing the role of urban greenery in modulating microclimate and exposure. The methodology and initial results presented here will be further analyzed in future studies to explore proof of a cause–effect relationship between short-term exposure to traffic-related environmental stressors in urban areas and oxidative stress in humans and plants, with implications for chronic responses. In a highly urbanized world, this evidence could be pivotal in motivating the widespread implementation of planetary health approaches for assessing urban health.

Costal pine Italian forests, like mostly monospecific plantations, are much more vulnerable than natural and multi-specific stands. This fragility was completely expressed in the Castelporziano Presidential Natural Reserve in Italy (west coast of central Italy), where, in only 6 years, the combined action of the alien pathogens Toumeyella parvicornis with the native one Tomicus destruens led to the disappearance of the stone pines (Pinus pinea L.) that were covering more than 250 hectares of monospecific stands. The subsequent removal of standing dead trees left large open areas where various ecosystem restoration strategies can be applied including reforestation to natural recolonization and different options for grazing control. An ICOS station was already present inside the natural reserve and now, thanks to the fruitful collaboration of three European Research Infrastructures (ICOS, eLTER and LifeWatch), five additional monitoring plots will be established. At moment of the present abstract submission three station plots have been already implemented and started to measure in mid-August 2024, while the other two are under implementation with the start of the measurements planned for spring 2025. The different plots, covering each a different post-pine option with a different ecosystem structure, are all equipped with an eddy covariance system for CO2, water and energy continuous exchange measurement. Beyond the functionality in terms of carbon absorption, other investigation activities will be carried out in the plots with a specific focus on vegetation and soil characteristics, biodiversity evolution and hyperspectral and SIF local measurements among others. In this presentation the first preliminary results will be illustrated, together with the plan and the activities on-going. The data, collected in the context of the European Research Infrastructures, are open access and FAIR and will be fundamental for better evaluating and understanding different restoration options and the consequent vegetation dynamics from a holistic point of view including carbon storage, water balance, plants and animal biodiversity, with a link to the remote sensing for their possible upscaling.

Nature-based solutions, such as urban parks, play a crucial role in mitigating air pollution in cities while offering significant health benefits. However, a knowledge gap remains in understanding how vegetation-mediated pollutant removal translates into city-scale air quality improvements and health outcomes. This study uses a green area in Turin, Italy, as a case study, applying different approaches to assess the ecosystem services it provides. Different approaches based on, or inspired to, i-Tree Eco model were used to estimate the amount of particulate matter (PM) removed by trees, while scanning electron microscopy with X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX) was employed to measure PM deposition on leaves. Based on these findings, the air quality improvement was evaluated under different scenarios. The corresponding reduction in disease burden -including conditions such as stroke and type 2 diabetes- at the city level was quantified using the Urban and Transport Planning Health Impact Assessment (UTOPHIA) tool. Results showed that while modelling and experimental approaches produced comparable estimates for fine particulate matter (PM2.5), discrepancies were observed for coarse particles (PM10), influencing the projected health outcomes. A detailed analysis of the applied methodologies, including parameter interdependencies, provides valuable insights into their influence on estimated outcomes. These findings can contribute to improving future approaches for translating local air quality data into city-scale policy decisions.