Compacted soils in urban areas suffer from reduced porosity, impairing plant growth, water infiltration, and gas exchange, thus exacerbating other potential environmental issues. Amending soil with organic matter can reduce bulk density and increase permeability, thereby enhancing soil fertility and functionality. This study evaluated the effects of two organic soil amendments (i.e., chipped cork and municipal waste compost) on soil functionality and the physiology of Quercus ilex trees, following a soil compaction treatment. Five soil treatments were compared: control (no compaction and amendments), soil compaction without amendments, and compaction with amendments including cork, compost, or a combination of both. Soil and plant physiological responses were analyzed during the summer months, focusing on soil gas exchange, temperature, moisture, microbial respiration, enzymatic activity, leaf gas exchange, leaf chlorophyll fluorescence, chlorophyll content, and maximum daily trunk shrinkage. The results showed that amended soils exhibited increased soil gas exchanges, lower temperatures, and higher microbial activity than non-amended compacted soils, thereby reducing the detrimental effects of soil compaction on plant physiology. These findings suggested that incorporating organic amendments into urban soils, especially those subjected to frequent trampling, could make them more resistant/resilient to compaction, supporting healthier green spaces and more sustainable urban ecosystems.

Tree pulling tests are widely used to assess tree stability and root–soilanchorage under simulated horizontal loads. However, the mechanical responsemeasured during these tests reflects the combined behaviour of thetree, root system, and surrounding soil and may therefore be influenced bylocal soil conditions and previous loading history. This short communicationpresents an exploratory investigation of within-tree variability during sequentialstatic pulling tests and following progressive modifications of the root–soilsystem. Artificial anchoring systems consisting of driven steel piles were installedwithin the root zone, and pulling tests were conducted on nine Alnusglutinosa trees under monitored near-surface soil moisture conditions. Overturningmoments obtained during the loading phase were compared with thecorresponding initial free-standing condition. The results showed that mosttest sequences produced relatively limited changes, whereas some trees exhibited marked and opposite responses following the progressive installationof the piles. Because pile configuration, test order, and loading history werenot experimentally separated, the observed changes cannot be attributeduniquely to pile number or embedment depth. Overall, the findings revealsubstantial individual variability and highlight methodological questions concerningthe influence of previous loading and the interpretation of changesmeasured during sequential pulling-test experiments.

Forest ownership fragmentation represents a major constraint to sustainable forest management in many European countries, particularly in Italy, where private forests are often divided into small and spatially dispersed holdings. This study evaluates the potential of cadastral data to support forest owner aggregation through a graph-based spatial network analysis implemented within the Forest Sharing® platform. The analysis was conducted on 29,549 cadastral forest parcels voluntarily registered by 910 private forest owners across Italy. Parcels were represented as nodes in a spatial network and connected using four aggregation-distance thresholds (100, 250, 500, and 1000 m). Connected components were interpreted as potential forest management clusters. Only clusters including at least 30 ha of forest area and a minimum of two owners were retained. The proposed methodology successfully identified aggregable forest management units under all scenarios. Increasing aggregation distances substantially increased both the number of eligible clusters and the total forest area available for collective management. The number of clusters increased from 5 at the 100 m threshold to 48 at 500 m, while the aggregable forest area increased from approximately 700 ha to more than 12,000 ha at the 1000 m threshold. Most clusters involve two and five owners, indicating that substantial aggregation opportunities can be achieved without excessive ownership complexity. The study highlights the potential of cadastral information and spatial network analysis to support forest owner associations, collective management initiatives, and forest policy measures aimed at overcoming ownership fragmentation.

Forest ownership fragmentation represents a major constraint to sustainable forest management in many European countries, particularly in Italy, where private forests are often divided into small and spatially dispersed holdings. This study evaluates the potential of cadastral data to support forest-owner aggregation through graph-based spatial network analysis implemented within the Forest Sharing^® platform. Its novelty lies in the operational integration of voluntary cadastral parcel data with a comparative network framework that quantifies how parcel representation and spatial thresholds alter the identification of candidate multi-owner management units. The analysis included 29,549 cadastral forest parcels voluntarily registered by 910 private forest owners across Italy. Parcels were treated as network nodes, and three spatial relationship models were compared: strict topological adjacency, minimum polygon-to-polygon distance, and distance between internal representative points. Distance-based networks were evaluated at 50-m increments from 50 to 1000 m, while cluster eligibility was defined by a minimum area of 30 ha and at least two owners. Strict adjacency identified six eligible clusters covering 465.7 ha. The minimum polygon-distance method identified 31 eligible clusters and 7297.2 ha at 100 m, increasing to 44 clusters and 14,204.8 ha at 1000 m. The point-on-surface method was substantially more conservative at short thresholds but progressively converged with the polygon method; edge recall increased from 0.479 at 100 m to 0.916 at 1000 m, while precision remained equal to 1.0. Median ownership complexity remained limited to two or three owners per eligible cluster, although the largest components included substantially more owners at high thresholds. The results demonstrate that parcel geometry and threshold selection materially influence estimated aggregation opportunities and support the use of polygon-based proximity combined with sensitivity analysis as a transparent screening framework for collective forest management.