Agricultural land is a very important ecosystem that provides a range of services like food, maintenance of soil structure, and hydrological services with high ecological value to human wellbeing Ecosystem Services (ESs). Understanding the contribution of different agricultural practices to supply ESs would help inform choices about the most beneficial land use management. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are defined by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) as actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural or modified ecosystems, which address societal challenges (e.g., climate change, food and water security, or natural disasters) effectively and adaptively, while simultaneously providing human wellbeing and biodiversity benefits. Some actions farmers can implement in the new Rural Development Programs (RDP 2021–2022 and 2023–2027) can be considered as NbS and could affect the quantity, quality, and time of some ESs related to water regulation and supply, N adsorption and erosion protection. This study aims to evaluate these ESs in different scenarios in the upper Foglia river basin (Italy) and at a local scale (farming), and to highlight the issue to compensate farmers for the production of public goods which benefit the whole society (ESs) by the implementation of RDP’s actions. These scenarios highlight how actions have positive effects on ecosystem services and their economic value related to land use management, on maintaining agricultural practices by integrating Water Frame Directive (2000/60/EC), Directive 2007/60/EC on the management of flood risks and highlighting the potential role of farmers in a high diversity landscape. This study highlights a new way to evaluate the processes of natural capital in the production of public goods, which benefits the whole society (ESs), by emphasizing the economic and environmental role of farmers in producing them and putting on the table data to trigger a PES (Payment for Ecosystem Services) mechanism. To facilitate decision making, robust decision support tools are needed, underpinned by comprehensive cost-benefit analyses and spatially modeling in which agriculture can be a strategic sector to optimize food production and environmental protection in harmony with the Farm to Fork (F2F) strategy.

Riparian areas support a set of river functions and of ecosystem services (ESs). Their role is essential in reducing negative human impacts on river functionality. These aspects could be contained in the River Basin Management Plan, which is the tool for managing and planning freshwater ecosystems in a river basin. In this paper, a new index was developed, namely the River Ecosystem Quality Index (REQI). It is composed of five ecological indices, which assess the quality of riparian areas, and it was first applied to the Marecchia river (central Italy). The REQI was also compared with the Italian River Functionality Index (IFF) and the ESs measured as the capacity of land cover in providing human benefits. Data have shown a decrease in the quality of riparian areas, from the upper to lower part of river, with 53% of all subareas showing medium-quality values. This explains the vulnerability of these areas when exposed to any action taken in the management of natural resources. The REQI is closely related (R² = 0.71) to ESs. A lower regression was shown in the case of riverine quality, measured by the IFF. The opportunity to add such an assessment to the traditional indices used to assess river quality in the management of aquatic–terrestrial transitional zones was finally discussed.

Several studies have reported the high bioindication capacity of Isopoda (Crustacea, Oniscidea), which is related to their important ability to accumulate contaminants, usefulness in soil ecotoxicology and bioindication activities. Any change in the isopod population, diversity and life cycle can indicate relevant pollution levels. The analysis of target tissues, such as the hepatopancreas, is another emerging approach (from a cytologic/histological level) to detect contaminant accumulation from different sources. In this study, tissue disaggregation procedures were optimised in the hepatopancreas, and flow cytometry (FC) was applied to detect cell viability and several cell functions. After disaggregation, two hepatopancreatic cell types, small (S) and big (B), were still recognisable: they differed in morphology and behaviour. The analyses were conducted for the first time on isopods from sites under different conditions of ecological disturbance through cytometric re-interpretation of ecological-environmental parameters. Significant differences in cell functional parameters were found, highlighting that isopod hepatopancreatic cells can be efficiently analysed by FC and represent standardisable, early biological indicators, tracing environmental-induced stress through cytologic/histologic analyses.

In an era when ecological and environmental needs and responsibilities apply pressure on the world’s countries and sustainability takes centre stage, ecologic/environmental (E/E) laboratories stand as beacons of scientific inquiry, innovating, optimising, and applying various tests for a better knowledge of our natural resources and the quality status of ecosystems. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the use of flow cytometry (FC) as a tool for assessing environmental quality, mainly using living organisms and their biological changes as bioindicators. Cytometric approaches applied to both marine and terrestrial ecosystems ensure the detection of biochemical and functional status of the cells composing either an organ thereof or the organism itself. In addition to cytometric evaluations of the biotic matrix, a brief overview of the techniques for the environmental assessment of biotic and abiotic matrices using mass spectrometry is given. The technique involving the continuous monitoring of the chemical and physical parameters of water, sediment, and soil is basically incapable of detecting any additive and synergetic effects of toxicants on living organisms. Therefore, techniques employing bioindicators provide valuable information for environmental diagnosis, and several studies have demonstrated the strong relationship between specific environmental data and cell/organ behaviour.

Given global changes and the loss of ecosystem services, it is crucial to assess the effects of landscape characteristics on ecosystem service distribution for sustainable territory management. Italy’s diverse landscapes present an opportunity to study this effect. This study identified optimal elevation and landscape heterogeneity ranges that optimize four ecosystem service provisions across Italy. We mapped ecosystem services across Italy using generalized additive models (GAM) to assess their spatial relationships with landscape characteristics, such as elevation and heterogeneity, and specifically, we identified their optimal values concerning elevation and landscape heterogeneity. In Italy, agricultural production is concentrated at low altitudes, like the Po Valley, while the pre-Alps and Apennines regions at intermediate altitudes provide ecosystem services like timber production and carbon storage. However, elevation gradient and landscape heterogeneity significantly influence trade-offs between agricultural production and these services. The optimal altitude for timber production, carbon storage, and habitat quality is around 1500 m above sea level, while agricultural production peaks at the lowest and highest elevations. Our study shows landscape features’ significant role in supporting specific ecosystem services. This information is crucial for guiding land use planning and management decisions, especially under global land use and climate change.