Marginal areas in economically advanced countries are a critical issue that European and national policies have been addressing for some time. These areas are affected by depopulation, infrastructural gaps and labor systems that do not reach the corresponding national levels and where often agriculture still plays a critical role. In Italy, despite the fact that the National Strategy for Inner Areas (SNAI) has been active for about a decade with the aim of increasing the territorial cohesion of these fragile areas, rather limited results have been achieved in terms of halting economic marginalization and demographic decline. In this specific context, our work is aimed at analyzing land use changes, the loss of ecosystem services and demographic trends in a Mediterranean region (Irpinia—Southern Italy) on district and municipal scales in the last 30 years (1990–2018) to capture current, subtle socio-economic dynamics. The analysis carried out has indicated a substantial increase in urban areas due to the development of new industrial areas and discontinuous urban fabric (urban sprawl) at the expense of natural areas (mainly meadows and shrublands). The agricultural areas have remained substantially unchanged in terms of extension, with a slight increase in heterogeneous agricultural areas and an expansion of high-value crops (vineyards), that are the most suitable for multifunctional agriculture activities (experiential and rural tourism). The analysis of the demographic trend has highlighted a widespread phenomenon of depopulation, with the exception of those municipalities who economically orbit around the provincial capital of Avellino. The municipalities in depopulation are mostly located in the inner areas characterized by a more rugged morphology and infrastructural gaps. Unexpectedly, most of municipalities show a significant anticorrelation among the population and agricultural areas which is an indicator of social and economic phenomena as complex as they are underestimated. As a final step, this analysis highlights also a loss of carbon storage mainly attributable to the soil sealing of large areas. This study can help to comprehensively understand the conditions of marginal areas in Mediterranean Europe over recent decades in the light of the main socio-economic dynamics to better direct efforts towards the containment of the human capital hemorrhage, consisting of persistently negative natural and migratory rates, and the sustainable empowerment of these geo-economic peripheries.

The pandemic lockdown of the year 2020 has been generally accompanied by an improvement in the air quality. Here, we report data on the effects of lockdown limitations on the air quality in the metropolitan area of Naples (Italy) by following the evolution of main atmospheric pollutants over a five-year period and comparing their concentrations in the pandemic year 2020 with the previous (2018 and 2019) and following (2021 and 2022) two years. In particular, NO₂ and PM10 concentrations registered by representative air quality sampling station network and the columnar features of the aerosol characterized by a sun-photometer are considered. To avoid the possible influence of Saharan dust transport, which generally affects the observational area, the analysis has been limited to the days free from such events. Our findings evidence a tendency towards pre-pandemic conditions, notwithstanding some differences related to partial and temporary restrictions imposed even in the year 2021. For both near-surface NO₂ and PM, the observations confirm a significant reduction induced by the lockdown in 2020, besides the seasonal changes, and a gradual tendency towards more typical values in the following years. Also, the columnar aerosol data clearly highlight a gradual recovery of typical conditions in 2021 and 2022, confirming a peculiar effect of the pandemic lockdown of the year 2020 on the atmospheric aerosol characteristics that evidences a striking predominance of the fine component.

Wastewater monitoring has been recognized as a valid tool for monitoring coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) diffusion. In this paper we analyse a dataset composed by the measurements of SARS-CoV-2 RNA load in 605 raw wastewater samples collected from nine wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in the Campania region from October 2021 to May 2025. We analyse the correlation structure of the dataset using multivariate statistical techniques with the aim of identifying the most representative sentinel WWTPs and thus optimizing the number of samples. Results of spatial analysis showed that there are two isolated elements, SA3 and NA1, with the highest and lowest SARS-CoV-2 load values, respectively, and other two clusters (Cl1 and Cl2) from the other WWTPs. Temporal analysis showed that NA3 WWTP had a statistically significant difference in SARS-CoV-2 load from 2022 to 2023. Our method suggests limiting samplings to three sites, as follows: SA3 (which can act as a sentinel site because it is the first site that records variation in viral load) and two with the higher variation coefficients (CV%) belonging to the two clusters, as follows: CE1 for Cl1 and NA4 for Cl2. This data analysis procedure could allow to focus only on certain WWTPs for SARS-CoV-2 monitoring, to promptly identify outbreaks.

Soil monitoring is increasingly important for environmental sustainability and biodiversity protection, as urbanization and industrial development expose fertile land to pollution risks. Soil quality can be assessed through physical–chemical parameters and by analyzing land use evolution, highlighting the need for integrated procedures that jointly address land use transitions and soil health. This study assesses temporal soil changes (2004–2019) in an area affected by impactful industrial activities (Tito Scalo, Southern Italy), alongside major land use transformations. We explore the potential of a procedure based on a combination of standard techniques: analysis of land use/cover changes, magnetic susceptibility measurements from two field surveys (2004 and 2019) as a proxy for heavy metal concentrations, and ²²⁶Ra soil concentration measurements, proving to be a decisive factor in better interpreting the evolution of magnetic susceptibility values. Results show that, despite increased industrial activities and expanded sealed areas, magnetic susceptibility values decrease in the second survey. This suggests that policy measures, including temporary suspension of certain industrial activities and remediation efforts, positively influenced environmental quality. The proposed procedure is low-cost, time-efficient, and independent of local geological, bioclimatic, or socio-economic conditions, making it suitable for monitoring areas under high anthropogenic pressure and for evaluating the effectiveness of remediation and recovery strategies supporting mitigation or remediation actions and enabling functional redevelopment of remediated sites.

Stone walls are vital components of Mediterranean rural landscapes, but they are increasingly threatened by land abandonment and the loss of traditional maintenance practices. This study presents an integrated approach for detecting and mapping stone walls within the Appennino Lucano Val d’Agri Lagonegrese National Park (southern Italy), recognized as an area of outstanding importance for the conservation of biodiversity and cultural landscapes. The adopted methodology relies on a procedure that combines field surveys with a dual remote sensing framework utilizing very-high-resolution SkySat imagery and multi-date Copernicus Sentinel-2 data. SkySat imagery was used for the semi-automated detection of stone wall-related features based on morpho-textural characteristics, complemented by photointerpretation through Google Earth, Google Maps, and Google Street View, whereas Sentinel-2 data were used to screen vegetation conditions in the areas surrounding the inventoried stone walls and terraces. As an additive investigation, the historical tratturi (ancient transhumance routes) network was used as a historically informed spatial framework to identify priority corridors for visual inspection. The integrated approach resulted in an inventory of 374 georeferenced stone-wall occurrences distributed across different landscape contexts. Sentinel-2 analysis showed that approximately 16% of the persistent within-season vegetation anomalies detected across the Park spatially co-occurred within landscape-scale 1-km buffers surrounding the inventoried stone walls and terraces. The resulting georeferenced database integrates spatial and ecological data within a GIS environment across 29 municipalities. Overall, the proposed workflow provides an operational framework for rural-heritage documentation, landscape-scale screening, and the prioritization of monitoring and conservation activities in Mediterranean environments.