Urban landscape evolution as a consequence of an invasive pest: The case of a small sicilian town

Emanuele Schimmenti,Vittorio Farina,Giuseppe Ingrassia,Ezio Peri,Valeria Borsellino,Salvatore Guarino

doi:10.3097/lo.201752

Abstract

The Red Palm Weevil (RPW), after its accidental introduction in Italy in 2005, determined a progressive disruption of Canary palms mostly in the central and southern regions. As it is difficult to undertake the management of this pest, the possibility of substituting the killed/symptomatic palms with other ornamental trees has been recently discussed. In this context, understanding the citizens' needs about green areas can improve the management of public parks and urban greening. Involving citizens on the natural resource management using public participation processes is crucial. The case study of a small town of Sicily (Italy) was treated and the spread of this pest was monitored. Moreover, the possibility of substituting the killed palms with other ornamentals was discussed by involving a sample of the population through a direct survey aimed at detecting the preferences in respect to certain tree species (as potential substitutes of the killed palms) listed in a questionnaire administered face-to-face. The citizen's samples showed great interest in the green areas (97%) and indicated a traditional Mediterranean plant as Nerium oleander as the preferred palm substitute candidate.

Highlights

1.1 The impact of invasive pests on landscapesAlien insects are increasingly being dispersed around the world through international trade causing a multitude of negative impacts on ecosystems, agriculture, forestry, and landscapes, with consequences on human health in addition to annual economic losses of billions of dollars (Bacon et al 2012).The main share of these alien insects is confined to man-made habitats (Roques et al 2009)
This study focuses on the environmental and historical value of palms in urban areas, the effect of the Red Palm Weevil (RPW) in determining changes in urban landscape, the perception and interest of the citizens for the green areas and the relative problem of substituting the killed palms
As for the choice of the species to substitute the P. canariensis, 46% of the sample indicated a preference for N. oleander, 27% indicated W. filifera, while 26% chose T. gallica

Summary

Introduction

1.1 The impact of invasive pests on landscapesAlien insects are increasingly being dispersed around the world through international trade causing a multitude of negative impacts on ecosystems, agriculture, forestry, and landscapes, with consequences on human health in addition to annual economic losses of billions of dollars (Bacon et al 2012).The main share of these alien insects is confined to man-made habitats (Roques et al 2009). 1.1 The impact of invasive pests on landscapes. Alien insects are increasingly being dispersed around the world through international trade causing a multitude of negative impacts on ecosystems, agriculture, forestry, and landscapes, with consequences on human health in addition to annual economic losses of billions of dollars (Bacon et al 2012). The main share of these alien insects is confined to man-made habitats (Roques et al 2009). The green urban areas are of crucial importance in towns for their ornamental and recreational role, and for their effect on local temperature reduction (Takebayashi, Moriyama 2007). The extreme simplified structure of urban ecosystems makes these habitats susceptible to the invasive species

Results

Discussion

Conclusion