<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> This paper reports on the issue of fontanili assessment. A fontanile is a lowland spring, excavated by humans for the use of underground water for irrigation. From the XII century on, fontanili have been dug to extend water availability throughout the year and increase agricultural land use in the lowlands of Northern Italy. Because water of the fontanile stays at temperature without great changes throughout the year (between 8 and 15°C), this environment is host to a vast variety of flora and fauna and has ecological and landscaping value. Because these springs are typical and unique landscape features of Northern Italy, there is not an international background on assessing methods of fontanili functions inside the countryside. The first goal has been to define a set of simple and consolidated indicators to evaluate watering, ecological and recreational function of 1160 fontanili of the Lombardy Region. The second one has been to identify homogenous areas with groups of fontanili in close proximity and with similar indicator values using interpolation tools. This classification can be used by Regional Administration to assign money to recover and maintain fontanili. The most important areas will be protected by regional and local planning instruments.</p></abstract>

This paper reports on the issue of fontanili assessment. A fontanile is a lowland spring, excavated by humans for the use of underground water for irrigation. From the XII century on, fontanili have been dug to extend water availability throughout the year and increase agricultural land use in the lowlands of Northern Italy. Because water of the fontanile stays at temperature without great changes throughout the year (between 8 and 15°C), this environment is host to a vast variety of flora and fauna and has ecological and landscaping value. Because these springs are typical and unique landscape features of Northern Italy, there is not an international background on assessing methods of fontanili functions inside the countryside. The first goal has been to define a set of simple and consolidated indicators to evaluate watering, ecological and recreational function of 1160 fontanili of the Lombardy Region. The second one has been to identify homogenous areas with groups of fontanili in close proximity and with similar indicator values using interpolation tools. This classification can be used by Regional Administration to assign money to recover and maintain fontanili. The most important areas will be protected by regional and local planning instruments.

A minimum indicator set for assessing fontanili (lowland springs) of the Lombardy Region in Italy

University of Milan, via Celoria 2 – 20133 Milan,

European Countryside

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

This paper reports on the issue of fontanili assessment. A fontanile is a lowland spring, excavated by humans for the use of underground water for irrigation....

A minimum indicator set for assessing fontanili (lowland springs) of the Lombardy Region in Italy

Article Category: Research articles

Published Online: Apr 06, 2017

Page range: 1 - 16

Received: Mar 25, 2016

Accepted: Jul 19, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/euco-2017-0001

Keywords
Fontanile, lowland spring, functional assessment, Lombardy

© by Natalia Fumagalli

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

A minimum indicator set for assessing fontanili (lowland springs) of the Lombardy Region in Italy

Article Category: Research articles

Published Online: Apr 06, 2017

Page range: 1 - 16

Received: Mar 25, 2016

Accepted: Jul 19, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/euco-2017-0001

KeywordsFontanile, lowland spring, functional assessment, Lombardy

© by Natalia Fumagalli

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
Fontanile, lowland spring, functional assessment, Lombardy