Historical cartography and GIS tools for the analysis of land use and landscape changes.

The human activities led modifications, connected to land use changes, in the agro-forestry areas and in the rural land. The changes in social and economic conditions, occurred during the last century, have imposed significant modifications to the rural land, with different impacts on the environment. To understand these modifications is now more easy thanks to new tools and technologies. The territorial analysis shows, with the support of a Geographic Information System (GIS) and historical maps, the dynamics of land use occurred during the years, in order to evaluate the consequences of the land transformations on the rural environment and landscape. The study area, located in the Basilicata region (South of Italy), reflects the common dynamic present in many rural areas of Southern Italy, i.e. the increase of agricultural areas (in particular for cereal crops) replacing forested surfaces in an older period, followed by the further phenomenon of spontaneous re-naturalization of many of these areas, due to the abandonment of extensive cultivated areas. The use of three-dimensional reconstructions, obtained through the creation of different Digital Terrain Model (DTM), has allowed to appreciate also the landscape modifications, in term of morphological and vegetation variation and aesthetic quality. A particular attention is required in land use management and agricultural activities, since they may influence some natural cycles of the ecosystems and the quality of the forest.