Mediterranean landforms evaluation for biogeomorphodiversity assessments: where biotic meets abiotic diversity for sustainable olive orchards

Geomorphodiversity is a new emerging topic in earth sciences. Landform  diversity influences and interacts with both biodiversity and geodiversity. Hence, there is an increased awareness of the need to understand patterns of geomorphodiversity in different landscapes facing the actual global change. An increasing body of evidence indicates that global climate change is taking place and that it will have important effects on biological processes over the next decades, such as yields and  the quality of products, the distribution and outbreak potential of pests in a vast range of crops species, and across all land uses and landscapes.

A new approach of landform geodiversity and biodiversity evaluation is proposed, based on the geomorphometric-biogeochemical signature of several geodynamic settings of the Tuscany region. Starting from a geomorphometry approach, the geostatistical and geostochastic modelling enables to quantify, describe, and compare different landforms, providing an objective and useful tool to delineate the signature and the bio-geocomplexity of landforms. The geochemical approach is  based on the detection of REEs pattern distribution and fractionation signatures as tools for tracing natural geochemical processes and soil-plant interactions to compare landforms of different origins. Using both REEs and the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio it was possible to compare landscapes of different origins and ages. In addition, bioinformatics were used to evaluate species–environment relationships, and to determine factors explaining changes in  bacterial composition developed on eleven contrasting lithologies.

Whereas most authors have focused on mountainous, coastal and/or continental areas, for the first time a study of this type is applied to different landforms that support a centuries-old Mediterranean olive groves.

The general aims of this work is to define a conceptual framework and test a new methodology to improve the knowledge related to the interaction between chemico-physical and biological soil processes able to shape landforms at various spatio-temporal scales. In particular, we will discuss the role of bio-geomorphic interactions influencing the nutrient/mineral content in olive fruit for geographic authentication, healthy food production and a healthy, biodiverse environment.