Enhanced precipitation events and forests stability: a case study in Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany (Italy).

Climate change is endangering natural and anthropogenic ecosystems, as pointed out by the recent IPCC Reports and the COPs' statements. The impacts of climate change on natural ecosystems can affect their production capacity, particularly in those systems characterized by a high quality of yields, especially in densely populated and industrialized countries. We analyze two recent intense rainfall events that hit the Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany (Italy) regions and the damage caused to the agricultural ecosystems downstream of forests and woodlands. Although the scientific debate on these events' climatic or purely meteorological origin is still open, these occurrences provide a potential direct example of the harm climate change may bring. The topic of forest management for risk reduction is also analyzed on the forest itself and anthropized systems and related economies. The study was conducted within the European OptFor-EU Project.