A model devoted to study the ecological restoration of fluvial habitats: a study case, first results

Fluvial habitat represents the most vulnerable ecosystem of the landscape because of its role of environmental corridor. For this reason a correct policy of management of these habitats is strictly necessary. In order to choose the best practice it is required to carry out a preliminary analysis of the whole fluvial system with integrated methodologies. In this work are presented the first results about the functionality and quality of a vulnerable area, called "Torrente Levata", located in Southern Italy. The aim of this research is to classify the studied ecosystem and its landscape in different levels of vulnerability so as to suggest the best practice of ecological restoration of the more sensible sites using bioengineering techniques. To achieve this aim an interdisciplinary approach is used combining hydraulic and environmental sciences. In this paper we present the first step of the analysis which has concerned the investigation of quality state of the fluvial ecosystem by using the IFF (Fluvial Functionality Index), the IBE (Extended Biotic Index) and hydrological analyses. The research has taken advantages by the use of remotely sensed images (LANDSAT TM 5) to build a land use map of the study area.