MULTIFUNCTIONAL ANO MULTIMEDIA GIS SYSTEM FOR THE INVENTORY ANO THE MANAGEMENT OF THE WETLANOS OF PUGLIA REGION (SOUTHERN ITALY)

Abstract

The Puglia region is characterised by an homogeneous calcareous basement, affected by karst processes. so as to have a noticeable water reservoir. lts wetlands are the result of the complex interaction or geo-hydrological. climatic and biogeographical factors. The conservation of these remnant wetlands is menaced by human activity: land reclamation, pumping of water table, loading of pollutants, tourism and poaching. In order to conserve these habitats a two phases project was carried out. In the first phase the wetlands were identified and mapped in a GIS system. In this way 36 wetlands were mapped. These areas were grouped into the following categories: ponds and marshes (15). artificial basins and saltpans (6). meanders (5), lakes (3), swamps (3),estuaries (2). lagoon (I). gulf (I). A description has been hot linked to each area: physical and biological characteristics, previous land uses, environmental perturbations; level of protection; restoration activities to be undertaken. In the second phase three sample areas were chosen to develop a method for their characterisation. The areas are: l-Torre Guaceto, a brackish marsh bounded by sand-banks, 2-Frattarolo swamp, a salt swamp characterised by grasslands mainly composed by halophytes. 3-Lago Salso, an artificial al basin created for agricultural and hunting purposes, characterised by a mosaic of vegetation, mainly composed of hydrophytes and hygrophilous species, and of sheets of water, which represent an idoneous nesting and roosting area for many bird species, A spatio-temporal GIS database was developed using 19 digital orthophotos in order to analyse the changes that have occurred in the last fifthy years. Then the efficiency of a quantitative evaluation index was verified, This index was calculated using a GIS extension named Wetlands Rapid Assessment Procedure (WRAP). This procedure is based on the ranking of the ecological factors chosen for the evaluation: wildlife. vegetation, buffer area, hydrology and water quality. Multimedia information such as graphics. tables. ground photographs and digital video was used to highlight the more interesting characteristics of those wetlands and the GIS systems was modified to develop a more suitable user-interface for an easy access to both the spatial dataset and the multimedia information.