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Longevity is rightly considered one of the greatest achievements of modern society, not only as a function of lifespan, but, more importantly, as a function of healthspan. There are Longevity Blue Zones (LBZs), regions around the world, such as in Okinawa, Japan; the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica; Loma Linda, California; Icaria, Greece; and Ogliastra, Sardinia, that are characterized by a significant percentage of residents who live exceptionally long lives, often avoiding age-related disability to a significantly higher degree than in the Western way of life. Longevity is not a universal phenomenon, so if there are places in the world with characteristics similar to the LBZs, it is important to identify them in order to better understand what other factors, in addition to the known ones, might contribute to a long and healthy life. This narrative review aims to identify common factors between Cilento and the five LBZs, taking into account environmental, nutritional, and lifestyle factors. Articles from 2004 to the present, limited to studies published in English, German, and Italian, were searched in PubMed/Medline, Scopus, and Google Scholar. The co-authors agreed on 18 final reference texts. In order to evaluate the similarities between Cilento and the LBZs, a descriptive comparative approach was used. Cilento and the LBZs share several common factors, including a hilly altitude ranging from 355 to 600 m; a mild climate throughout the year, with temperatures between 17.4 and 23.5 degrees Celsius; traditional professions, such as agriculture and animal husbandry; and a predominantly Mediterranean or plant-based diet, with typical recipes based on legumes, tubers, vegetables, and extra virgin olive oil. Additionally, maintenance of strong intergenerational family relationships, religious devotion, and social relationships within the community are also prevalent. Given the similarities to Cilento, one might wonder if this is an LBZ waiting to be discovered. The lessons learned from this discovery could be applied to the general population to protect them from non-communicable chronic diseases and help slow the aging process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Longevity is rightly considered one of the greatest achievements of modern society, not only as a function of lifespan, but, more importantly, as a function of healthspan. There are Longevity Blue Zones (LBZs), regions around the world, such as in Okinawa, Japan; the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica; Loma Linda, California; Icaria, Greece; and Ogliastra, Sardinia, that are characterized by a significant percentage of residents who live exceptionally long lives, often avoiding age-related disability to a significantly higher degree than in the Western way of life. Longevity is not a universal phenomenon, so if there are places in the world with characteristics similar to the LBZs, it is important to identify them in order to better understand what other factors, in addition to the known ones, might contribute to a long and healthy life. This narrative review aims to identify common factors between Cilento and the five LBZs, taking into account environmental, nutritional, and lifestyle factors. Articles from 2004 to the present, limited to studies published in English, German, and Italian, were searched in PubMed/Medline, Scopus, and Google Scholar. The co-authors agreed on 18 final reference texts. In order to evaluate the similarities between Cilento and the LBZs, a descriptive comparative approach was used. Cilento and the LBZs share several common factors, including a hilly altitude ranging from 355 to 600 m; a mild climate throughout the year, with temperatures between 17.4 and 23.5 degrees Celsius; traditional professions, such as agriculture and animal husbandry; and a predominantly Mediterranean or plant-based diet, with typical recipes based on legumes, tubers, vegetables, and extra virgin olive oil. Additionally, maintenance of strong intergenerational family relationships, religious devotion, and social relationships within the community are also prevalent. Given the similarities to Cilento, one might wonder if this is an LBZ waiting to be discovered. The lessons learned from this discovery could be applied to the general population to protect them from non-communicable chronic diseases and help slow the aging process.

High coastal sectors constitute the most widespread coastal environment and, under the present accelerated sea-level rise scenario, are suffering huge impacts in terms of erosion. The aim of this paper is the proposal of a new methodological approach for the assessment of their susceptibility to erosive processes. The method is based on the combination of two matrices, i.e., a matrix considering the main physical elements (essentially morphological and geotechnical characteristics) that determine the proneness to erosion of a specific high coastal sector, and a forcing matrix, which describes the forcing agents affecting the considered sector. Firstly, several variables were selected to construct each one of the two matrices according to existing studies and, in a second step, they were interpolated to obtain the susceptibility matrix (CSIx). The approach was applied to Procida Island and Cilento promontory, both located in southern Italy. Results obtained were validated by comparing them with cliff retreat data obtained by means of aerial photographs and satellite images. The analysis shows that the greater part of the analyzed high coastal sectors belongs to the high-susceptibility class due to the combination of adverse morphological, geotechnical and forcing characteristics. Such sectors can be considered "hotspots" that require an increase in monitoring programs and, at places, urgent protective actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High coastal sectors constitute the most widespread coastal environment and, under the present accelerated sea-level rise scenario, are suffering huge impacts in terms of erosion. The aim of this paper is the proposal of a new methodological approach for the assessment of their susceptibility to erosive processes. The method is based on the combination of two matrices, i.e., a matrix considering the main physical elements (essentially morphological and geotechnical characteristics) that determine the proneness to erosion of a specific high coastal sector, and a forcing matrix, which describes the forcing agents affecting the considered sector. Firstly, several variables were selected to construct each one of the two matrices according to existing studies and, in a second step, they were interpolated to obtain the susceptibility matrix (CSIx). The approach was applied to Procida Island and Cilento promontory, both located in southern Italy. Results obtained were validated by comparing them with cliff retreat data obtained by means of aerial photographs and satellite images. The analysis shows that the greater part of the analyzed high coastal sectors belongs to the high-susceptibility class due to the combination of adverse morphological, geotechnical and forcing characteristics. Such sectors can be considered “hotspots” that require an increase in monitoring programs and, at places, urgent protective actions.

Over the years, rural areas have faced a number of problems and difficulties, such as an increase in the average age of the population, desertification, loss of employment and the abandonment of rural and agricultural activities, which have led to the emergence of new initiatives aimed at revitalizing these territories from a social, economic and environmental perspective, such as the successful Bio-districts or Eco-regions (e.g., Bio-district of Cilento). Understanding and establishing a proper framework for each territory based on agroecology and participatory methodologies is still a challenge. In this sense, based on the analysis of two European examples—Cilento, Italy and São Pedro do Sul, Portugal—we described each of the building processes and defined a set of drivers that might constitute guiding principles to serve as a basis for the creation of Bio-districts or Eco-regions. The drivers’ matrix identified was discussed in three focus groups carried out in Portugal in 2020. Such drivers included a technical and environmental component (the quality of the environment and landscape, the food system and the implementation of organic farming and agroecological practices), a social and economic component (valorization of the farmers, products and territories and a set of different stakeholders—farmers, consumers, schools, tourism entities and restaurants, local authorities) and a political component (the governance model). Most participants agreed that the recognition of a Bio-district or Eco-region should be informal, bottom-up, with farmers as the main pillar, with a fair and representative participation, namely family farmers.

This anthropological research - connected to individual/collective criticalities and conflicts which interested the migratory movement from Cilento (Salerno) towards other continents (end '800-'900) - is planning to investigate the umpteenth challenge to which was called a southern culture which was, in the course of the centuries, on the fringe of society, also exhausted from serious difficulties. The contribution makes use of the analysis of many letters, sent from migrants to Americas and Australia to relatives and friends of native villages, to act as an intermediary between country frustrations and suffered/inebriating transoceanic "disorientations".

Anthropological analysis of the gift wraps, which were sent towards and from Cilento (central-southern part of Salerno province) villages, in the field of emigration towards Americas and Australia,starting from the end of nineteenth century.

A broad interest exists in developing structure-based indicators to use as proxies for other attributes that are difficult to assess, such as biological diversity. Summary variables that account for stand-scale forest structural complexity could facilitate the comparison among stands and provide a means of ranking stands in terms of their potential contribution to biodiversity. We developed an index of structural heterogeneity (SHI) for beech forests in southern Italy: (i) we established a preliminary list of 23 structural variables obtained from data routinely collected in forest inventories; (ii) we quantified these variables in a set of 64 beech-dominated stands encompassing a wide range of variability in the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park; (iii) we identified a core set of attributes that take into account the main sources of structural heterogeneity identified in reference old-growth forests; and (iv) we combined these core attributes into a simple additive index (SHI). We identified eight core attributes that were rescaled to the range 0 to 10 using regression equations based on raw attribute data. The SHI was calculated as the sum of these attribute scores and then expressed as a percentage. The index performance was evaluated against ten reference old-growth beech stands in the Apennines. The index ranged between 38 and 79.1 (median=59.4) and was distributed normally for the calibration dataset. The SHI successfully discriminated between old-growth (range=71.9-99.9, median=85.1) and early-mature to mature forests. Furthermore, the SHI linearly increased with stand age and was higher in multi-layer high forests than in single- and double-layer forests. However, a large variation was detected within both management types and age classes. SHI could be helpful for foresters as a tool for quantifying and comparing structural heterogeneity before and after a silvicultural intervention aimed at restoring the structural complexity in second-growth stands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Over the past 10 years, three National Parks have been established in southern Italy. This bought to the scientific attention the status of natural resources in these territories. The knowledge base completion, that includes also usually neglected organisms, is necessary for managing biodiversity. Although lichens are not included in the European conservation policies, they play well-known ecological roles in various ecosystems. The aim of this work is to propose a rapid but exhaustive approach to assess epiphytic lichen diversity in this area. For this purpose, the probabilistic sampling was tested. A total of 149 taxa of epiphytic lichens were recorded, including 20 new records for the Campania region and four new species for Southern Italy. Furthermore, seven red listed species were found. The majority of the recorded taxa can be considered as old-growth indicator species. The results confirm that the probabilistic approach can be efficiently applied to assess lichen diversity in very poorly explored natural areas over large territories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we present the results of our field and bibliographic survey on the amphibians of the "Cilento and Vallo di Diano" National Park (Southern Italy). Two hundred and thirty three spawning sites (167 original and 66 derived from literature), and 11 amphibian species were found. Reproductive activity was recorded for Salamandra salamandra, Salamandrina terdigitata, Triturus carnifex, Lissotriton italicus, Bufo bufo, Hyla intermedia, Rana italica, Rana dalmatina and Pelophylax synkl. hispanicus. The distribution record of many species is widely improved with respect to bibliographic data. Our results also suggested that preservation and restoration of small aquatic sites, in particular of the artificial ones, such as stony wells and drinking-troughs, are fundamental for an appropriate conservation management of amphibians in the "Cilento and Vallo di Diano" National Park. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The results of stratigraphic and tephrostratigraphic analyses of several pyroclastic levels, collected along the coastal sector of the Cilento region (southern Italy), are presented. Some of these levels are here described for the fist time, others, already known in literature, were reconsidered in order to better understand their stratigraphic position and to point out the possible volcanic sources. The main outcrops are located along the southern coast of the Campania region (Cilento coast). All pyroclastic layers are interbedded within coastal or continental successions younger than the substage 5e of the Last Interglacial (<130 ka) or cover erosional coastal morphologies belonging to the same period. Only in one site the sampled tephra can be considered older. As a consequence, the age range for their emplacement is constrained to the last 200 ka. The results of SEM-EDS analyses on well preserved glass fragments indicate a composition falling between the trachyte and phonolite fields of the TAS plot, as typical of Phlaegrean Fields products. By comparing their composition with those of the main tephra marker layers recorded in southern Italy, the correlation of the Cilento pyroclastic layers with well known eruptive episodes was hypothesised. In summary, four different eruptions were recognised. The first one is testified by a pyroclastic layer, not correlated with a terrestrial counterpart, covered by a Middle Pleistocene alluvial fan, the second one is the eruptive event emplacing the X-6 marker tephra layer, and dates around 107 ka, the third is the Campanian Ignimbrite eruption (39 ka), and the last one is testified by the layers correlated with the Y-3 tephra (about 30 ka). These pyroclastic layers can be useful tools for stratigraphic correlations of Late Quaternary successions in southern Italy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Coastal areas are very dynamic environments where natural and man-induced modifications often interact. This is the case of the Graeco-Roman town of Elea-Velia, along the Cilento coast of southern Italy. The town was founded in the 6th century BCE on a hilly promontory bounded by two profound gulfs and assumed a prominent role in maritime commercial routes in the Graeco-Roman period. It declined in the Late Antiquity and was abandoned in the Middle Ages also due to serious landscape changes. In this study, the integration of geomorphology, borehole stratigraphy and analysis of archaeo-stratigraphical trenches was used to detail the relationship between geological and archaeological evidence. The huge amount of collected data allowed providing chronological constraints to the landscape modification occurred before and after the town foundation. The main environmental changes consisted in enhanced coastal progradation and alluvial fan deposition that mainly affected the lower quarters of the town. The results of this study suggest that alluvial flooding was one of the main causes of the Elea-Velia decline and subsequent abandonment. The increasing disruption of slope stability was driven by the neglect in the management of the hillslopes behind the town during periods of social-economic crisis, but a concomitant climate forcing cannot be excluded. To the final abandonment also contributed the declining of harbour activities and the consequent decreased relevance of Elea-Velia as a maritime centre. [Display omitted] • The town of Elea-Velia was built on a promontory bounded by two gulfs. • Severe landscape modification occurred since the foundation of the town. • Coastal progradation caused the shifting of the coast from the town. • Man induced alluvial flooding caused the burial and abandonment of Elea-Velia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the years, rural areas have faced a number of problems and difficulties, such as an increase in the average age of the population, desertification, loss of employment and the abandonment of rural and agricultural activities, which have led to the emergence of new initiatives aimed at revitalizing these territories from a social, economic and environmental perspective, such as the successful Bio-districts or Eco-regions (e.g., Bio-district of Cilento). Understanding and establishing a proper framework for each territory based on agroecology and participatory methodologies is still a challenge. In this sense, based on the analysis of two European examples—Cilento, Italy and São Pedro do Sul, Portugal—we described each of the building processes and defined a set of drivers that might constitute guiding principles to serve as a basis for the creation of Bio-districts or Eco-regions. The drivers' matrix identified was discussed in three focus groups carried out in Portugal in 2020. Such drivers included a technical and environmental component (the quality of the environment and landscape, the food system and the implementation of organic farming and agroecological practices), a social and economic component (valorization of the farmers, products and territories and a set of different stakeholders—farmers, consumers, schools, tourism entities and restaurants, local authorities) and a political component (the governance model). Most participants agreed that the recognition of a Bio-district or Eco-region should be informal, bottom-up, with farmers as the main pillar, with a fair and representative participation, namely family farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study shows the terrestrial and marine landforms present along the Cilento coast in the southern part of the Campania region (Italy). This coast is characterized by the alternation of bays, small beaches, and rocky headlands. In the adjacent submerged areas, there is a slightly inclined platform that has a maximum width of 30 km to the north, while it narrows in the south to approximately 6 km. A wide variety of landforms are preserved in this area, despite the high erodibility of the rocks emerging from the sea and the effects of human activities (construction of structures and infrastructures, fires, etc.). Of these landforms, we focused on those that enabled us to determine Quaternary sea-level variations, and, more specifically, we focused on the correlation between coastal and sea-floor topography in order to trace the geomorphological evolution of this coastal area. For this purpose, the Licosa Cape and the promontory of Ripe Rosse located in northern Cilento were used as reference areas. Methods were used that enabled us to obtain a detailed digital cartography of each area and consequently to apply physical-based coastal evolution models. We believe that this approach would provide a better management of coastal risk mitigation which is likely to become increasingly important in the perspective of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]