2.1.2. Variations in Vegetation Cover

Vegetation cover is also influenced by temperature (Figure 1); an increase in this, particularly in Mediterranean areas, can cause a reduction in vegetation with a consequent increase in erodibility. However, this temperature variation should lead to an upward shift of the tree vegetation limit in mountains [35] with a consequent reduction in erosion rates in the upper parts of catchment areas where, due to the greater relief, the production of sediments is greater [36].

Variations of this type certainly occurred in the Holocene and may have modified, even significantly, the sedimentary balance of some coasts. Unfortunately, studies of this nature are extremely scarce due to the objective difficulties of appreciating a phenomenon that is largely overshadowed by a much more relevant one that in turn is linked to variations of the vegetation cover induced by anthropic intervention. Forests cutting to convert land to pasture and agriculture have been recognized to be the main cause of coastal progradation in historical time [37–39].

Conversely, agricultural abandonment can lead to forest growth with a reduction of soil erosion [40–42], but where this favored collapse of terrace stone walls, as in many parts of the Mediterranean countries, this process increased [43].
