## 4 Discussions  
This study has assessed, from a biophysical point of view and with a multilayered approach, the changes occurring in the provision of ES flows as a result of land consumption in Italy This has made it possible to integrate and harmonize the large amount of heterogeneous data available in Italy so as to better interpret the ongoing land dynamics and how these affect the availability of goods and services offered by ecosystems. The results have explained how transformations have occurred in Italy over the selected time  
Figure 10: Percentage surface variation of pollination classes due to land consumption in the period 2012–2020 at the regional level. Figure 9: Surface runoff variations due to land consumption in the period 2012–2020 at the regional level. interval, which have mainly been driven by urbanization. The loss of crop production varies in Italy, depending on the type of crops involved. Loss of arable land and fodder production mainly affects the northern regions, whereas southern regions show a decrease in permanent crop production. Even if the percentage variations in crop production are low, they are nevertheless important because, in many cases, agricultural areas are based on important biological and cultural practices that are difficult to replace [76], and they also play a role in carbon storage and pollination assessment. Wood production and carbon storage losses affect the northern regions more, as well as the Campania region. The northern regions also show an increase in water runoff, with potential consequences for the hydrological regime regulation service. As far as habitat quality is concerned, the increase in the lowest quality class is widespread throughout Italy. The northern regions and the Campania region have recorded a drop in pollination ES availability. Since urban expansion is a process affecting more the lowlands, the higher losses in ES flows have mainly been recorded in the northern regions which include the Po plain, and the plains of Campania and Apulia in the south. These findings are in line with the demographic dynamics model of wealthier countries proposed since the late 1980s [77]. Indeed, whereas compact urban growth has been frequently associated with population increase and economic development, which is typical of most of the European countries after World War II [5], the advanced economies have been characterized in the last decades by the outward expansion of low-density settlements [78; 79], often occurring in fertile agricultural areas [9; 80]. Other research studies dealing with the impact of urbanization on ES have confirmed losses of stored carbon, agricultural production, habitat quality, and flood mitigation in developing urban areas [25; 81; 82], also leading to land reclamation and deforestation in rural areas [82]. The accurate localization of these processes has benefited from the detailed information provided by the input data. The high resolution of Sentinel satellites images and CLMS datasets and their high frequency availability enable an in-depth analysis of land consumption changes consistent with the EU requests and useful for the purpose of monitoring trends in ES provisions and flows to be conducted. The outcomes show that the proposed approach is effective in giving an overall assessment of the ES by using spatially explicit data and models. Indeed, these products of the monitoring program are already gathered in the national Environmental Data Yearbook [83], which is the official collection of nationwide data and information concerning the environment in Italy. Furthermore, they are used for national environmental monitoring policies, such as the National Capital Accounting [84], and could be a point of reference for the implementation of the various environmental policies, first of all the EU Soil Strategy for 2030 [28], in which the important role played by ES in maintaining ecosystems and human well-being is highlighted. However, there is still room for improvement, especially with regard to models and input data.