Combining classification tree analyses with interviews to study why sub-alpine grasslands sometimes revert to forest: A case study from the Swiss Alps

Gellrich, Mario; Baur, Priska; Robinson, Brett; Bebi, Peter

doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2007.07.002

Cited by 51 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Land abandonment in marginal and lessproductive regions has become the most remarkable trend in land-use and land-cover change in Europe (Baldock et al, 1996;Ilbery, 1998;Moyano & Paniagua, 1998;Ramankutty & Foley, 1999). The shortage in semi-natural grasslands due to land abandonment is also being enhanced by displacements due to infra-2 preservation, organic fertilization, clearing of scrubs or moderate grazing (Baldock et al, 1996;Cernusca et al, 1996;MacDonald et al, 2000;Bartolomé et al, 2005;Pykälä et al, 2005;Hopkins & Holz, 2006;Gellrich et al, 2007Gellrich et al, , 2008Lomba et al, 2013;López-i-Gelats, 2013), which are essential for the preservation of these semi-natural grasslands. It is well known the fact that the entire cessation of pastoral practices triggers changes in the species' composition and structure of semi-natural grasslands, becoming shrubland and ultimately forest with time (Kahmen & Poschlod, 2004;de Bello et al, 2006;Lomba et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given that the endorsement of multifunctionality is the chief strategy being applied at present to promote rural development in farming abandonment risk regions, such as mountains, and keeping in mind that it usually entails combining the pastoral activity with other economic activities; here we exstructure and tourism resort development (Laguna & Lasanta, 2003;Lasanta et al, 2005), as well as by the removal of EU subsidies (Strijker, 2005). The decline of the family-run, transhumant mountain pastoralism is pervasive in Europe (MacDonald et al, 2000;Gellrich et al, 2008). Some point the urgent need for seminatural grassland restoration (Madruga et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Is multifunctionality the future of mountain pastoralism? Lessons from the management of semi-natural grasslands in the Pyrenees

López‐i‐Gelats

Rivera-Ferré

Madruga-Andreu

et al. 2015

Span. j. agric. res.

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Land abandonment is pervasive in mountainous Europe. In the present situation of price-cost squeeze on pastoral households and general shift in the role of farming, the development of farming abandonment risk regions is generally associated with adoption of new multifunctional rural development strategies, such as farm tourism, which in the end entail less time being devoted to farming practices. We explored the effects of such developmental scheme on the preservation of semi-natural grasslands, in particular, and on the sustainability of mountain pastoralism, in general. While the effects on the preservation of semi-natural grasslands of full abandonment have been extensively explored, this is not the case of partial abandonment. Results showed that the adoption of simplified and low-cost management regimes, associated with partial abandonment and the increased adoption of part-time farming, immerses semi-natural grasslands in processes of secondary succession that undermine both their conservation and pastoral functions. This points the need for caution when endorsing multifunctional developmental schemes in farming abandonment risk regions, particularly when those imply less labor being devoted to pastoral practices. In conclusion, we stress that in farming abandonment risk regions it is possible to guarantee both viable pastoralism and diversified rural economy. However, it is necessary to implement developmental strategies that are centered on stimulating synergies between pastoralism and other economic activities, rather than promoting activities that depend on additional farmers' polyvalence.Additional key words: land abandonment; diversification; rural development; Arrhenatherion elatioris. Abbreviations used: CCA (canonical correspondence analysis). Citation: López-i-Gelats, F.; Rivera-Ferre, M. G.; Madruga-Andreu, C.; Bartolomé Filella, J. (2015). Is multifunctionality the future of mountain pastoralism? Lessons from the management of semi-natural grasslands in the Pyrenees.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is multifunctionality the future of mountain pastoralism? Lessons from the management of semi-natural grasslands in the Pyrenees

López‐i‐Gelats

Rivera-Ferré

Madruga-Andreu

et al. 2015

Span. j. agric. res.

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“…Land abandonment is driven by the interaction of environmental and socio-economic factors, such as climate, topography, soil conditions, lack of road-infrastructure development, or degree of part-time farming within a region [6][7][8][9][10]. These interactions result in complex social-ecological systems that can only be investigated by a holistic approach and integrated research [11][12][13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensitivity Analysis of a Land-Use Change Model with and without Agents to Assess Land Abandonment and Long-Term Re-Forestation in a Swiss Mountain Region

Brändle

Langendijk

Peter³

et al. 2015

Land

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Land abandonment and the subsequent re-forestation are important drivers behind the loss of ecosystem services in mountain regions. Agent-based models can help to identify global change impacts on farmland abandonment and can test policy and management options to counteract this development. Realigning the representation of human decision making with time scales of ecological processes such as reforestation presents a major challenge in this context. Models either focus on the agent-specific behavior anchored in the current generation of farmers at the expense of representing longer scale environmental processes or they emphasize the simulation of long-term economic and forest developments OPEN ACCESSLand 2015, 4 476 where representation of human behavior is simplified in time and space. In this context, we compare the representation of individual and aggregated decision-making in the same model structure and by doing so address some implications of choosing short or long term time horizons in land-use modeling. Based on survey data, we integrate dynamic agents into a comparative static economic sector supply model in a Swiss mountain region. The results from an extensive sensitivity analysis show that this agent-based land-use change model can reproduce observed data correctly and that both model versions are sensitive to the same model parameters. In particular, in both models the specification of opportunity costs determines the extent of production activities and land-use changes by restricting the output space. Our results point out that the agent-based model can capture short and medium term developments in land abandonment better than the aggregated version without losing its sensitivity to important socio-economic drivers. For comparative static approaches, extensive sensitivity analysis with respect to opportunity costs, i.e., the measure of benefits forgone due to alternative uses of labor is essential for the assessment of the impact of climate change on land abandonment and re-forestation in mountain regions.

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“…Classification tree analysis (Breiman et al, 1984) is a very popular data mining tool that has been widely applied within the last 20 years in many different disciplines, including landscape ecology (McDonald andUrban, 2006, Fearer et al, 2007), soil science Holmes, 1997, Bui andMoran, 2001), agronomy (Tittonell et al, 2008, Gellrich et al, 2008, epidemiology (Schröder, 2006), and archaeology (Espa et al, 2007). The classification tree analysis is very popular since it accepts both categorical and continuous variables, it does not assume a model for relationship between variables (such as linear model) and it provides easily interpretable results.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial Simulation of Agricultural Practices using a Robust Extension of Randomized Classification Tree Algorithms

Bailly

Biarnès

Lagacherie

2008

Headway in Spatial Data Handling

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Combining classification tree analyses with interviews to study why sub-alpine grasslands sometimes revert to forest: A case study from the Swiss Alps

Cited by 51 publications

References 22 publications

Is multifunctionality the future of mountain pastoralism? Lessons from the management of semi-natural grasslands in the Pyrenees

Is multifunctionality the future of mountain pastoralism? Lessons from the management of semi-natural grasslands in the Pyrenees

Sensitivity Analysis of a Land-Use Change Model with and without Agents to Assess Land Abandonment and Long-Term Re-Forestation in a Swiss Mountain Region

Spatial Simulation of Agricultural Practices using a Robust Extension of Randomized Classification Tree Algorithms

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