The Effect of Landscape Conservation Measures in Changing Landscape Patterns: A Case Study in Mediterranean Mountains

Abstract

Mediterranean mountain landscapes have high ecological and cultural values. However, since 1950, a large number of these landscapes have been subject to degradation as a consequence of land abandonment. Some regional administrations have enacted measures that favour the regeneration of pasturelands through scrubland clearing. The aim of this study was to evaluate the consequences of clearing and the regeneration of pasturelands on landscape structure and the recovery of extensive livestock in La Rioja. The results indicate that between 1986 and 2011 an area of 29,659 ha was cleared in the mountains of La Rioja, although 62·6% of this was cleared in the period 2000–2011. In 1956, the landscape was dominated by cultivated fields, but by 2001, much of the agricultural area had been abandoned and replaced by scrubland, natural woods and reforested areas. Furthermore, the landscape was more fragmented in 1956 than in 2001. The landscape structure varied following clearing, with a doubling in the number of patches and an increase in heterogeneity. The consequences of clearing have included an increase in the area of pastureland and the number of large animals. In addition, the number of farms has decreased, but their mean size has increased. Clearing is an appropriate way for spatial reorganization in marginal mountain areas. It does not require excessive investment but favours the reintegration of abandoned fields and an increase in pasturelands. The results of this study contribute to the debate about reclaiming mountain landscapes affected by human activities and subject to intense degradation processes. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Targeting the impact of agri-environmental policy – Future scenarios in two less favoured areas in Portugal

“…As in other studies taking a landscape approach, e.g. considering scrubland clearing for the reclamation of abandoned land and fuel break establishment in La Rioja -Spain (Lasanta et al, 2009;Lasanta et al, 2015), our results confirm the scope for landscape level synergies. In addition we also show that variations in farm structure and farm-level adoption of AEM play an important, potentially counteracting role.…”

Los efectos geoecológicos del cambio global en el Pirineo Central español: una revisión a distintas escalas espaciales y temporales

“…Es imposible saberlo porque la información procedente de las parcelas experimentales no puede trasladarse directamente a otras escalas. No obstante, experiencias en otras regiones españolas sugieren que el desbroce del matorral y su sustitución por prados de diente aumenta el potencial ganadero, mejora también la calidad del paisaje y reduce el riesgo de incendios al crear un mosaico de unidades de vegetación y topografía que rompe la homogeneidad que caracteriza a los grandes espacios abandonados (Lasanta et al, 2009(Lasanta et al, , 2015. En todo caso, la aplicación de modelos predictivos indica que la cuenca experimental de Arnás apenas tendría incrementos erosivos al transformarse en una cuenca ocupada totalmente por prados en sustitución de los actuales bosques y matorrales .…”

Agricultural land abandonment in Mediterranean environment provides ecosystem services via soil carbon sequestration

“…This is mainly found in Europe, where numerous research studies have been published (Hatna and Bakker, 2011;MacDonald et al, 2000). This abandonment is most extensive and studied in the European Mediterranean belt (Plieninger et al, 2014;Romero-Díaz et al, 2016;Sheffer, 2012), and most of the research focuses on the mountainous regions that were abandoned as a consequence of the low income and loss of population (Lasanta et al, 2015a). The abandonment of land not only results in changes to the soil system, but also in the hydrological cycle and fauna and flora resources (Dixon-Coppage et al, 2005;de Araújo et al, 2015;Keesstra et al, 2016).…”

“…Abandonment of agricultural land leads to several consequences for ecosystem functions and ecosystem service benefits (Cammeraat et al, 2010;Lasanta et al, 2015a;Parras-Alcántara et al, 2016;Rey Benayas et al, 2007). On the other hand, abandonment may be a significant and low cost strategy for C sequestration and mitigation of anthropogenic CO 2 emissions (Post and Kwon, 2000).…”