The role of traditional management practices in shaping a diverse habitat mosaic in a mountain region of Northern Spain

Morán‐Ordóñez

et al. 2020

Animal Conservation

Numerous studies have highlighted a major role of isolation by both geographic distance and current landscape resistance in controlling bird population genetic differentiation. However, the importance of past landscape features or landscape temporal stability in shaping population genetic structure remains undervalued, particularly in birds. We assessed the role of isolation by landscape resistance – derived from current landscape attributes and measures of landscape stability –, in comparison to geographic isolation, as drivers of genetic differentiation of the Iberian bluethroat (Luscinia svecica azuricollis), a migratory bird whose populations breed in fragmented and dynamic landscapes affected by land use change. First, we characterized bluethroat genetic structure using microsatellite genotypes and evaluated genetic distances. Then, we built species distribution models using as a predictor a time series (two decades) of values of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index as proxies of recent past landscape stability and current landscape features to ultimately generate landscape resistance values through different functions. Finally, we used maximum‐likelihood population effects models to evaluate the relationships between genetic distances and both geographic and landscape resistance distances. We found a genetic structure of four clusters in the Iberian bluethroats populations, as well as a high level of genetic differentiation. Genetic structure was better associated with landscape resistance, rather than with geographic distance. The highest values of habitat suitability corresponded to areas where vegetation remained mostly stable during the two decades prior to bird surveys, with low annual precipitation and spring temperature, being the relationship between gene flow and presence of intervenient habitat among populations linear or quasi‐linear. Our results suggest that conservation policies and land management practices that promote the maintenance of semi‐open pasture‐shrub mosaics (e.g. through extensive livestock grazing) can strongly benefit Iberian bluethroat populations, improving gene flow and population connectivity.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current landscape attributes and landscape stability in breeding grounds explain genetic differentiation in a long‐distance migratory bird

Morán‐Ordóñez

et al. 2020

Animal Conservation

“…In many cases, we find a deep demographic desertification (Molina, 2002) in a landscape that had been shaped by more than 5000 years of human activities, first by the use of fire and later by grazing, agriculture and wood collection (Bauer, 2003;Blondel, 2006). In fact, the value of the Mediterranean cultural landscape as a hotspot of global biodiversity (Myers et al, 2000) is precisely the consequence of the integration between its natural heterogeneity and human processes developed over millennia (EFI, 2009;Guadilla-Sáez et al, 2019;Muñoz-Rojas et al, 2019;Otero, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Land use/cover change analysis in the Mediterranean region: a regional case study of forest evolution in Castelló (Spain) over 50 years

et al. 2022

The second half of the 20th century has been characterised by the rural abandonment in several regions of the Mediterranean basin. The general collapse of traditional agriculture and livestock activities brought about an intensive migration movement from inland to coastal areas, which produced a massive forest cover increase in abandoned rural areas. This socioeconomic, spatial and environmental change has led to a situation unknown for centuries in the Mediterranean landscapes. As a consequence, large wildfires have increased enormously in importance in a society with a predominant urban vision over the rest of the territory. Indeed, public opinion considers wildfires as major natural disturbances related to climate change causing at the end deforestation, while its prerequisite, a substantial increase of forest cover due to rural collapse, is less known. This research aimed to deepen the knowledge about forest evolution and its implications after the land abandonment process that started in the second half of the 20th century. The substantive source of information was obtained from a photointerpretation by sampling, using five general land-cover and land-use types and four specific land-cover types over a period of 50 years in the province of Castelló (Valencian Region, Spain). Results showed that the area dominated by dense forests (shrublands and woodlands) has increased from 17% to 28%, and the area dominated by their transitional land uses after farming abandonment has increased from 8% to 21%. Transition matrices enabled a precise identification of changes among dominant categories over the studied period. Random and systematic transitions between categories have been analysed and a map of forest evolution pathways could be drawn, in which a double alternative path was identified. In the general context of progressive evolution to dense forests in the Mediterranean region, we have also found different evolution rates which may depend on site conditions. Their specific soil and climatic factors should be further analysed in order to improve our understanding of future forest evolution in the Mediterranean region at a local scale. A robust knowledge of these processes will contribute to improve forest management and land-use planning while optimising resilience, carbon storage and the provision of environmental services.

“…Due to this biodiversity crisis, conservation efforts and sustainable management are becoming increasingly urgent, especially in those hotspots where living organisms are particularly threatened and diverse (Reid, 1998;Myers et al, 2000). In this context, a growing consensus exists about the relevance of including traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) as a source of information for nature management and decision making (United Nations, 1992;Gadgil et al, 1993;Drew & Henne, 2006;Shackeroff & Campbell, 2007;Guadilla-Sáez et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conocimiento ecológico tradicional en la Sierra de Andía (Navarra, España) y su aplicabilidad para la conservación de la naturaleza

Gorriz

Pardo‐de‐Santayana

2021

Bol. Soc. Argent. Bot.

Self Cite

Introducción y objetivos: en un contexto de crisis de biodiversidad global, existe un consenso científico y político creciente acerca de la importancia de incorporar el Conocimiento Ecológico Tradicional para la conservación de la naturaleza. Sin embargo, dichos esfuerzos se han centrado en culturas indígenas, dando lugar a una menor atención sobre países industrializados. En este escenario elegimos la Sierra de Andía, un espacio de la Red Natura en España caracterizado por sus antiguos pastos ganaderos, cuyos cambios de gestión recientes podrían conllevar problemáticas para su conservación. En este contexto, el estudio busca contribuir a la valorización y la aplicabilidad del conocimiento ecológico tradicional de un país industrializado, utilizándolo para localizar problemáticas y proponer soluciones de manejo en un área concreta. M&M: con el fin de descubrir el conocimiento tradicional que pudiera ser beneficioso para el manejo y conservación de la Sierra de Andía, se realizaron entrevistas acerca de Chamaemelum nobile (una popular planta medicinal ligada a estos pastos ganaderos) y se llevó a cabo un estudio de campo sobre la especie. Resultados: los informantes mostraron un profundo conocimiento sobre la planta, y proveyeron indicadores ecológicos con los que localizar las poblaciones más abundantes y comprender su evolución reciente. A la vez que encontramos numerosas coincidencias entre el conocimiento ecológico tradicional y el científico, también surgió información exclusiva de los informantes. Conclusiones: este estudio sugiere que el conocimiento ecológico tradicional aportado es preciso, contrastable, y puede ser utilizado para un manejo sostenible de los pastos en la Sierra de Andía.