Analysis of Spatio-Temporal Changes in the Vegetation Cover of the Coastal Landscape of Doñana

Abstract

Munoz-Reinoso, J.C.; Villafuerte Jordan, R; Tejada-Tejada, M., 2020. Analysis of spatio-temporal changes in the vegetation cover of the coastal landscape of Donana. In: Malvarez, G. and Navas, F. (eds.), Global Coastal Issues of 2020. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 95, pp. 113-117. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.The analysis of changes is an important component in the understanding of the ecology of complex landscapes. The aim of this work was to study the long-term changes in the vegetation of the sands of Donana since 1970 until present, in order to know their causes and processes. Repeated detailed photointerpretation of historical aerial images (1970, 1984, 2002, 2016) was used to map the most extended vegetation types in the Donana sands. All the series were referenced, photointerpreted and normalized, and then processed to describe the changes produced in landcover/use. Observed vegetation changes in the protected area responded to changes in regional landscape management, as well as to local interactions in plant communities, and management. Thus, groundwater abstraction for cropping and urban supply benefited the most xerophytic plant communities, while the building of a tourist site and of a spit in the Tinto-Odiel estuary seems to be responsible for the stabilization of the mobile dunes. The expansion of Phoenicean junipers shows a successional process while the encroachment of stone pines responds to an invasion process triggered by forestry works.