Abstract
Mediterranean mountain regions have undergone several landscape changes since the end of the 19th century due to progressive depopulation and the abandonment of cattle rearing, forestry, charcoal production and agricultural activity. Such activity favored landscape dynamics by creating grassy habitats, which in turn resulted in greater landscape diversity. This is now being lost as the forest reclaims abandoned pastures. Thus, the purpose of this work was to identify those open habitats most in need of management action to maximize biodiversity and cultural heritage conservation and minimize fire risk and management costs. These analyses show a sharp decrease of open agriculture areas, which are the habitat of many endemic species (from 46.4% to 12.3%), currently overgrown with secondary forests. Multivariate analysis and the PGP (Patch Growing Process) heuristic model indicate the areas in which the restoration of open areas (by about 8%; about 500 ha) will be the most advisable and the most beneficial, taking into account environmental, social and economic factors. The use of PGP provides for a 21% improvement in total agriculture areas. Still, the natural state of the protected Mediterranean mountain area “Alta Garrotxa” (Catalonia, Spain) is almost continuous forest. However, the management models proposed in this study offer flexible precepts to achieve the desired landscape patterns and maintain biodiversity, while conserving cultural heritage and decreasing the risk of fire.
Highlights
IntroductionIn the early 20th century and since World War II, the relationship between agriculture and nature was dramatically transformed due to an increase in production systems and the abandonment of rural areas [2]
The appearance of a territory today is the result of management by different generations over time and changes in political and agrarian pressures that act directly or indirectly on the landscape.This alteration in management over the years has created exceptional cultural landscapes of a high aesthetic, cultural and ecological value [1].in the early 20th century and since World War II, the relationship between agriculture and nature was dramatically transformed due to an increase in production systems and the abandonment of rural areas [2]
A set of landscape indices were applied to the two land use and land cover maps from 1957 and
Summary
In the early 20th century and since World War II, the relationship between agriculture and nature was dramatically transformed due to an increase in production systems and the abandonment of rural areas [2] This abandonment of traditional activity in agricultural spaces has triggered serious transformations in the landscape [3], characterized by a continuous and progressive forest and scrub colonization, which has spread across the majority of what were previously open spaces. These changes can be summarized in two types of dynamics: on the one hand, landscape homogenization due to forest expansion and on the other, the fragmentation of agricultural areas due to said expansion [4,5]. The uncontrolled growth of new forest areas represents two problems: the loss of a mosaic landscape constructed by agricultural activity and a wide range of habitats of community interest, as well as an increased risk of forest fire [6,7,8,9,10]
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