Abstract
Transhumance, the seasonal movement of herds between highlands and lowlands following precise, repeated routes, is a common practice in many Mediterranean regions. This livestock movement exploits natural vegetation in both winter and summer pastures. In Greece transhumant herders, drawn by relatively abundant vegetation, usually relocate to mountainous areas between April and October. Mount Vermio was an ideal summer pasture for the nomadic, ethnic group Sarakatsanoi of Thessaly, who used to own big herds. Socio-economic conditions of the 20th century led to the gradual decline of transhumance, resulting in reduction in grazing pressure and changes in vegetation dynamics. The purpose of this study was to monitor changes in landscape patterns in response to transhumance abandonment. Landscape metrics were employed to estimate land use/cover in two altitudinal zones. Results reveal that due to the abandonment of transhumance in the highlands landscape fragmentation increased. Meanwhile, in the lowlands, due to the uninterrupted presence of animals, landscape structure is more stable and diversified. Grasslands and agroforestry systems became smaller and more isolated. In conclusion, the abandonment of transhumance led to the overall deterioration of the rural landscape in the highlands.
Highlights
Transhumance is the cyclical, annual migration of livestock between high elevation rangelands and low elevation rangelands, to exploit their seasonal growth and avoid harsh, seasonal weather conditions, such as cold winters and hot summers, respectively [1,2,3]
The importance of these routes is reflected in the variety of names used in different regions of the Mediterranean to describe them, namely tratturi in Italy, cabañeras in Aragón, azadores reales in Valencia, carreradas in Catalonia, carraires in Provence, caminhos in Portugal, cañadas reales—royal transhumance routes—in Castilla y León [9], and vlachostrata in Greece [10]
Based on the topographic maps of the American Military Geographic Service (AMS) [10] and data from Katsaros [32], 27 summer pastures in total served the tseligkata in the past
Summary
Transhumance is the cyclical, annual migration of livestock between high elevation rangelands (summer pastures) and low elevation rangelands (winter pastures), to exploit their seasonal growth and avoid harsh, seasonal weather conditions, such as cold winters and hot summers, respectively [1,2,3]. Transhumant flocks were moved on foot following rather fixed routes that facilitated commercial activities, accommodation, and complementary farming activities, giving rise to long term settlements [8]. The importance of these routes is reflected in the variety of names used in different regions of the Mediterranean to describe them, namely tratturi in Italy, cabañeras in Aragón, azadores reales in Valencia, carreradas in Catalonia, carraires in Provence, caminhos in Portugal, cañadas reales—royal transhumance routes—in Castilla y León [9], and vlachostrata in Greece [10]
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