Abstract
The analysis of the dependence of landscape patterns on environment was carried out in order to investigate the landscape structure evolution of Spain. The underlying concept was that the dependence between landscape spatial structure and environmental factors could be gradually decreasing over time. Land cover data were recorded from aerial photo interpretation of 206 4 × 4 km2 samples from three different years: 1956, 1984 and 1998. Geographical variables were taken into consideration together with the purely environmental ones. General Linear Models of repeated measures were then used to segregate environmental from geographical effects on the pattern of the land cover patches of the samples. Aridity, lithology and topography were the environmental factors used to analyse structural indices of landscape. Landscape composition has a higher dependence on environment than configuration. Environmental variables showed higher correlations with landscape composition and configuration than geographical variables. Among them, overall the climatic aridity and topography significantly accounted for more variation than did lithology. There was a high degree of stability in land cover composition over time, with some significant exceptions. Nevertheless, the registered increase of fragmentation over time has demonstrated that configuration measures are needed to fully assess landscape change.
Highlights
Landscape spatial pattern depends on environmental factors as well as on human actions (Forman & Godron, 1986), but the relative importance of such influences is not well known yet
These land cover types have exhibited a high Geographical Structured Environmental fraction (GSE) fraction indicating a restricted distribution, which overrides the impact of purely environmental variables (Table 5)
The recent initiative of the Spanish Government on limitation of development in coastal landscapes provides such an example, but the present results provide a framework for comparable policies to be developed in more complex rural landscapes
Summary
Landscape spatial pattern depends on environmental factors as well as on human actions (Forman & Godron, 1986), but the relative importance of such influences is not well known yet. What it is not so clear is that they might still be the most important factors in the development of current landscape patterns, because human activities have widely modified the initial cover and modulated these influences to a variable degree. It is difficult to answer that question because many human actions that drive the landscape pattern, e.g. agricultural intensification and nitrogen deposition, could be simultaneously related to environmental variables, e.g. climate, bedrock and topographical factors. Land cover involves industrial activities in which the associated management plays an important role as driving factor (Mander & Jongman, 1998)
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