Dynamic Agricultural Landscape Research Articles

Agricultural landscape dynamics in the Mediterranean: Lesvos (Greece) case study using evidence from the last three centuries

Landscapes in the Mediterranean have undergone many significant changes in the last centuries. ‘Traditional’ Mediterranean agricultural landscapes with features such as dry stonewalls and terraces are connected with the agricultural roots of most modern Mediterranean societies. Today, these characteristics are in decline when they are not destroyed, due to the changes in the land use management systems of the last 150 years, caused by developments in production and social structure. In this paper, the dynamics of the changes are examined on a specific Greek island. Lesvos, which has an economic and landscape history typical of many Mediterranean cases. Their economic development based on agriculture and food processing created a landscape with terraces and stonewalls, which is nowadays considered ‘traditional’. After some major political, economic and technological developments had reduced the competitiveness of Lesvos’s economy, population declined and landscape characteristics were degraded. The examination of these changes witha descriptive modelof landscape transformation offerssomeinsightin thedynamicsof landscapes and their characteristics in the Mediterranean today for present and future developments.

Sunken roads as habitats for forest plant species in a dynamic agricultural landscape: effects of age and isolation

AbstractAim This study tests the hypothesis that linear, woody habitat patches surrounding small, sunken rural roads not only function as an unstable sink but also as a true, sustainable habitat for forest plants. Furthermore, factors affecting the presence of forest plant species in sunken roads are determined. Finally, the implications of these findings for the overall metapopulation dynamics of forest plant species in fragmented agricultural landscapes are assessed.Location The study area, c. 155 km2 in size, is situated in a fragmented agricultural landscape within the loamy region of central Belgium.Methods Forest species presence–absence data were collected for 389 sunken roads. The effect of area, depth, age and isolation on sunken road species richness was assessed using linear regression and analysis of variance (anova). Analysis of covariance was employed to study the interaction between age and isolation. Differences in plant community dispersal spectra in relation to sunken road age and isolation were analysed by means of linear regression and anova.Results Sunken roads proved to function as an important habitat for forest plants. The sink‐hypothesis was falsified by a clear species accumulation in time: sunken road species richness significantly increased with the age of the elements. Sunken road age mainly affected species richness through effects on both area and depth, affecting habitat quality and diversity. Furthermore, sunken road isolation had a significant impact on species richness as well, with the number of forest species decreasing with increasing isolation of the elements, indicating dispersal limitation in sunken road habitats. Moreover, a significant age × isolation interaction effect was demonstrated. Differences in regression slopes for isolation between age classes revealed that the effect of isolation intensified with increasing age of the elements. Differential colonization in relation to forest species dispersal capacities probably account for this, as confirmed by the analysis of sunken road plant community dispersal spectra, with the fraction of species with low dispersal capacities increasing with increasing age and decreasing isolation of the elements.Main conclusions During sunken road development, area and depth increase and, gradually, suitable habitat conditions for forest plant species arise. Depending on their ecological requirements and dispersal capacities, forest species progressively colonize these habitats as a function of the element's isolation. The functioning of sunken roads as a sustainable habitat for forest species enhances the metapopulation viability of forest plants in agricultural landscapes and has important consequences for forest restoration practices. Moreover, the results of this work call for integrating the presence of forest species in small‐scaled linear habitat patches in forest fragmentation studies.

Great bustard Otis tarda habitat selection in relation to agricultural use in southern Portugal

We investigated habitat selection patterns of the great bustard Otis tarda in a dynamic agricultural landscape in southern Portugal. Combining data from 26 bustard counts with habitat mapping, we used resource selection functions to characterise habitat selection in two areas with different agricultural uses. Selection patterns were compared among areas, seasons (breeding, post‐breeding and winter), and flock types (male, female and mixed) during the breeding season. Seasonal differences in selection patterns generally parallelled changes in estimated food availability. Stubbles (i.e. recently harvested fields) and stream margins were preferentially selected by all bustards during the post‐breeding period, whereas cereal and fallow fields were selected during winter. During the breeding season, males selected fallow fields more than other habitat types, whereas females selected cereal fields. Habitat selection seemed to be influenced by habitat availability, with birds showing stronger selection for preferred habitats in the areas where they were less available. Great bustards used different habitat types throughout the agricultural year, and we recommend that habitat management promotes a rotational crop system that includes cereal and fallow fields.