1/ Today’s #rewildingscience paper concerns the shifting traditional landscapes in southern Spain. Acha and @HelenNewing1 explore the decline of cork oak landscapes and the options present to either halt their loss or facilitate something new. Could #rewilding be the answer?
2/ Cultural landscapes, like those dominated by cork oak are in decline in the Iberian Peninsula due to a shift in usage from traditional maintenance and demographic changes to either agricultural intensification or land abandonment
3/ The cork oak landscapes historically represent a good example of traditional agroforestry systems and silvo-pasturelands where a mix of tree-stands, crop rotation, and live-stock grazing has led to multi-level systems that support the local community and biodiversity
4/ Typically, these systems are restricted to marginal land where intensive farming is unsuitable due to climate or soil restrictions. Because of this, the land was used for complementary products. However since the mid-20th century these complex systems have been in decline
5/ The driving factors behind this, the authors write, include: 1) agricultural mechanization 2) post-war policies and subsidies that encourage agricultural intensification (CAP) and 3) increased labour costs as a result of rural depopulation
6/ The traditional form of understory management is referred to as dehesas, which are characterised by the integration of crop cultivation, livestock grazing, and oak stands, making them a highly diverse system. Their loss is therefore important both culturally and ecologically…
7/ …for example, these landscapes host more than 135 species of vascular plant per 0.1 ha, as well as the following species; black stork, black vulture, the vulnerable Spanish imperial eagle and even the critically endangered Iberian lynx
8/ The polarisation of management threatens the sustainability of the systems. Agricultural intensification encourages unsustainable grazing/excessive ploughing, which decreases tree regeneration, adding to ageing/weakening stands and making them more vulnerable to disturbances
9/ In light of this the authors discuss Navarro and Periera (2012) 4 management options for such lands: afforestation, agricultural intensification, agricultural extensification and #rewilding…
10/ Analysis of the dynamics of the changing landscape are important when opting for any of these solutions, but it is equally as important to understand the underlying processes, and mechanisms, both socio-economic and environmental that led to these changes
11/ In order to understand the history of these stands, the study was carried our in the village of Berrocal, in the southern Spanish region of Andalusia. Here construction and agriculture are the main economic sectors, and was chosen for the following reasons:
12/ the presence of its cork oak producing cooperative, its characteristic small-landholding tenure system, with landholdings of between 20-200 ha/family, and because it was one of the municipalities most heavily effected by the 2004 ‘Rio Tinto wildfire; that burnt ~ 30,000 ha
13/ The authors used the ‘Event Ecology methodology’ to construct a causal history analysis of the perceived socio-economic/environmental changes that impacted cork oak landscapes
14/ Data were collected from interviews with key informants, stakeholders, & representative participants, as well as secondary document analysis. Direct observations of management of cork oak-landscapes were also carried out in Berrocal, as well as other landscapes in the region
15/…This was done to cross-check information gathered and to identify different management options adopted by landowners. The paper presents changes as ‘pre-40s systems’, ‘demographic and land use changes’, ‘disturbances’, ‘the present landscape’, and ‘looking into the future’
16/ In the 1940s the landscape was characteristic of a dehesas system, which was management for goat farming and small patches of cereal crops, however post 1940 there was a priority in development of forestry expansion to produce materials for a growing industry sector…
17/ In the 1960s many young families migrated from the area, which coupled, with an increased cost of labour, led to declines in daily activities in the dehesas which led to loss of control of understory scrub growth meaning less tree regeneration of oak saplings
18/ Demand for wood increased, leading to an eventual conversion of 60% of Berrocal territory into eucalyptus plantations by the end of the 1970s. In the 80s/90s numerous unproductive areas were planted with oak seedlings leading to a more dense covering of trees
19/ Despite this, disturbances such as forest fires (increased due to higher biomass and a dryer, hotter climate) alongside oak dieback meant that the already struggling landscape underwent even more difficulties in natural regeneration
20/ All of this combined (the gradual abandonment, the transformation of the dehesas into a densely covered cork oak woodland, in conjunction with abrupt natural disturbances) means there is a transition into a shrub dominated landscape
21/ What options are then available for this important habitat? Again the authors turn to the Navarro and Pereira framework of options for European agricultural landscapes: afforestation, agricultural intensification, agricultural extensification, and #rewilding
22/ Afforestation requires huge effort in land preparation and would still be subject to the same disturbances. Intensification would require deep land ploughing which would be limited hilly terrain. Intensification of livestock has shown to be detrimental to these systems
23/ Extensification, whilst used before would help control shrub growth. However, the loss of the landscapes multi-functionality, heavily influenced by demographic and economic changes, is one of the main drivers of decline, and does not show symptoms of reverting
24/ The use of rewilding may then provide the answer. By focusing on enhancing ecological processes rather than assembling past ecological communities there may be scope to heal the landscape. Parts of Berrocal have already undergone the first steps in unplanned rewilding
25/ The benefits of this could include: ^ soil organic matter and water content, shade & nursing conditions for other species of seedlings & reversed desertification. Biodiversity-wise, rewilded landscapes could also provide habitats for the endangered species mentioned earlier
26/ It is crucial, however, not to forget the social and cultural dimensions important to the landscape, including the needs, knowledge, and resources of the stakeholder groups. As such collaborative management, though difficult will need to be considered
27/ This has been an interesting paper and shows how important it is to consider the underlying factors of land change, both ecologically and socially, in order to come up with the best option for a shifting habitat
28/ To read the paper in full please follow this link: link.springer.com/content/pdf/10…
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