The effects of revegetation in the natural environment and perception of the people linked to Camero Viejo (Iberian System)
Resumen: During the 20th century, Euro-Mediterranean mountains underwent a process of marginalization, with high rates of emigration, land abandonment, reduction of livestock census and poor use of pasture and forest products. Marginalization, with the abandonment of most of the fields and pastures, encouraged secondary succession processes that favored the expansion of shrubs and forests. Simultaneously, the administration encouraged the reforestation of large areas for economic purposes (the increase of wood and paper pulp production) and environmental objectives (the regulation of floods and prevention of soil erosion and degra- dation). As a result of these changes, Mediterranean mountain landscapes have been simplified and homogenized, fragmentation has been reduced and many of their cultural values are being degraded, a trend that also involves the loss of local knowledge on sustainable land management.
The expansion of vegetation shows other negative effects, including an increase of fire risk, a reduction in water availability, the concentration of sediment sources in ancient agricultural terraces (which maintain the most fertile and deepest soils), loss of biodiversity and problems for the economic sustainability of the mountain, due to pasture degradation, and the loss of an attractive landscape. On the other hand, we must take into account that the impacts of land use changes in mountain areas occur not only at a local scale, but also at regional and global scales, as mountain ecosystems provide a range of goods and services to the society.
The aim of this study is to investigate the diversity of opinions that people linked to Camero Viejo (Iberian Range) present about the major environmental changes since the mid-twentieth century: (i) vegetation cover dynamics, (ii) soil erosion, (iii) water yield and quality, (iv) fire risk, and (v) changes in wildlife and landscape. This perception will be related to current changes, quantified from land cover and land uses maps, information taken in the administration, and literature of the study area. The final objective is to find out which social groups have a closer or unrealistic perception; in that way, decision-makers could obtain more information to develop and implement new public policies.

Idioma: Inglés
Año: 2016
Publicado en: Boletin de la Asociacion de Geografos Espanoles 70 (2016), 485-488
ISSN: 0212-9426

Originalmente disponible en: Texto completo de la revista

Factor impacto JCR: 0.323 (2016)
Categ. JCR: GEOGRAPHY rank: 74 / 78 = 0.949 (2016) - Q4 - T3
Factor impacto SCIMAGO: 0.171 - Geography, Planning and Development (Q3)

Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/CGL2015-65569-R
Tipo y forma: Article (Published version)
Área (Departamento): Área Geografía Física (Dpto. Geograf. Ordenac.Territ.)

Creative Commons You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. You may not use the material for commercial purposes.


Exportado de SIDERAL (2020-02-21-13:36:38)


Visitas y descargas

Este artículo se encuentra en las siguientes colecciones:
Articles



 Record created 2016-07-26, last modified 2020-02-21


Versión publicada:
 PDF
Rate this document:

Rate this document:
1
2
3
 
(Not yet reviewed)