The Chinyero Special Nature Reserve is located on the NW rift zone of Tenerife, between 600 and 1500 m above sea level. This natural setting is distinguished by a significant concentration of monogenetic basaltic volcanoes that have erupted in recent and historical times, including Garachico (1706) and Chinyero (1909). The volcanic landscapes of this protected area are part of the Canary Island pine forest ecosystem and, therefore, also feature beautiful forests colonising the newly formed layers of volcanic materials. The aim of this paper is to design a geographical route through the landscape for geotourism purposes, based on a global and coherent interpretation of the original physiognomy of a landscape that has been decisively shaped by volcanic phenomena. This nature trail represents a proposal for a new tourism product as an alternative to the traditional “sun and beach” coastal tourism product. This paper comprises a first stage, dedicated to the geographical study of the landscape, and a second stage focused on designing a geotourism route, which will identify and characterise the elements of the natural and cultural heritage of the area and its unique landforms.
The aim of this chapter is to characterise the vegetation landscapes of El Hierro’s Geopark, highlighting the important role played by the island’s volcanic morphology in the richness and diversity of its landscapes. To this end, some of its most representative vegetation landscapes have been selected at various spatial scales, recognising their main discontinuities and internal organisation, and identifying the integrated combinations of the geographical factors that determine them have been identified, with special interest in the volcanic morphostructural conditioning factors. This work has required photointerpretation of aerial images and consultation of the WMS (Web Map Service) of IdeCanarias, as well as field work for the preparation of vegetation profiles and floristic-physiognomic inventories. Active volcanic areas are distinguished by being some of the most dynamic types of landscape on the planet. In this sense, the study of the vegetation landscapes of the small island of El Hierro allows us to discover how volcanic morphogenesis can extraordinarily diversify island landscapes.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.