Abandonment of traditional uses in mountain areas: typological thinking versus hard data in the Cantabrian Mountains (NW Spain)

Blanco-Fontao, Beatriz; Quevedo, Mario; Obeso, José Ramón

doi:10.1007/s10531-011-0016-1

Cited by 23 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Apart from the protective effect produced by the presence of the forest, revegetation may also has negative effects, since it increases the potential for fires (Pausas and Keeley, 2009), decreases the landscape heterogeneity and even the biodiversity (Hunziker, 1995;Lasanta et al, 2011), although this last point is highly debated at the moment (Blanco-Fontao et al, 2011). Considering all of the above, at present, efforts are being made to counteract this process (Lasanta et al, 2011).…”

Section: Vegetation Recovery and Interactions Between Social And Natumentioning

confidence: 99%

Reforestation and land use change as drivers for a decrease of avalanche damage in mid-latitude mountains (NW Spain)

García-Hernández

Fernández

Sánchez-Posada

et al. 2017

Global and Planetary Change

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A B S T R A C TNatural conditions that explain the triggering of snow avalanches are becoming better-known, but our understanding of how socio-environmental changes can influence the occurrence of damaging avalanches is still limited. This study analyses the evolution of snow avalanche damage in the Asturian Massif (NW Spain) between 1800 and 2015, paying special attention to changes in land-use and land-cover patterns. A damage index has been performed using historical sources, photointerpretation and fieldwork-based data, which were introduced in a GIS and processed by means of statistical analysis. Mapping allowed connecting spatiotemporal variations of damage and changes in human-environment interactions. The total number of victims was 342 (192 dead and 150 injured). Results show stability in the number of avalanches during the study period, but a progressive decrease in the damage per avalanche. Changes in land use explain the evolution of damage and its spatial/temporal behaviour. The role played by vegetation cover is at the root of this process: damage was the highest during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when a massive deforestation process affected the protective forest. This deforestation was the result of demographic growth and intensive grazing, disentailment laws and emerging coal mining. Since the mid-20th century, the transformation of a traditional landmanagement system based on overexploitation into a system based on land marginalization and reforestation, together with the decline of deforestation due to industrial and legal causes, resulted in the decrease of avalanches that affected settlements (mostly those released below the potential timberline). The decrease of damage has been sharper in the western sector of the Asturian Massif, where oak deforestation was very intense in the past and where lithology allows for a more successful ecological succession at present. Taking into account that reforestation can be observed in mountain environments of developed countries worldwide, and considering present initiatives conducted to counteract its negative cultural effects by means of grazing and clearing operations, planning is imperative, and this research provides useful information for environmental management policies and risk mitigation in avalanche prone areas.

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Section: Vegetation Recovery and Interactions Between Social And Natumentioning

confidence: 99%

Reforestation and land use change as drivers for a decrease of avalanche damage in mid-latitude mountains (NW Spain)

García-Hernández

Fernández

Sánchez-Posada

et al. 2017

Global and Planetary Change

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“…Those trends might be explained by the anomalies in the trajectory of the North Atlantic Jet [101], which could be related to a decrease of the cloudy atmosphere or which could provoke more severe droughts in some critical months of the year for the growth of vegetation. Other factors could be land degradation and insect plagues, in addition to the high rates of land abandonment and fragmentation, severe overgrazing, and the increase in wildfire occurrence in recent decades [109][110][111]. Furthermore, in this area, other studies suggest that the Fagus sylvatica species in the northern zones of Spain are less resistant to climate change than those located in the southern regions of Spain [112].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent NDVI Trends in Mainland Spain: Land-Cover and Phytoclimatic-Type Implications

Novillo

Arrogante-Funes

Calcerrada

2019

IJGI

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The temporal evolution of vegetation is one of the best indicators of climate change, and many earth system models are dependent on an accurate understanding of this process. However, the effect of climate change is expected to vary from one land-cover type to another, due to the change in vegetation and environmental conditions. Therefore, it is pertinent to understand the effect of climate change by land-cover type to understand the regions that are most vulnerable to climate change. Hence, in this study we analyzed the temporal statistical trends (2001–2016) of the MODIS13Q1 normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) to explore whether there are differences, by land-cover class and phytoclimatic type, in mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands. We found 7.6% significant negative NDVI trends and 11.8% significant positive NDVI trends. Spatial patterns showed a non-random distribution. The Atlantic biogeographical region showed an unexpected 21% significant negative NDVI trends, and the Alpine region showed only 3.1% significant negative NDVI trends. We also found statistical differences between NDVI trends by land cover and phytoclimatic type. Variance explained by these variables was up to 35%. Positive trends were explained, above all, by land occupations, and negative trends were explained by phytoclimates. Warmer phytoclimatic classes of every general type and forest, as well as some agriculture land covers, showed negative trends.

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“…Recently, anomalies in the trajectory of the North Atlantic jet stream [109] were found that could be related to a decrease in the cloudy atmosphere or that could provoke more severe droughts in some critical months of the year for the growth of vegetation. Other authors have reported that Cordillera Cantábrica suffered a land degradation with high rates of land abandoned and fragmented, a severe overgrazing, and an increase in wildfire occurrence during the past few decades [110][111][112]. Other studies suggest that the Fagus sylvatica species in northern zones of Spain is less resistant to climatic change than those located in southern areas of Spain [113].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring NDVI Inter-Annual Behavior in Mountain Areas of Mainland Spain (2001–2016)

2018

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Currently, there exists growing evidence that warming is amplified with elevation resulting in rapid changes in temperature, humidity and water in mountainous areas. The latter might result in considerable damage to forest and agricultural land cover, affecting all the ecosystem services and the socio-economic development that these mountain areas provide. The Mediterranean mountains, moreover, which host a high diversity of natural species, are more vulnerable to global change than other European ecosystems. The protected areas of the mountain ranges of peninsular Spain could help preserve natural resources and landscapes, as well as promote scientific research and the sustainable development of local populations. The temporal statistical trends (2001–2016) of the MODIS13Q1 Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) interannual dynamics are analyzed to explore whether the NDVI trends are found uniformly within the mountain ranges of mainland Spain (altitude > 1000 m), as well as in the protected or non-protected mountain areas. Second, to determine if there exists a statistical association between finding an NDVI trend and the specific mountain ranges, protected or unprotected areas are studied. Third, a possible association between cover types in pure pixels using CORINE (Co-ordination of Information on the Environment) land cover cartography is studied and land cover changes between 2000 and 2006 and between 2006 and 2012 are calculated for each mountainous area. Higher areas are observed to have more positive NDVI trends than negative in mountain areas located in mainland Spain during the 2001–2016 period. The growing of vegetation, therefore, was greater than its decrease in the study area. Moreover, differences in the size of the area between growth and depletion of vegetation patterns along the different mountains are found. Notably, more negatives than expected are found, and fewer positives are found than anticipated in the mountains, such as the Cordillera Cantábrica (C.Cant.) or Montes de Murcia y Alicante (M.M.A). Quite the reverse happened in Pirineos (Pir.) and Montes de Cádiz y Málaga (M.C.M.), among others. The statistical association between the trends found and the land cover types is also observed. The differences observed can be explained since the mountain ranges in this study are defined by climate, land cover, human usage and, to a small degree, by land cover changes, but further detailed research is needed to get in-depth detailed conclusions. Conversely, it is found that, in protected mountain areas, a lower NDVI pixels trend than expected (>20%) occurs, whereas it is less than anticipated in unprotected mountain areas. This could be caused by management and the land cover type.

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Abandonment of traditional uses in mountain areas: typological thinking versus hard data in the Cantabrian Mountains (NW Spain)

Cited by 23 publications

References 37 publications

Reforestation and land use change as drivers for a decrease of avalanche damage in mid-latitude mountains (NW Spain)

Reforestation and land use change as drivers for a decrease of avalanche damage in mid-latitude mountains (NW Spain)

Recent NDVI Trends in Mainland Spain: Land-Cover and Phytoclimatic-Type Implications

Monitoring NDVI Inter-Annual Behavior in Mountain Areas of Mainland Spain (2001–2016)

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