“…However, during the last decades, socioeconomic globalization has induced profound transformations in rural areas (Barbero et al 1990;Debussche et al 1999;MacDonald et al 2000). Land abandonment has reduced the extent of open space and induced an expansion of woody vegetation, at least in the central Pyrenees (García-Ruiz et al 1996;Mazars and Gers 1997;Molinillo et al 1997), with repercussions for the disturbance regime and ecological diversity (Barbero et al 1990;Trabaud and Galtié 1996;Preiss et al 1997;Lloret et al 2002).…”