Examining Potential Environmental Consequences of Climate Change and Other Driving Forces on the Sustainability of Spanish Olive Groves under a Socio-Ecological Approach

Abstract

Olive groves form characteristic Mediterranean socio-ecological landscapes, occupying more than 5 M ha; 2.5 M ha in Spain. In recent decades, traditional extensive management of olive groves has shifted to an intensive regime, with some cases of abandonment. These situations triggered negative environmental and economic externalities that led farmers to adopt increasingly multifunctional management models. From a transdisciplinary perspective, the current state of Spanish olive groves was analyzed, assessing their vulnerability to climate change as one of the main threats to their sustainability. Based on our findings and assuming that by 2050, in the Mediterranean, there will be an increase in temperature of 0.8–2.3 °C and a decrease in rainfall of up to 200 mm per year, a displacement of the distribution area of olive groves is expected towards zones of lower temperature and higher moisture. The predicted climatic conditions would increase evapotranspiration of vegetation and atmospheric CO2 emissions. Moreover, climate change will reduce the chill accumulation in olive groves, altering its flowering, fructification and crop yields. Thus, it is necessary to adopt management models that promote olive grove resilience in face of climate change, ensuring their socio-ecological sustainability.

A Comparative Analysis of Soil Loss Tolerance and Productivity of the Olive Groves in the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) Areas Norte Alentejano (Portugal) and Estepa (Andalusia, Spain)

“…In addition, both the traditional and intensive olive groves in Portugal presented lower values of soil loss tolerance than the integrated and organic olive groves of the PDO Estepa, the intensive olive groves being those with the lowest results across the analysed timescale projections. Such lower rates of the intensive olive groves in the PDO Norte Alentejano are in line with the expected environmental impacts generally assumed for intensive management models and also the absence of semi-natural herbaceous plant covers that are capable of mitigating the magnitude of soil erosion processes encountered [20,37,70,87]. Although without erosion, it was the Portuguese integrated olive growing that presented the highest soil productivity; with erosive processes, the most productive scenario was the Spanish organic olive groves, given that the environmental practices of this agricultural management (i.e., organic fertilisers and plant covers) contribute to maximising soil conservation and fertility [66,88,90].…”

“…In these intensive farms, higher soil erosion rates are correlated with the environmental impacts from the use of agricultural machinery and the addition of fertilisers. These impacts with the absence of herbaceous vegetation covers that increase the retention of soil materials in intensive olive groves make these systems more susceptible to severe erosion processes [20,37,70,84,87].…”

Mechanical harvesting at dawn in a super‐high‐density table olive orchard: effect on the quality of fruits

“…4,5 In addition, the current increase in temperature as a consequence of global warming affects the phenological stages and can accelerate the ripening of fruit, causing harvesting to start in periods that are less favorable to quality production. 15,16 In many traditionally olive producing countries, the advance of the ripening period implies an earlier harvesting for table olive, which now occurs at the middle or end of summer, when the temperatures are still high and may reach over 40 °C, as is the case in Southern Spain. 16 Therefore, there is a need to develop strategies for current olive orchards to maintain high-quality production and economically sustainable yields.…”

LCA-Based Environmental Performance of Olive Cultivation in Northwestern Greece: From Rainfed to Irrigated through Conventional and Smart Crop Management Practices

“…The olive (Olea europaea L.) is one of the most important perennial Mediterranean crops with overriding importance in terms of employment and contribution to farm income [1]. It possesses multiple significance for Greece in financial, social, and ecological terms [2].…”