Spatial patterns of Mediterranean land abandonment and related land cover transitions

Sluiter, Raymond; Jong, S.M. de

doi:10.1007/s10980-006-9049-3

Cited by 166 publications

(115 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…For example, the spatial patterns formed after the abandonment of rural areas have created landscapes of high combustibility through increasing significantly the availability and contiguity of fuel loads (e.g. Sluiter and de Jong, 2007;Saglam et al 2008). Some studies have confirmed that fire hazard was greater in the more contiguous and homogeneous landscape portions Vega-Garcia and Chuvieco, 2006).…”

Section: Land Cover Influences Fire Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Landscape – wildfire interactions in southern Europe: Implications for landscape management

Moreira¹,

Viedma²,

Arianoutsou³

et al. 2011

Journal of Environmental Management

725

567

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Every year approx. half a million hectares of land are burned by wildfires in southern Europe, causing large ecological and socio-economic impacts. Climate and land use changes in the last decades have increased fire risk and danger. In this paper we review the available scientific knowledge on the relationships between landscape and wildfires in the Mediterranean region, with a focus on its application for defining landscape management guidelines and policies that could be adopted in order to promote landscapes with lower fire hazard. The main findings are that (1) socio-economic drivers have favoured land cover changes contributing to increasing fire hazard in the last decades, (2) large wildfires are becoming more frequent, (3) increased fire frequency is promoting homogeneous landscapes covered by fire-prone shrublands; (4) landscape planning to reduce fuel loads may be successful only if fire weather conditions are not extreme. The challenges to address these problems and the policy and landscape management responses that should be adopted are discussed, along with the major knowledge gaps.

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Section: Land Cover Influences Fire Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Marginal agricultural land, often located in steeper slopes, is the first to be abandoned (e.g. Peroni et al, 2000;Sluiter and de Jong, 2007;Van Doorn and Baker, 2007). Vegetation succession then leads to scrub encroachment and forest development (e.g.…”

Section: Landscape Changes Have Been Increasing Fire Hazard In the Lamentioning

confidence: 99%

Landscape – wildfire interactions in southern Europe: Implications for landscape management

Moreira¹,

Viedma²,

Arianoutsou³

et al. 2011

Journal of Environmental Management

725

567

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…When a farmer stops farming, the land may be sold to other farmers or to property developers. When the farmer cannot sell the land, cultivation will stop (although extensive use may be continued), and the land may eventually get repopulated by plants from the surrounding habitats (Sluiter and de Jong 2007). This latter process is often referred to as land abandonment, and is considered a problem from social and environmental points of view (Bakker and others 2005;García-Ruiz and Lana-Renault 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several of these land-use studies suggested that agricultural abandonment is more likely to occur in marginal areas where biophysical conditions are relatively poor and economical activity is low (Lehouerou 1993;Tatoni and Roche 1994;MacDonald and others 2000;Lasanta and others 2006;Sluiter and de Jong 2007). Factors often associated with the location of land abandonment were topographic factors like elevation and slope (Mottet and others 2006), soil-related factors such as soil depth and erosion (Burgi and Turner 2002;Bakker and others 2005), climate conditions (Gisbert and others 2005), socioeconomic factors such as the existence of alternative occupations for farmers (Kozak and others 2004;Rey Benayas and others 2007), and level of accessibility (Nagendra and others 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Abandonment and Expansion of Arable Land in Europe

2011

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Abandonment of arable land is often assumed to happen mostly in marginal areas where the conditions for arable cultivation are relatively unfavorable, whereas arable expansion is expected to occur mostly in areas with favorable conditions. This assumption, used in many land-use change forecasts, was never properly tested, mainly because the relatively short period of full-coverage land-use inventories did not allow a systematic analysis of the phenomena. With the recent release of CORINE 2006 this has changed. In this article, we explore the typical locations of abandonment and expansion of arable land in Europe during the period 1990-2006 by means of logistic regressions. More specifically, we test whether or not locations of abandonment and expansion can be inferred from the location characteristics of arable land in 1990. If the above assumption holds, this should be the case. We demonstrate that although arable expansion indeed happens in locations that resemble the bulk of arable land in 1990 (the presumably favorable locations), arable abandonment does not necessarily happen in locations that resemble the bulk of uncultivated land (that is, the presumably unfavorable locations). In other words, the assumption does not hold. Particularly, areas close to the road network were found to be associated with both high abandonment rates and high expansion rates, which suggest that abandonment is not limited to areas that are marginal in terms of agricultural production.

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“…Mixed deciduous-evergreen oak forests with dense undergrowth are considered the climax vegetation in the area (Tomaselli, 1981), but on the marginal soils this vegetation type usually does not develop. Depending on substrate and history, all types ranging from open scrublands to low dense forests with sparse understory occur (Sluiter and De Jong, 2007;Debussche et al, 1996). The catchment basin is situated at the edge of the "Montagne Noir" and is characterized by a high spatial variation of geological substrates.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Relating ring width of Mediterranean evergreen species to seasonal and annual variations of precipitation and temperature

et al. 2011

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Abstract. Plant growth in Mediterranean landscapes is limited by the typical summer-dry climate. Forests in these areas are only marginally productive and may be quite susceptible to modern climate change. To improve our understanding of forest sensitivity to annual and seasonal climatic variability, we use tree-ring measurements of two Mediterranean evergreen tree species: Quercus ilex L. and Arbutus unedo L. We sampled 34 stems of these species on three different types of substrates in the Peyne study area in southern France. The resulting chronologies were analysed in combination with 38 yr of monthly precipitation and temperature data to reconstruct the response of stem growth to climatic variability. Results indicate a strong positive response to May and June precipitation, as well as a significant positive influence of early-spring temperatures and a negative growth response to summer heat. Comparison of the data with more detailed productivity measurements in two contrasting years confirms these observations and shows a strong productivity limiting effect of low early-summer precipitation. The results show that tree-ring data from Q.ilex and A.unedo can provide valuable information about the response of these tree species to climate variability, improving our ability to predict the effects of climate change in Mediterranean ecosystems.

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Spatial patterns of Mediterranean land abandonment and related land cover transitions

Cited by 166 publications

References 15 publications

Landscape – wildfire interactions in southern Europe: Implications for landscape management

Landscape – wildfire interactions in southern Europe: Implications for landscape management

Abandonment and Expansion of Arable Land in Europe

Relating ring width of Mediterranean evergreen species to seasonal and annual variations of precipitation and temperature

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