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Resilience of Terraced Landscapes to Human and Natural Impacts: A GIS-Based Reconstruction of Land Use Evolution in a Mediterranean Mountain Valley

Author

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  • Titouan Le Vot

    (UFR de Geographie, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne 1, 75005 Paris, France
    Médiations, Science des Lieux Science des Liens, Sorbonne Université, 75006 Paris, France)

  • Marianne Cohen

    (Médiations, Science des Lieux Science des Liens, Sorbonne Université, 75006 Paris, France
    UFR de Géographie et Aménagement, Sorbonne Université, 75005 Paris, France)

  • Maciej Nowak

    (Médiations, Science des Lieux Science des Liens, Sorbonne Université, 75006 Paris, France
    Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, 67-712 Poznań, Poland)

  • Paul Passy

    (Prodig UMR 8586, GeoTeCa, Université Paris Cité, 75013 Paris, France)

  • Franck Sumera

    (Centre Camille Julian UMR 7299, Ministry of Culture, Aix-Marseille Université, 13097 Aix-en-Provence, France)

Abstract

Terraced historical landscapes have multiple functions in mountain land, limiting erosion, enabling agricultural production and constituting cultural heritage. Currently, they are largely abandoned in Mediterranean regions and facing the ongoing impacts of climate change. Our aim is to reconstruct the evolution of land use on the terraces in order to test the hypothesis of the resilience of these landscapes and their age in recent history (17th–21st century). To achieve this, we used various current and archive spatial datasets and GIS knowledge to detect and map terraces and the changes in land use. We tested this hypothesis in a territory impacted by a recent extreme event, facing the challenge of its reconstruction. Our main outcome showed that the optimal use of the terraces corresponded to the demographic optimum of the mid-19th century, and they were gradually abandoned after the Second World War, with significant differences between Mediterranean and mountain lands. Despite this evolution, the terraces persisted and withstood an extreme event, validating our resilience hypothesis and opening avenues for the revitalization of this territory based on this heritage. These findings are drawing perspectives for the future of terraced landscapes in Mediterranean mountains in the context of climate change.

Suggested Citation

  • Titouan Le Vot & Marianne Cohen & Maciej Nowak & Paul Passy & Franck Sumera, 2024. "Resilience of Terraced Landscapes to Human and Natural Impacts: A GIS-Based Reconstruction of Land Use Evolution in a Mediterranean Mountain Valley," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-18, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:13:y:2024:i:5:p:592-:d:1385408
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yves Tramblay & Samuel Somot, 2018. "Future evolution of extreme precipitation in the Mediterranean," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 151(2), pages 289-302, November.
    2. Pilar Diarte-Blasco & Manuel Castro-Priego, 2023. "Is Historical Cartography a Useful Tool for Landscape Analysis? A Perspective from Inland Spain (Zorita de los Canes, Guadalajara) from the Middle Ages to the Present," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-15, August.
    3. Heidi Kreibich & Anne F. Loon & Kai Schröter & Philip J. Ward & Maurizio Mazzoleni & Nivedita Sairam & Guta Wakbulcho Abeshu & Svetlana Agafonova & Amir AghaKouchak & Hafzullah Aksoy & Camila Alvarez-, 2022. "The challenge of unprecedented floods and droughts in risk management," Nature, Nature, vol. 608(7921), pages 80-86, August.
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