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Acceleration and Relocation of Abandonment in a Mediterranean Mountainous Landscape: Drivers, Consequences, and Management Implications

Author

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  • Diogenis A. Kiziridis

    (Department of Botany, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece)

  • Anna Mastrogianni

    (Department of Botany, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece)

  • Magdalini Pleniou

    (Forest Research Institute, Hellenic Agricultural Organisation “Demeter”, 57006 Vassilika, Thessaloniki, Greece)

  • Elpida Karadimou

    (Department of Botany, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece)

  • Spyros Tsiftsis

    (Department of Forest and Natural Environment Sciences, International Hellenic University, 66132 Drama, Greece)

  • Fotios Xystrakis

    (Forest Research Institute, Hellenic Agricultural Organisation “Demeter”, 57006 Vassilika, Thessaloniki, Greece)

  • Ioannis Tsiripidis

    (Department of Botany, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece)

Abstract

Land abandonment in European mountains threatens habitats shaped for centuries by low-intensity agriculture and grazing. Hence, it is important to identify spatiotemporal patterns in rural abandonment, and relate them to biophysical and socioeconomic drivers. We pursued these goals in the theoretical context of transitions from traditional to productivist and then to post-productivist agriculture. We conducted a case study in a representative of southern Europe sub-mountainous marginal area that was once traditionally exploited (Pindus range, Epirus, Greece). Land cover was mapped from the outset of abandonment (years 1945, 1970, 1996 and 2015), and we subsequently calculated landscape metrics. An Intensity Analysis facilitated the comparison of rates of land cover change between time periods. By employing random forest modelling, we related socioeconomic, physiographic, geological and climatic predictors to land type occurrence and succession intensity. We found that farmland decreased from 30% to 3% during the 70 years of the study period, and that forest increased from 22% to 63%. The landscape’s heterogeneity, ecotone diversity, and spatial aggregation decreased. Abandonment and succession accelerated and relocated to lower elevation, especially during the latest time period, which was related to a second depopulation wave and livestock decrease. The remaining lowland farmlands were of productivist agriculture, and no widespread post-productivist regime was found. Thus, our study supports the view that policies, which have been mainly based on the linear transition of agricultural regimes in northern Europe, must take into account southern European mountains, where widespread abandonment can coexist with limited intensification and extensification.

Suggested Citation

  • Diogenis A. Kiziridis & Anna Mastrogianni & Magdalini Pleniou & Elpida Karadimou & Spyros Tsiftsis & Fotios Xystrakis & Ioannis Tsiripidis, 2022. "Acceleration and Relocation of Abandonment in a Mediterranean Mountainous Landscape: Drivers, Consequences, and Management Implications," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-23, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:3:p:406-:d:768076
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Konstantinos Chontos & Ioannis Tsiripidis, 2023. "Open Habitats under Threat in Mountainous, Mediterranean Landscapes: Land Abandonment Consequences in the Vegetation Cover of the Thessalian Part of Mt Agrafa (Central Greece)," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-22, April.
    2. Kiziridis, Diogenis A. & Mastrogianni, Anna & Pleniou, Magdalini & Tsiftsis, Spyros & Xystrakis, Fotios & Tsiripidis, Ioannis, 2023. "Improving the predictive performance of CLUE-S by extending demand to land transitions: The trans-CLUE-S model," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 478(C).
    3. Nobuo Imai & Hinata Otokawa & Atsumi Okamoto & Kaito Yamazaki & Takuya Tamura & Tsubasa Sakagami & Shingo Ishizaka & Hijiri Shimojima, 2023. "Abandonment of Cropland and Seminatural Grassland in a Mountainous Traditional Agricultural Landscape in Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-19, May.
    4. Dimitrios Chouvardas & Maria Karatassiou & Petros Tsioras & Ioannis Tsividis & Stefanos Palaiochorinos, 2022. "Spatiotemporal Changes (1945–2020) in a Grazed Landscape of Northern Greece, in Relation to Socioeconomic Changes," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-22, November.
    5. Diogenis A. Kiziridis & Anna Mastrogianni & Magdalini Pleniou & Spyros Tsiftsis & Fotios Xystrakis & Ioannis Tsiripidis, 2023. "Simulating Future Land Use and Cover of a Mediterranean Mountainous Area: The Effect of Socioeconomic Demands and Climatic Changes," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-23, January.
    6. Vedran Živanović & Marko Joksimović & Rajko Golić & Vladimir Malinić & Filip Krstić & Marko Sedlak & Aleksandar Kovjanić, 2022. "Depopulated and Abandoned Areas in Serbia in the 21st Century—From a Local to a National Problem," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-20, August.
    7. Sergio Elías Uribe-Sierra & Pablo Mansilla-Quiñones & Alejandro Israel Mora-Rojas, 2022. "Latent Rural Depopulation in Latin American Open-Pit Mining Scenarios," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-23, August.
    8. Anna Sidiropoulou & Dimitrios Chouvardas & Konstantinos Mantzanas & Stefanos Stefanidis & Maria Karatassiou, 2022. "Impact of Transhumant Livestock Grazing Abandonment on Pseudo-Alpine Grasslands in Greece in the Context of Climatic Change," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-18, November.
    9. Dimitrios Chouvardas & Maria Karatassiou & Afroditi Stergiou & Garyfallia Chrysanthopoulou, 2022. "Identifying the Spatiotemporal Transitions and Future Development of a Grazed Mediterranean Landscape of South Greece," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-22, November.

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