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Landscape Implications of Contemporary Abandonment of Extensive Sheep Grazing in a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System

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  • Víctor Fernández-García

    (Ecology, Department of Biodiversity and Environmental Management, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Universidad de León, 24071 León, Spain
    Institute of Geography and Sustainability, Faculty of Geosciences and Environment, Université de Lausanne, Géopolis, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland)

  • Leonor Calvo

    (Ecology, Department of Biodiversity and Environmental Management, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Universidad de León, 24071 León, Spain)

Abstract

In Southern Europe, the abandonment of the traditional transhumant system where sheep graze lowland areas during winter and distant mountain systems during summer has led to an important cultural loss and still poorly understood ecological consequences. We investigate the landscape-scale implications of contemporary sheep grazing patterns in a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS). Our analysis showed a heterogeneous use of mountain grazing areas between 1990 and 2020. The areas most used by sheep had more abundance of pasture, fewer forests, and structurally different landscapes than those that had been fully abandoned by sheep. Likewise, we have detected decreasing trends in landscape diversity in those areas not used by sheep over the study period, whereas landscape heterogeneity is maintained in those areas grazed by sheep. Our study constitutes an original analysis of landscape patterns and shifts in relation to extensive sheep grazing by using novel approaches that combine interviews, updated satellite time series, and state-of-the-art landscape analysis techniques. Likewise, our results constitute a benchmark as they inform on the importance of preserving extensive sheep grazing if we aim to maintain the cultural heritage, and traditional diverse landscape and the semi-natural grasslands in the Mountains of León.

Suggested Citation

  • Víctor Fernández-García & Leonor Calvo, 2023. "Landscape Implications of Contemporary Abandonment of Extensive Sheep Grazing in a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-15, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:4:p:780-:d:1111471
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Guadilla-Sáez, Sara & Pardo-de-Santayana, Manuel & Reyes-García, Victoria, 2019. "The role of traditional management practices in shaping a diverse habitat mosaic in a mountain region of Northern Spain," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
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