Land cover change and afforestation of marginal and abandoned agricultural land: A 10 year analysis in a Mediterranean region

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• 作者：Carlos Tomaz ; Cristina Alegria ; Jos¨¦ Massano Monteiro ; Maria Canavarro Teixeira
• 关键词：Native oaks ; Land cover change ; Species selection ; Forest fires ; Ecological zoning
• 刊名：Forest Ecology and Management
• 出版年：2013
• 出版时间：15 November, 2013
• 年：2013
• 卷：308
• 期：Complete
• 页码：40-49
• 全文大小：1734 K

文摘

In Mediterranean countries land abandonment, the loss of traditional land-use systems and the action of fire are causing forests degradation, increasing erosion risk and desertification. The Rural Development Programme-Afforestation of Agricultural Land (RURIS-AAL) is an afforestation programme for marginal and abandoned agricultural land which intends to contribute to the rehabilitation of degraded lands and to mitigate the effects of desertification.

The study was conducted in a Mediterranean region under desertification risk. The goal of the study was twofold: (i) to explore the main drivers of land cover change and the impact of RURIS-AAL on both agriculture area loss and on native oaks area recovery and (ii) to assess the appropriateness of the species used and the levels of afforestation success of RURIS-AAL from 2002 until 2011. The analysis was conducted through spatial analysis in a Geographical Information System and by statistical analysis using both nonparametric correlations and Categorical Principal Components Analysis (CATPCA).

The results proved that the study area¡¯s land cover change (2000-2006) was mainly due to forest fires and as result, a decrease in forest areas (ground cover higher than 30 % ) as opposed to an increase of open forests (ground cover between 10 % and 30 % ), cuts and new plantations areas was observed. The impact of RURIS-AAL on agricultural area loss was found to be very weak (?1009 ha; ?0.6 % ). The species used in RURIS-AAL were well selected in relation to theirs ecological zoning and the levels of afforestation success were high (76 % ). A total of 3363 ha were forested mainly with pure cork oak and mixtures of cork oak and holm oak (86 % ) which was very positive to recover oak forest area. Moreover, the CATPCA proved that the combination of the necessary biophysical conditions for each species together with the most appropriated procedures for stand establishment was verified in RURIS-AAL. High afforestation success rates were obtained for both pure cork oak stands (79 % ) and mixed stands of cork oak (89 % ), namely mixed umbrella pine and cork oak stands (95 % ).

Both species, cork oak and umbrella pine, are very well adapted to Mediterranean environments and offer non-wood products (cork and cone) of high market value which will both improve farm¡¯s multi-functionality and provide extra incomes in the long-term. These findings are important guidelines to be kept in consideration for successful afforestation in future programmes in Mediterranean regions.