Search results for "Land abandonment"
showing 6 items of 6 documents
A phytosociological analysis of the Brachypodium rupestre (Host) Roem. & Schult. communities of Sicily.
2018
A phytosociological study on the Brachypodium rupestre grasslands in Sicily is presented. These grasslands form discontinuous secondary stands dynamically linked to the deciduous oak woods, which are widespread within the upper-colline, submontane and lower montane belts (800-1400 m) of the Tyrrhenian side of the northern Sicily and in the Sicani mountains. In the study area B. rupestre grasslands were mainly found in colluvial plains or drainage lines where relatively deep and mesic soils occur. In this paper 42 phytosociological relevés were performed and statistically analysed. Two new associations were described and classified in the alliance Polygalo mediterraneae-Bromion erecti (Brome…
Changes in land use and physiological transitions of a Juniperus thurifera forest: from decline to recovery
2015
All Rights Reserved. Forest decline is frequently associated with infection; however, infections habitually affect trees that have been previously debilitated by environmental stress. Nevertheless, the causes and physiology of noninfectious forest decline are not well known. Some Juniperus thurifera L. forests presented severe (noninfectious) declines, with defoliations over 50%. The goal of this study was to determine the causes and characterize the physiology of this noninfectious decline, and we hypothesized that it could be related to environmental stress from increasing interspecific competition resulting from land abandonment. We randomly assigned60 trees to either a control group or …
The impact of the farming, abandonment and agricultural intensification on loss of water and soil. The example of the northern slopes of the Serra Gr…
2012
Land abandonment throughout the twentieth century led to an intense landscape transformation in the mountain areas of the Iberian Peninsula. In some cases, and after 50 years of abandonment, agriculture returned with the development of commercial farms and the intensification of the agrarian activities. In the Easter Iberian Peninsula, following the abandonment of olive groves, vineyards and cereals during the 50's, has been in the past two decades the expansion of intensive citrus production on sloping terrain. Geomorphological transects and simulated rainfall experiments have quantified the impact of traditional rainfed cultivation of the 50's, abandonment, and the intensification of farm…
Impact of secondary succession in abandoned fields on some properties of acidic sandy soils
2020
Abstract Abandonment of agricultural lands in recent decades is occurring mainly in Europe, North America and Oceania, and changing the fate of landscapes as the ecosystem recovers during fallow stage. The objective of this study was to find the impact of secondary succession in abandoned fields on some parameters of acidic sandy soils in the Borská nížina lowland (southwestern Slovakia). We investigated soil chemical (pH and soil organic carbon content), hydrophysical (water sorptivity, and hydraulic conductivity), and water repellency (water drop penetration time, water repellency cessation time, repellency index, and modified repellency index) parameters, as well as the ethanol sorptivit…
Farmland abandonment in Europe: Identification of drivers and indicators, and development of a composite indicator of risk
2015
Accounting for more than half of the European Union's (EU) territory, agriculture ensures food production, manages important natural resources and supports socio-economic development of rural areas. Moreover, it is estimated that 50% of all plant and animal species (including some of that are listed in the EU Habitat Directive) depend on agricultural practices. The continuation of appropriate agricultural land management is essential to ensure these primary functions. Avoidance of farmland abandonment is therefore an important rationale for the EU's Common Agricultural Policy which requires improved knowledge of this phenomenon at the European level. This study assesses the risk of farmland…
Transitions in European land-management regimes between 1800 and 2010
2015
Land use is a cornerstone of human civilization, but also intrinsically linked to many global sustainability challenges—from climate change to food security to the ongoing biodiversity crisis. Understanding the underlying technological, institutional and economic drivers of land-use change, and how they play out in different environmental, socio-economic and cultural contexts, is therefore important for identifying effective policies to successfully address these challenges. In this regard, much can be learned from studying long-term land-use change. We examined the evolution of European land management over the past 200 years with the aim of identifying (1) key episodes of changes in land …