Land abandonment, landscape evolution, and soil erosion in a Spanish Mediterranean Mountain Region: the case of Camero Viejo

Resumen

The Spanish Mediterranean mountains have played an important social and economic role for many centuries. However, since the 1950s these regions have been considered of little economic interest, and this has led to the abandonment of villages, reduced productive activity, and significant changes in the landscape. In the last 50 years the Camero Viejo region (Iberian System, northeast Spain) has been subject to these changes, and was selected as our study area. Landscape evolution and soil erosion, as a result of agricultural abandonment, were studied using different analysis techniques: photointerpretation, geographic information systems and rainfall simulation. The results showed that a large proportion of previously cultivated land has been subject to plant recolonization processes. From 1956 to 2001, woodlands area increased from 10·1 per cent to 37 per cent, and scrubland increased from 42 per cent to 60 per cent. Changes in landscape structure in the same period suggest that the Camero Viejo is in a transitional stage from a highly humanized landscape to a more natural landscape. Although plant cover expansion is evident on most Camero Viejo hillslopes, in some terraced areas erosion processes are active. The generalized abandonment of agricultural terraces has favored the collapse of the stone walls of the terraces, with sliding of the soil. Surface runoff on abandoned terraces is also important. These erosion processes are related to the hydrological functioning of slopes following abandonment, neglect, and in some areas the intensification of grazing. Terrace destruction has a negative impact on the landscape and represents the loss of fertile soils. Landscape diversity should be preserved as an essential element of the economic potential of the Camero Viejo. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.